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Posted by on Feb 9, 2015 in TellMeWhy |

What Is Show Jumping?

What Is Show Jumping?

Show jumping, also known as stadium jumping, open jumping, or jumpers, is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. In which a competition is organized to see which horse and rider can best jump a series of walls, fences and other obstacles. Show Jumping takes place both indoors and outdoors and can be enjoyed all year round.

Points are won and lost as the horses, one after the other, attempt each obstacle on a specially prepared course. The courses are made up of colored fences which can be easily knocked down if they are hit. Competitors will get faults if they knock a fence down, stop at a fence (refuse) or run around a fence (run out). Sometimes extra points are awarded to the horse which completes the course successfully in the fastest time.

Some of the special walls on a show jumping course are made of bricks, and if the horse kicks any of the bricks off the wall as it goes over the top it will lose its rider points. Fences are often made of wooden poles, and again, none of the poles must be kicked out of place by the horse if its rider is to score full points.

Also, there are often ditches filled with water, which the horses must be able to clear. If you manage to jump a clear round, you will go through to the jump-off. This is a shortened course which you have to jump as fast as you can as it is timed. If a horse refuses to jump a fence, it will mean a serious loss of points.

And if a horse throws its rider out of the saddle, this is worse still. The winner of a course is the horse and rider with the least faults and the fastest time in the jump-off. Show jumping is popular with millions of people today who can see such contests on television. Some show jumping horse riders are now as famous as racing jockeys.

Content for this question contributed by Lynda Mitzel, resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA