Getting To Know Horse Show Jumping
It is not enough for a man to know how to ride; he must know how to fall.
While cricket, hockey and football are for the masses, horse show jumping is a luxury which is mainly pursued for passions. This relatively low-profile sport fascinates many. When we see it on the television, it all seems like a fairyland with a number of people riding the jumping horses. This fascinating sport is rather not easy and as straightforward as it seems on the television. This is what I thought of horse show jumping as a childhood. A detailed theoretical (and not even practical) study of this reveals a much harder, rougher game requiring full effort and strength.
Horse show jumping is included in one of the many member-games of the English riding equestrian, others including dressage, hunting etc. Jumping shows are organised in a variety of forms, ranging from multi-breed competitions, various English-styled events to those limited solely to jumpers.
To put into a small explanation, show jumping is a form of horse-riding competition in which the horses are made to jump over hurdles, which may be in the form of walls, fences, bushes, troughs etc. This may be timed or untimed, depending on the type of competition arranged. There are three main forms of show jumping competitions’ disciplines: Hunter, Jumping and Equitation.
Jumper discipline is an objective form of scoring, which includes various combinations (verticals, double and triple etc.) to assess the horse’s performance to attempt and clear the hurdles and finish the course in the required scheduled time. The difficulty of a course depends on how professional a class is – if the class is Grade A, the course would be difficult, with more technical and short strides between obstacles. Since riders and horses are judged objectively on the performance of horses and not on their style and outlook, jumper courses are much trickier and complex than hunter courses. Hence, they require much more precision, control and swiftness. It requires the rider to be skilled in controlling the horse in all possible moves – while making bigger and broader jumps, care must be taken to avoid any knockdowns while keeping track of the time and moving the horse efficiently. In a jumper course, there can be two kinds of faults: Jumping faults for knockdowns and disobedience and time faults for exceeding the allotted time.
The Hunter styled courses are basically designed to assess the horse’s performance in a smooth and flowing manner. It focuses more on the style, attire, manners and outlook of the rider and horse, and is, therefore, a subjective evaluation. Hence, one gets to see quite conservative and meticulously selected horse tracks, which includes crops, bridles, spurs, saddles and martingales in horses. A steady pace is maintained with a good jumping style in long and smooth movements to demonstrate the performance. Horse ticking or touching the fence is counted as a negative point to the score. The horses are allowed up to 4 refusals (counted as faults) before disqualifying. The horse which completes a course fastest ranks the highest amongst all.
Equitation classes (also called as hunt seat equitation) are relatively less popular forms of competitions, which judge the ability and soundness of the rider, and not the horse. It may be said to be a combination of hunter and jumper classes, where the mannerism and way of going resembles that of hunters whereas the technicality and complexity may be like that of jumper classes. The evaluation has its main focus on the rider’s control of the horse, use of aids (while jumping or riding) and positioning during the course while maintaining a proper outlook.
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