Horse Jump Information
Competition Shows and Event Jumping began early in France, when cross country races combined racing with jumping and ran literally across the countryside. Although the races were exciting for participants, they didn't make great observer sports, since the audience would have had to follow the horses for miles. It didn't take long for the French to realize that horseback jumping in an arena was exciting for spectators and made money for everyone else.
The British took up the call to jumping when, in the 18th Century; the Enclosures Act resulted in a land class that owned fields, which had previously been open. Typical of landed gentry, they fenced off their fields and then had to learn to jump fences when engaged in fox hunting. Jumping became a sport in its own right, and in 1907 was introduced as a competitive sport in England. Today, jumping is an equestrian sport and held worldwide and with its own place in the Olympics. Some things have changed: most recently, fox hunting has been banned in England.
Brief History of Horse Jumping - The History of Horse Jumps
Equestrian and horses can be trained on jumps, with beginning jumps consisting of poles on the ground and small cavaletti. Horses, like any reasonable creatures, prefer to walk around poles, stone fences, or rails: jumping isn't the first thing they decide to do. Horse trainers, when they discuss a horse's natural inclination to jump, talk about braveness or boldness; qualities any good jumper has to have to be successful. When considering whether to train a horse to jump, trainers also pay attention to horse's balance, impulsion and judgment of distance. Like people who learn to high jump, horses must have both a natural sense of jumping and good training to help them learn things about distance and stride.
Horse jumping isn't relegated to a particular breed, but thoroughbreds and warm bloods have made excellent jumpers. Jumping, like dressage, is a discipline and must be learned from an experienced instructor. Jumps should be set correctly for the horse's gait and length of stride. As jumping competitions become more advanced, the number of strides between jumps may be shortened or lengthened, forcing horses and riders to make a plan when navigating a jump course. A course with tight turns jumps set closely together and a variety of obstacles are trickier than a straight course with widely spaced jumps. As the horse and rider team advance, jumping height, number of jumps and distance can be increased, but one mistake too many people make is to ask too much of the horse too quickly. As the horse gains experience, harder courses can be undertaken, but it takes time for a horse to gain both experience and confidence. Early negative experiences with jumps that are too high, too broad or set too closely together can harm your horse's confidence and make it harder to teach him to jump.
Show jumping equipment includes Jump Standards with gates and or poles. Other elements that might be included in the jump course include, a water obstacle called a Liverpool. Poles may be set above each other on one set of standards this is called vertical. Two sets of jump standards with one set in front and the other behind it, create a spread type jump called an oxer. When there are number such as two or 3 with one, two or 3 strides between each of the jumps, the set up is called a combination. These are just a few of the jumps used in show jumping.
Premier Equestrian creates a wide variety of horse jumps, show jumps and horse jumping courses. To view different types of horse jump obstacles see Horse Jump Assemblies
