Show Jumps Are Part Of English Style Competitions

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.

Faults for jumpers can be given for a variety of different infractions. Knockdowns and refusals are the most commonly issued faults against the horse and rider. When it comes to knockdowns there is an exception to the rule, if the horse does not change the height of the jump and only knocks down the middle or bottom bar, he will not receive a fault.

Refusals are up to four faults and generally occur when there is damage or disruption of the jump area by the horse refusing to make the jump. If the damage interferes with the event it is then they get faulted. The number of faults given depend upon how long that it takes to make the repair during the event.

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.

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.

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 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.