Show jumping

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Show jumping or "jumpers" is a member of a family of English-discipline equestrian events that includes hunters and equitation. Events that include these sports are called hunter/jumper horse shows.

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Overview

Jumper courses are held over a course of show jumping obstacles, including verticals, spreads, double and triple combinations, and many turns and changes of direction. The purpose is to jump cleanly over a twisting course within an allotted time; jumping faults are incurred for knockdowns only (as compared to ticks), disobedience, and time faults for exceeding time allowance. Tied entries jump over a raised and shortened course; if entries are tied in the jumpoff, the fastest time wins. Riders walk both course and the jumpoff course before competition, to plan their ride.

Jumper courses are highly technical, requiring boldness, scope, power, accuracy, and control; speed is also a factor, especially in jumpoff course and speed classes (in which time counts in the first round). A jumper must jump big, bravely, and fast, but he must also be careful and accurate to avoid knockdowns, and must be balanced and rideable in order to rate and turn accurately. A jumper rider must ride the best line to each fence, saving ground with well-planned turns and lines, and must adjust his horse's stride for each fence and distance, while avoiding knockdowns. In a jumpoff, he must balance the need to go as fast as possible and turn as tight as he can, against his horse's ability to jump cleanly.

The horses are allowed a certain number of refusals to take a jump or other obstacle, but fault points are added to their score for each one. Until recently, it was 3 faults, but was changed to 4 faults by the FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale) as it was decided that it is better for the horse to attempt the jump rather than to refuse it and should therefore not be penalised less for a more severe fault. If they take more than the time allowed for the course, they earn 1/4 fault for each extra second. For every pole that is knocked down, 4 faults are earned.

The final rankings are based on the lowest number of points accumulated. In case of a draw, the horse with the fastest time ranks higher.

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History of show jumping

Image:NIC Zuidlaren 2004 - 1.jpg

Show jumping is a relatively new equestrian sport. Until the Enclosures Acts which came into force in England in the eighteenth century there had been no need for a horse to jump fences as there had been none. But with this act of parliament came new challenges for those followers of fox hounds. The enclosures act brought fencing and boundaries to many parts of the country as common ground was dispersed amoungst the wealthy landowners. This meant that those wishing to pursue their sport now needed horses which were capable of jumping these obstacles.

In the early shows held in France there was a parade of competitors who then took off across country for the jumping. This sport was, however, not popular with spectators as they could not watch the jumping. Soon after the introduction of these parades fences began to appear in the arena. This became known as ‘Lepping’. Fifteen years later, ‘Lepping’ competitions were brought to Britain and by 1900 most of the more important shows had ‘Lepping’ classes although they rarely attracted more than 20 competitors. The ladies, riding side-saddle, had their own classes.

At this time, the principal cavalry schools of Europe at Pinerolo and Tor-di-Quinto in Italy, the French school in Saumur and the Spanish school in Vienna preferred to use a backward seat when jumping for safety purposes with long length stirrups. Whilst the Italian Instructor Captain Fiederico Caprilli heavily influenced the forward seat with his ideas that the forward position would not impede the balance of the horse negotiating obstacles. It is this latter style which is commonly used today.

The first big showjumping class to be held in England was in the Horse of the Year Show at Olympia in 1907. Most of the competitors were servicemen and it became clear at this competition and in the subsequent years that there was no uniformity of rules for the sport. Judges marked on their own opinions. Some marked according to the severity of the obstacle and others marked according to style. Before 1907 there were no penalties for a refusal and the competitor was sometimes asked to miss the fence to please the spectators. The first courses were built with little imagination many consisting of only a straight bar fence and a water jump. A meeting was arranged in 1923 to rectify it and this led to the formation of the BSJA in 1925.

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Original scoring tariff

The original list of faults introduced in 1925 was as follows:

Refusing or Running out at any fence:

1st: 8 faults
2nd: 8 faults
3rd: Elimination

Fall of Horse or Rider or both: Elimination

Horse touches a fence without knocking it down: 0 faults

Horse upsets fence with:

Fore limbs: 4 faults
Hind limbs: 4 faults

Water jump:

Fore leg in: 4 faults
Hind leg in: 4 faults
Upsetting or removing the water fence: 4 faults

The differences between the number of faults a horse received depending upon which limb hit the fence was a remnat from the origins in hunting whereby it was more dangerous for a horse to hit a jump with his forefoot as he was more likely to tip up.

Water jumps were at least 15 feet (5 metres) wide although the water had often drained out of them before the last competitor jumped them. High jumping would start with a pole at around 5 foot but this was later abandoned as many horses went under the pole. It was for this reason that more poles were added and fillers came into use. In the early days time penalties did not count and competitors were not penalised until 1917. Showjumping was first incorporated into the Olympic Games in 1912 and has thrived ever since its popularity due in part as its suitability as a spectator sport which can be viewed on television and the sheer spectacularity and thrill that no other sport can even come close to producing.

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The horses

Some horse breeds have characteristics tailored for different styles of jumping.

Some of the great show jumping horses in history have been:

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Important show jumping events

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Types of Show Jumping Jumps

  • Vertical - a jump that consists of poles right above each other with no spread, or width, to jump.
  • Oxer - Basically two verticals close together, to make the jump wider. Also called a spread. 
    - Square Oxer: Both top poles are of an equal height.
    - Ascending Oxer: The furthest pole is higher than the first.
    - Descending Oxer: The furthest pole is lower than the closest.
  • Triple - Three bars across, making a wide spread.
  • Wall - This type of jump is usually made to look like a brick wall, but the "bricks" and constructed of a lightweight material and fall easily when knocked.
  • Hog's Back - A type of jump where the tallest pole is in the center.
  • Filler - This is not a type of fence but is a solid part below the poles, such as flower boxes or a rolltop. It can alse be a gate.
  • Combination - any number of jumps in a row, with a certain number of strides in between.
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External links

Videos of show jumping

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