Show Jumps Require Powerful Horses
Show jumps are usually found in English style horse competitions
. It is not to say they only happen in England, that is not the case at all, it is just the name of the most common style of horse competitions. Known as show jumping or stadium jumping, it can either be an event of its own or can be included with dressing, hunters and other special equestrian events.
There are different types of classes of horses that compete in these events. The two most common classes are the Hunter class and the Jumper class. Hunter class horses are judged by their style, how they look and their manners in performance. The show jumper horses are judged with a point system. The winning horse will have the highest score due to little or no faults given during the course. The Hunter class requires that the horse be calm and have a special kind of style. The Jumper class horse needs to be a bold horse with strength, speed and accuracy.
There are a variety of different rules for show jumps such as jumping penalties which are considered refusals and knockdowns which then the horse and rider are charged four faults or points against them. There is no penalty for a knockdown when it does not change the actual height of the jump. This can be done by the horse and rider knocking the middle or bottom bar of the jump.
If a horse refuses to do a jump he can receive four faults for that jump. If the refusal by the horse happens to actually interfere with the event itself, is when they will receive a penalty for the refusal.
The horse can receive faults dealing with time. For ever second the horse goes over the average time allowed to complete the course, the horse will receive one fault per second the horse is over in time.
Another fault is called the combination fault. This is when the course happens to have repeat areas during the course and the horse has to go through a particular area more than once. Should this area be an area that the horse refuses to do each time they get to that point, they will be given four faults for each refusal. So if the horse decides to refuse that area two times in a row, he would receive 8 faults.
The type of equipment or tack they use are English style saddles with a design called close contact is a saddle that allows the horse and rider to have more freedom during a jump. They also will have bridles that are attached to a noseband and may or may not have a bit in the mouth. The bits are examined before allowing their use. They want to make sure it will not hurt the horse.
There are several different types of events that show jumps can be found in. One would be the Grand Prix. Here the horses are expected to complete ten to sixteen obstacles with the heights going as high as six and a half feet. This particular event is included in the Olympics.
Others you might find would be the Speed Derby, Puissance a course where horses must clear seven foot jumps, the Six Bar which is six different jumps going from shortest to highest, Gamblers Choice would be one that the rider picks out and not the judges, Maiden or Novice for inexperienced horses and many more.
There are also a variety of show jumps that the horse and rider will need to jump. These would be Vertical, poles placed on top of each other with no width to jump, Oxer, this is when two verticals are put together to make the jump wider, Triple Bar, a fence using three bars with graduating heights, Wall, fence made to look like bricks, Combination, two or three jumps in a row, Open Water, ditch filled with water.
The horse breeds that generally compete in these events would be Warmbloods and Thoroughbreds with a long lineage behind them. Although at times, there are horses that compete well and do not come from this type of background.
by: Anne Graver
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