|
|
 |
 |
JUMPING
|
Show
Jumping
is probably the most well-known equestrian discipline, requiring a rider and horse to jump over between 10 and 13 obstacles?which can measure as high as 1m 60?without touching them. This discipline requires the rider and horse to be in perfect harmony, as many factors such as momentum, speed, the course, and the number and length of strides taken must be combined in order to achieve a flawless performance.
Show jumping is the leading discipline in France. It represents more than 80% of competitions, and is the most well-known in terms of competitors, events, and competition entries.
More
Jumping has the advantage of being a discipline which is easy to understand. Faults at obstacles are penalised by either penalty points or in seconds, in the event of a refusal, a fall or when several poles are knocked down. The winner is the competitor who finishes the round in the best possible time with the fewest number of faults. Despite the subtleties of the rules and the rankings, according to the different competitions, jumping remains a discipline that is accessible as it can be understood and each competition is very often quite spectacular to watch.
|
 |
 |
DRESSAGE
|
Dressage
is one of 3 Olympic disciplines of equestrian sports. It is often considered as the parent discipline of the other equestrian disciplines. Indeed, no other discipline can be considered without the horse going through dressage principles and training techniques beforehand. Dressage is an art, as the quest for aesthetic movements plays a dominant role. It is a harmonious discipline, and involves not only the horse’s elegance and natural balance but also a perfect understanding of its rider. The rider/horse pair must perform a sequence of compulsory or freestyle movements. The movements are carried out in a 60m x 20m arena. Letters are positioned around the arena to indicate where the horse must begin and finish performing the movements and the lead changes.
More
The jury, made up of two to five judges, evaluates the ease and the fluidity of the rider/horse pair’s movements. Each figure is given a mark ranging from zero (for a movement not performed) to ten (for an excellent performance). The jury also awards overall marks allowing a certain number of features to be judged according to the technical level of the competition, such as the precision of the performance, the horse's gaits, submission, momentum, the rider’s position, etc. An artistic mark is awarded for the freestyle to music test. Specifically, it takes the harmony of the test, the choreography, and the music into account. The overall mark is expressed as a percentage.
|
 |
 |
EVENTING
|
Eventing
has military origins and was developed to test the abilities of horses intended for the armed forces. This competition has evolved little by little to become a fully -fledged discipline today. Often described as an equestrian triathlon, eventing requires both the horses and riders to be extremely versatile since the discipline brings together a jumping test, a dressage test and the most demanding of all, the cross-country test. For the cross-country test, the competitors must jump over approximately thirty natural, fixed obstacles spread out on an “all terrain” course, over a distance of more than 6,500m at an average speed of 570m/minutes.
More
The tests are spread over 3 days. Eventing requires the rider to be experienced in all types of riding and have a perfect understanding of a horse’s potential and behaviour. The winning rider and horse pair is the one which has the least penalty points after completing all 3 tests. Eventing is one of the 3 equestrian disciplines present at the Olympic Games, alongside jumping and dressage.
|
 |
 |
DRIVING
|
“Horses were driven long before they were ridden!”
Driving
is one of the oldest competitive equestrian sports. It is a discipline without a rider but with a driver who drives a carriage drawn by 1, 2, 3 or 4 horses. For the World Equestrian Games, this discipline is reserved for four-horse carriages and includes three competitions spread over three days: The driven dressage test: the driver performs a test with his carriage during which the jury will evaluate the momentum the style, the regularity of the gaits but also the cleanness and the general condition of the carriage.
More
The marathon course: the competition consists of a sequence of several timed sections on a cross country course. The last section is made up of natural and man-made obstacles: a water crossing, steep hills, traps, slopes and sharp turns… to be tackled in a precise order. The obstacle or “cone-driving” course: it is carried out on a narrow, winding track which is outlined by cones topped with balls. Penalties points are given for every ball that is knocked over and for exceeding the time allowed. The final ranking is determined by adding together the penalty points which have been accrued during these three competitions.
|
 |
 |
ENDURANCE
|
Endurance
only became a competitive sport in the 1950s and only appeared in Europe in the 1960s. In 1982, the FEI recognised endurance as an official discipline and since then, its number of riders has continually increased. Endurance competitions take place against the clock on a 160-km route divide into loops, with veterinary checks before, during and after the competition. Every 20 kms, the rider and horse pair must stop at the “vet gate” where the horse will undergo a full vet check. The horse can only continue the competition if the vets judge it fit to do so.
More
A minimum rest period must be respected by each rider and horse pair at the end of each phase. The support crew is one of the essential features of endurance. The assistants supply the horses and riders with water along the course and make sure the horses are cooled down and are given the care required at each rest phase.
|
 |
 |
VAULTING
|
Vaulting
in fact owes its beginnings to military training in Ancient Greece. Its original premise was the need for balance when in battle and when one’s hands were full of weapons!
More
Today vaulting is naturally quite the opposite of this warlike practice. Vaulting is practised by both men and women, competing together on teams or separately on a horse which walks or canters and is guided by a lunger. The horse is equipped with a surcingle and wide rug which allows the vaulters to carry out a sequence of figures where balance and physical abilities are much in demand.
|
 |
 |
REINING
|
This discipline, which comes from the United States, is the “queen” discipline of western-style riding. It is always carried out according to a reining “pattern” (a number of predetermined movements to be performed) with a sequence of compulsory movements:
More
big circles (fast cantering), small circles (slow cantering), lead changes, roll-backs (a 180° turn) , spins (a 360 ° turn carried out over a stationary hind leg) and sliding stops (on the hind legs). The horse is judged on its precision, its docility, and the control and calm with which it performs the different required movements one after another.
|
 |
 |
PARA-DRESSAGE
|
Para-Dressage
is the only equestrian discipline in the Paralympic Games. In 2010, it became part of the competition program of the World Equestrian Games for the first time. Athletes are classified by type of disability to make the competition as fair as possible. .
More
The discipline is divided into five grades and there is a world title for each. Depending on the category, riders will walk, trot and/or canter. The audiences are: Paraplegics and those classified as such Amputees and those classified as such Blind persons and partially sighted persons, Persons with cerebral dysfunction and those classified as having one Persons with major disabilities (carriage driving)
|
|
|