subject: Show Jumps Come In A Variety Of Different Formats [print this page] Show Jumps Come In A Variety Of Different Formats
If you are not sure what exactly show jumps are, then this will help explain them for you. They are generally affiliated with the English style of horse shows or events. The event is generally called show jumping or stadium jumping, these are instruments that the horses are trained to jump over in. Show jumping can be an event on its own or it can be combined with other events such as dressing, hunters and several other events. This type of event is done in horse shows all over the world, you can even find it in the Olympics.
You will find several different classes competing in these English style events, the hunter and jumper classes being the most common. A horse in the hunter class will be judged on appearance, style and the type of manners that it exhibits. On the other hand, the horse in the jumper class will be judged by a number system that includes the different types of jumps the horse completes with as few faults as possible and in the shortest amount of time. Hunters require calm and a special kind of style. The jumper class must be bold, strong, speedy, accurate and have a lot of control.
There are a variety of different things that will create faults that will be given to the horse which will lower its score. Those would be knockdown or refusals as well as time violations. Note that there is no fault given to the horse if the knockdown did not result in making the jump shorter. That means it is alright for the horse to knock down a bar that is in the middle or the bottom.
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 tack or saddle the horse wears is different for show jumps than for the other types of competitions. It is an English saddle with what is called a close contact design. This gives both the rider and the horse more freedom when they are performing their jumps. They usually have square white saddle pads, the stirrups are shorter. The bridle can be used with any kind of noseband and bits are allowed as long as the official event vet deems that it will not harm 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.
Other types that are popular would be, Speed Derby, Puissance which is a type of course that may have jumps as tall as seven feet high. The Six Bar is a course that has six different jumps for the horse that vary in size beginning with the shortest and ending with the tallest. The Gamblers Choice is a course that the rider picks for the horse. There is also one called the Maiden or Novice which is a course for horses with very little experience.
The show jumps themselves vary as well. The Vertical is one where the horse must jump several different poles place on top of one another and there is no width for the horse to deal with. Another one is the Oxer and what that is, is when they put two Vertical jumps together adding some width to the jump for the horse. The Triple Bar is when they use a fence type jump with three different height bars. They have a Wall jump made up of material to look like bricks and many more types are available.
The types of horses used in show jumps are generally Warmbloods or Thoroughbreds that can measure as tall as 16 hands in height, although there have been some good show jumpers that have competed that did not come from such breeds.
