SHOW JUMPING

What is show jumping ?

  Horse & rider jump a numbered course of coloured  knock down fences in a fenced  arena – the idea is jump a clear round, then go into the jump off over a shortened course of fences against the clock. The winner is the fastest round with the least faults.

  The Course Builder: this person designs & set up  the courses, they decide what type of  fences should be in the course,  the distances in the doubles & between the fences.              

Their job is also to providing various levels of challenges for both horses & riders. At the lower levels / classes  for  younger / novice riders or the  inexperienced horses or ponies, the course builder will design a course to encourage  novice riders & horses to gain confidence, keeping the fences lower, with narrow spreads, no scary fillers  or  difficult  turns.

 As the class levels increase- so does the height of the fences & the style of the course. More questions are asked, ie; wider spreads,  fillers, water trays, doubles, shorter or longer distances between the fences, dog leg type turns from one fence to another. These courses are designed to make the rider think more, plan how to ride the course & hopefully get that all important clear round.

 Beginners guide to show jumping

 Riders are allowed to walk the course  at the beginning  – before the class starts. This is really important – so that they  know where the numbered fences are  on the course, where the start & finish line is. How long the double is, either one stride ( 7 – 8 yds ) or two strides    ( 11 yds ) . As each rider comes in the arena  the bell will ring, this is the signals for rider  the start off,  the rider must ride through the starting flags / markers  on the approach to number 1 fence & then continue round the course in number order. If the rider starts jumping before the bell is rang they will be eliminated.

 Collecting number board

 At most shows the riders put their number on the board in the collecting before the class starts  & jump in that  order. Some times the show organisers draw the order for the class before hand & this will either be put on their website – with a name time slot  for jumping or in a name & number list order. This information should be in the schedule. 

On the schedule it will give a Table list:

Table A4: this is a speed class – one round against the clock

Table A6: 1^st round of numbered fences ie 1 – 7 is not against the clock – if the rider goes clear  - they then jump of straight away against the clock over  say  fences 8 – 12.   If rider has any faults then the bell is rang  & the rider has to leave the arena.

Table A7: the first round is not against the clock & there are normally about  8 or 10 fences. The rider then leaves the arena. If they have gone clear – there is a completely separate jump off for the riders who went clear in the first round. This is over a shorten course against the clock. The jump off  is a drawn order  - the competitors will jump in a different order to the first round.

The Jump off course numbers.

 Every collecting ring should have a course plan & the jump off numbers should be at the top of the plan. So that riders know which fences must be jumped. Sometimes the fences are jumped out of order, so it’s really important to look at the course plan before you walk to course  & warm up to jump.

Exceptions to the rules at some competitions riders can jump the whole course 1 -12 fences – even if they have had faults early in the course. This will normally be explained  in the schedule. If not then check at the secretary’s office or tent / collecting ring steward.