Equestrian Sports at the Olympics
Written by admin on March 19, 2010 – 8:51 pm -
The ultimate competition in any sport is, of course, the Olympic Games where Equestrian Sports are one of the oldest categories. The horse’s involvement in the Olympics dates back almost 3,000 years. Horse sports were incorporated into the Olympic Games shortly after their initial inception when the four horse chariot race was introduced. In fact when you think of the Olympics, the huge stadium or hippodrome is one of the most powerful images. The word “hippodrome” which describes an open air sports stadium with a track around the edge, comes from the Greek word “hippos” for horse and “dromos” for racecourse. The equestrian events are made up of three disciplines – dressage, show jumping and the three-day event which includes both the other disciplines together with a gruelling cross country ride over testing jumps. Each of the disciplines has both an individual and a team competition.
Dressage is often referred to as ‘horse ballet’. It is a training method designed to develop a horse’s natural abilities and responsiveness to instructions from the rider. The original intent was to train the horse to make it easy to ride in any circumstances, and to enhance the horse’s natural gymnastic abilities. The earliest roots of modern dressage go back to very clearly defined sequential training methods used by riding masters in Europe and classical dressage techniques are still viewed as an important part of the sport today.
Show jumping is probably the most commonly recognised of the principal equestrian sports – who has not tried to mentally lift a horse over a huge jump when watching it on TV? Competitions vary in style and type but basically the horse and rider have to follow a prescribed path around the ring, jumping each of the obstacles in turn. Most exciting are the Puissance events where the fences grow ever higher round by round, or the mad dash around the shortened courses when more than one horse has had a clear round and a winner has to be found.
The Cross Country event is both an endurance test, and an examination of the teamwork developed between horse and rider as they make their way around a long and varied course with demanding obstacles. Event horses have to be at the peak of physical fitness as do their riders – they are the decathletes of the equine world. Horses are carefully monitored to ensure that they come to no harm during these events.
Equestrian Sports are one of the very few Olympic events where men and women compete on equal terms. In fact over recent years the number of women competing has dramatically increased with around 80 percent of the competitors now being female. This has brought about many changes in the way the sport is developing. Far more emphasis is being placed on fitness, diet and exercise for both horse and rider, rather than just sheer physical strength. Equestrianism is one of the ultimate in team sports, a horse and rider work together for years to develop their skills, combining grace and delicacy with endurance and strength in a way that no other sport can, it is the only Olympic sport where man and animal are established team-mates on an equal footing as the one cannot take part without the other.
Tane Moores has been riding since a very early age and has long been involved in all things Equestrian. The experience and knowledge gained over many years of involvement in the world of horses is freely shared with anyone who cares to read. Tane writes regularly on Horse Facts and Equestrian Sports at The Easy Equestrian
Tags: Equestrian, Olympics, sports
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Amazing Equestrian Jumping!!
Written by admin on March 3, 2010 – 10:08 pm -Tags: Amazing, Equestrian, jumping
Posted in Equestrian Jumping | 4 Comments »
How is Olympics Equestrian Jumping scored? I understand penalties. How is the final score calculated?
Written by admin on March 1, 2010 – 9:38 pm -I understand how penalties are incurred. I can’t figure out how the final score is actually calculated, and I can’t find it anywhere on the internet, no matter how hard I search. Does anyone have any idea how that final score is precisely calculated, such as a formula or something?
I understand how faults are incurred. I know what actions results in how many faults or elimination. However, that does not explain how the final score is calculated. Does anyone know how the final score is determined, as in a formula or something?
Tags: calculated, Equestrian, Final, jumping, Olympics, penalties., score, scored, understand
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Equestrian Olympic Games – Three-day Eventing
Written by admin on February 25, 2010 – 8:56 pm -
Equestrian Olympic Games Three-Day Eventing:
Equestrian and equine enthusiasts world round consider three-day eventing as the most complete test of the horse and rider. This testing covers all of the aspects involved in training and horsemanship. Calmness and obedience in and throughout the dressage phase, to speed and boldness in the excitement of the across country endurance phase, stadium jumping and the stamina taxed in the stadium jumping phase. The same horse respectively must be used in all phases of this three-day event.
Phase 1: Dressage Test
In the first day and phase of this test is the dressage stage. The main objectives of the dressage stage is to test and demonstrate harmony and development between the horse as well as the rider. This is a very difficult task of the three-day event., usually because the event horse in itself is particularly keen, they are athletic individuals, in this they are more anxious to get going on the cross country course part of this vigorous test. The riders main objective is not to get to anxious, after all this is just the beginning of the games. He need to demonstrate that his horse is fit to carry out the task at hand, but has to also show that his horse is obedient to the rider, in this he cannot show impatience or resistance as any sign. Here the rider needs a good score, this here can place him among the leaders, This will give him a big advantage when taking the second phase into consideration.
Phase 2: Endurance Phase
Into the second day we move into the this test of endurance. Here the main objective is to show endurance, speed, and important of these cross country jumping ability. This will also test the rider’s timing knowledge and of course, pace control. Certain penalties are incurred, these include falls or refusals at obstacles, going off course is not allowed, and the time alloted for exceeding.
As you will see, the endurance competition has four parts:
Roads and Tracks
Steeplechase
Roads and Tracks (again)
Cross Country
In each of these parts there is an âAllowed Timeâ, This means that the rider’s goal is to complete that part of the competition in a timely manner. They also must do so, without excreting the horse in any way. Timing is of utmost importance in this endurance phase of the competition. The rider defiantly does not want to ask to much of his horse at this stage, after all the horse has to have enough energy to complete the full competition. Its also to note, Veterinarians do check the horses at regular intervals. If a vet feels a horse is getting to tired, the vet can order a rest period to the horse and rider. At this point the vet will designate a time period, if the vet feels the horse is not ready to continue or the horse is unfit, he can order the full withdrawal of that animal from further competition. So you can see why it’s so important for the rider to have patience in practicing pace control and timing, the rider has to make the most use of his horses energy and ability and practice good horsemanship at all times.
Phase 3: Stadium Jumping
As the third day and final day is entered, this is where the stadium jumping phase comes into play. In this part, unlike the endurance phase of the test, is taken part usually in an arena. So you can see where the term âStadium Jumpingâ comes to play. The main objective here is to test how the horse bounces back from what was the endurance phase. Its not uncommon at this point, for the riders to be tied in numbers of points from the end of the endurance and dressage phases. The Stadium jumping phase of these events almost always decides the winner.
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Tags: Equestrian, eventing, Games, Olympic, Threeday
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Gimme More – Equestrian Jumping
Written by admin on February 19, 2010 – 10:16 pm -
**I CLAIM NO OWNERSHIP OVER THE SONGS OR VIDEOS USED IN THIS VIDEO** My first completed video in SV7. Its ok but I like my second completed video [the one for Rebel] better. 7 hours, 8 layers, 20 minnutes rendering. My favourite clip is probably about 3 minutes in, its a slower motioned red roan jumping a natural looking jump. Gimme More by Britney Spears. I think the clips are from Horse-Gate.
Tags: Equestrian, Gimme, jumping, More
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