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WHAT IS EVENTING?
WHAT IS EVENTING?WHAT IS EVENTING?
Equestrian Eventing, also known as 3-Day Eventing, is equivalent to an equestrian triathlon. The competition consists of three phases that traditionally take place over three days, hence the name. There are other formats of eventing though, including the long format, the horse trials, and the one-day. A typical three day event consists of three phases, dressage is always first on Friday (or Thursday and Friday if the event is large), followed by either cross country (Saturday) or show jumping (Sunday). Cross country (XC) comes first for higher level eventing and is followed by show jumping, the opposite is true for lower level eventing. The goal of eventing is to accumulate the least faults as the lowest score wins.
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DRESSAGE
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Dressage is a test of a rider’s ability to communicate to a relaxed and forward horse with silent cues. In eventing dressage, each movement in a test is graded on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being perfection. The scores for each movement are then accumulated and converted into a score, typically somewhere between 20 and 40, this number is the dressage score and the number of faults. The lower the number, the better the score. There are several ways to be eliminated in dressage. Illegal tack or use of equipment results in elimination, as well as prematurely leaving the dressage arena, going off course more than three times, or scoring a score higher than a 60.
CROSS COUNTRY Undoubtedly the most dangerous aspect of eventing is the cross country phase. This phase features long, starting at around a mile, outdoor courses that include jumping solid fences, galloping through water complexes, and navigating the arena-less course. The goal of cross country is to complete the course, jumping all fences, within the optimum time. The optimum time becoming more difficult to stay under the more advanced the course. Cross country fences include rolltops, houses, hedges, banks (down and up), ditches, logs, etc. In terms of scoring, each refusal at a XC fence is 20 penalties, with a maximum of three redusals before elimination. In higher level compeition knocking a frangible pin, a jump engineered to fall over to prevent potential inhury, is 11 penalty points.The new flag penalty, for taking out one of the flags marking the fence is 15 penalties, and going over time is 0.4 points per second over optimum time.
SHOW JUMPING Show jumping concludes the eventing weekend. This is the phase in which delicate poles which are able to be knocked off of the standards are set for the horse to jump over. This phase also has a set optimum time. This is the ultimate test of finesse and endurance after a hard weekend of competition. In show jumping, each refusal or knocked rail counts as four faults and each second over the optimum time adds one penalty marker to the score. Like the cross country phase, three refusals, a rider fall, or going off course, jumping the fences in the wrong order, result in elimination. Show jumping and dressage are the two phases in which are also individual
disciplines that can be contested individually outside of eventing . Cross country has a similar discipline, called hunter pace, that can be found in some venues. In eventing, the awards ceremony typically follows the show jumping phase and concludes the event.
LEVELS OF EVENTING Eventing is accessibly to all equestrians, with levels ranging in height from two feet to the four feet and three inches. The following is a breakdown of the typical eventing levels, although smaller and sometimes inbetween heights can be found. The stars indicate international competition, which can be found at the same height with increased technicality in the jumping phases. 2 13
Intro: 2’0”, not USEA recognized Begginner Novice: 2’7” Novice: 3’0” Training: 3’3” Modified/*: 3’5“ Preliminary/**: 3’7” Intermediate/***: 3’9” Advanced/****: 3’11” *****: 4’3” There are six five star competitions in the world, these include: The Land Rover Kentucky 3-Day Event (USA), Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR), Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR), Longines Luhmulen Horse Trials (GER), Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), Mitsubishi Motors Australian International 3-Day Event (AUS). Notably absent, the Olympics, which is actually a blend of four and five star elements to promote inclusivity .
