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Useful Info - Beginner's Guide to understand Equestrian Events |
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Equestrian Events Not only are they the only ones to give animals a chance to show what they can do, but they also pit men and women in against each other on an individual basis. Thus, equestrian events also form a unique part of the Olympics. Riders compete for medals in three different categories: dressage, show-jumping and three-day eventing. |
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Beginner’s Guide to Dressage |
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Dressage is the art in which the rider must show complete control over the horse by getting it to perform a number of movements. A panel of judges awards marks for the execution |
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The horse is taken through a series of tests, such as the pirouette, piaffe and passage, in a walk, trot and canter. It must be energetic yet calm, strong yet submissive to the rider, and precise in its movements. The scoring for dressage is relatively complicated. The five judges each score a move from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest mark on offer. The more difficult movements can earn scores that are doubled, and judges also give a collective mark for the aesthetic quality of the performance. In the Olympics the first round is a Grand Prix test, which also doubles as the team competition. The team event is decided after the first round, based upon the three best individual scores from each team. The riders follow a set routine of movements and the best 25 go forward to the next round, called the Grand Prix Special. The best 15 from that round go into the final, known as the Grand Prix Freestyle or the Kür (German definition). In the Grand Prix Freestyle, or Kür, riders perform a routine they have devised themselves, using music they have chosen, which must last no longer than six minutes. |
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Beginner's Guide to Show-jumping |
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There are both individual and team show jumping events. |
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Competitors attempt a series of 15 to 20 jumps set out in an arena, and the object is to complete the course, regardless of style, with the fewest penalties. Obstacles include water jumps, triple bars, parallel rails and mock stone walls, and can be on their own or in a series of doubles and triples. They must be completed in order and knocking down a block or pole incurs a penalty or by refusing at any obstacle. The penalty list is as follows:
If there is a tie for the lead, the course is changed and a jump-off takes place to decide the winner. In the jump-off, riders compete against the clock, as well as the course. If the penalty count is the same, the rider with the fastest time wins. |
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Beginner's Guide to three-day Eventing |
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Riders compete for individual and team three-day event medals. |
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To win the three-day event, rider and horse must excel in three different disciplines - dressage, cross country and show jumping. The winner is the rider or the team with the least penalty points at the end of the competition. Both competitions were held together in Athens, with an additional round of show-jumping after team medals had been decided to determine the individual placing. A nation could enter five riders in a team but only the best three scores counted. Had there been a tie at the end of the competition, the rider or team with the best cross-country score is the winner. The first day takes the form of a dressage competition, and the climax is the show-jumping. In between is the most grueling test, the cross-country. This consists of a 5.2-kilometre course with a maximum of 45 "jumping efforts", with a double fence counting as two efforts. Some of the jumps are more than a meter high and include perilous routes over water, ditches and banks, though there is usually an easier but longer route round. Competitors who make it to the final event have to negotiate 10 to 12 obstacles in the show-jumping. It is easier than the show-jumping medal event, but tough on a horse that has completed the arduous cross-country section just the day before. Scoring for the three-day event is as follows: Dressage - Riders must perform a set of 20 moves and are marked by judges for each move, how they control the horse and the obedience, pace and control of the animal. They are penalized for each error. Points are converted into a penalty point score ready to add the penalties incurred in the next phases. Cross-country - Penalty points are given for every second over the time limit. Twenty points are awarded if the horse refuses to jump an obstacle, a second refusal at the same fence costs 40 points and a third means elimination. A fall for the rider costs 65 points, but a fall for the horse means automatic elimination. The horse is considered to have fallen if his quarters touch the ground. Show-jumping - Knocking down a fence, or a refusal, costs four penalty points; a second refusal eight points. A third refusal means elimination. A fall for the rider also costs the rider eight points. |
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