The different types of Equestrianism - Sporting riding

Dressage (a French term meaning "training") is a game of competitive horse training, with competitions held at all levels from amateur to Olympic. The fundamental purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse's natural athletic ability. At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, it can smoothly respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing requested movement while remaining relaxed and effortless. Occasionally referred to as "Horse Ballet." Although the discipline has its roots in classical Greek horsemanship, dressage was first recognized as an important equestrian pursuit during the Renaissance in Western Europe.

The dressage tests performed at the Olympic Games, accepted as sport in 1912, are of the highest level Grand Prix. This level of test demands the most skill and concentration from both horse and rider.

There are two sizes of arenas: small and standard. The small arena is 20 m by 40 m. The standard arena is 20 m by 60 m, and is used for upper-level tests in both dressage and eventing.

Show jumping or "jumpers" is a member of a family of discipline equestrian events which includes hunters and equitation. Events that include these sports are called hunter / jumper horse shows.

Jumper courses are held over a course of show jumping obstacles, including verticals, spreads, double and triple combinations, and many turns and changes of direction. The more professional the class, such as a Grade A class, the more technical the strides between each fence becomes. For example they would make a related combination with the normal horse canter stride of six strides between each fence and change it to six and a half strides to make it more complicated for the rider. The purpose is to jump cleanly over a twisting course within an allotted time; jumping faults are incurred for knockdowns only, disobedience, and time faults for exceeding time allowance. Tied entries jump over raised and shortened courses, if entries are tied in the jump-off, the fastest time wins. Riders walk both course and the jumpoff course before competition.

Show jumping is a relatively new equestrian sport. Until the Enclosures Acts came into force in England in the 18th century there was no need for a horse to jump fences. In the early shows held in France there was a parade of competitors who then took off across country for the jumping. This sport was, however, not popular with spectators as they could not watch the jumping. Soon after the introduction of these parades fences began to appear in the arena. This became known as ‘Lepping’. Fifteen years later, ‘Lepping’ competitions were brought to Britain and by 1900 most of the more important shows had ‘Lepping’ classes although they rarely attracted more than 20 competitors.

Some great show jumping 4 legged champions
Abdullah
Baloubet du Rouet
Big Ben
Boomerang
Dobels Cento
Galoubet A
Gem Twist
Grannus
Halla
Heartbreaker
Milton
Monopoly
Nimmerdor
Ramiro Z
Robinson
Snowball
Stroller

Snowman

Famous showing jumping tournamnet

CHIO Aachen - The biggest show jumping tournament in Germany.
Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Canada,
The British Open Show Jumping Championships
Dubai International Horse Show - The world's richest show jumping competition offering a prize fund of USD 1,250,000. Also named as Al Maktoum Challenge.
Indoor Brabant Den Bosch - International Equine Event in Den Bosch, The Netherlands.
Dublin Horse Show - The Failte Ireland Dublin Horse Show is Ireland's leading Equestrian and social event of the Summer.

Cross country equestrian jumping is an endurance test, and is the second phase of the sport of eventing. The object of the endurance test is to prove the speed, endurance and jumping ability of the true cross-country horse when he is well trained and brought to the peak of condition. It demonstrates the rider's knowledge of pace and the use of this horse across country.

The endurance test includes four phases

Phases A and C, Roads and Tracks

Phase B, the Steeplechase; and

Phase D, the Cross-Country. Each phase must be completed in a set time.

Phase A of the roads and tracks is a warming-up period, usually done at a brisk trot, for the purpose of relaxing and loosening up both horse and rider. Phase A leads directly to the start for Phase B, the steeplechase. This phase is ridden at a strong gallop to achieve an average speed of 24 miles per hour with six to eight jumps. At the end of the steeplechase, the horse and rider go directly into Phase C, the second roads and tracks. This phase is very important for allowing the horse to relax and recover and to get his wind back to normal. The pace is usually a quiet trot, interspersed with periods of walking and an occasional relaxed canter. Some riders also dismount and run next to their horse during this section of the test.

There is new invention called indoor cross country.

Types of obstalce in the sport include Arrowhead
Bank
Brush fence
Bullfinch
Coffin
Corner
Ditch
Drop fence
Log fences: includes verticals, oxers, triple-bars, and log piles.
Rolltop
Shark's teeth
Stone wall
Sunken road
Trakehner
Water

Eventing

Eventing is an equestrian event which comprises dressage, cross-country and show-jumping. This event has its roots as a comprehensive cavalry test requiring mastery of several types of riding. It has two main formats, the one day event (1DE) and the three day event (3DE). It has previously been known as The Military, Horse Trials, and Combined Training.

First called the "Militaire," the Three Day Event has its roots as a test for horses used as cavalry mounts. The predecessor to eventing originally began as a form of endurance riding, without jumping or galloping. Such competitions included a ride in 1892, travelling a 360 mile distance from Berlin to Vienna.

Famous eventing shows

Australia

Adelaide Horse Trials:

France

Saumur Three Day Event:

Germany

Luhmuhlen Three Day Event:
Great Britain

Badminton Horse Trials:
Blenheim Horse Trials:
Bramham Horse Trials:
Burghley Horse Trials:

The Netherlands

Boekelo Three Day Event:

USA

Fair Hill Horse Trials:
Radnor Horse Trials:
Red Hills Horse Trial
Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event:

Polo is a game played on a field with one goal for each team. Each team has 4 players on a grass field and 3 players in an enclosed arena. Polo features successive 7-minute periods called chukkers, in which riders score by driving a ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet. In this it is similar to many team sports such as football and field hockey. The main difference is players play the ball on horseback. This verse is inscribed on a stone tablet next to a polo ground in Skardu, north of Kashmir, near the fabled silk route from China to the West. In one ancient sentence it epitomises the feelings of many polo players today.

The word POLO is Originated from Balti Language spoken in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, Ladakh, Kargil area of India and in few places of Tibet and Nepal the word Polo means Ball, The evidence of POLO is found in a 4000-4500 years old Balti story named 'Hilafoo Kaisaar', So the origin place of Polo is Skardu (Baltistan) northern area of Pakistan. Where till now it is playing in its original form (Free- Style). Polo and Chogan are not same, these are two different games, in chogan a team consist of four players whereas in a polo team consist of seven players.

Polo is now an active sport in 77 countries, its tenure as an Olympic sport was limited to 1900–1939, in 1998 the International Olympic Committee recognised it as a sport with a bona fide international governing body, the Federation of International Polo.

Polo is played by two teams of players mounted on horseback. When playing outdoors each team has four players, while arena polo is restricted to three players per team. The field is 300 yards long, and either 160 yards or 200 yards wide. The goal on both ends of the field. The object of the game is to score the most goals by hitting the ball through the goal.

A game is divided into periods, called chukkers (since 1898, from Hindi chakkar from Sanskrit cakra "circle, wheel", compare chakra), of 7 minutes, and depending on the rules of the particular tournament or league, a game may have 4, 6 or 8 chukkers, 6 chukkers being most common. Games are often played with a handicap in which the sum of the individual players' handicaps are compared to each other, and the team with the worse handicap is given a few goals before the start of the game. The game is very like the Afghan sport of Buzkashi, which is seen as the inspriation for the sport.

Buzkashi involves two teams of horsemen, a dead goat and few rules. The national game of Afghanistan and a likely precursor of polo.
Kokpar, is a Kazakh game similar to Buzkashi.
Polocrosse is another game played on horseback, a cross between polo and lacrosse.
Pato was played in Argentina for centuries, and may be the reason Argentines excel at polo.
Canoe polo is a polo game involving people in a canoe instead of on horseback.
Elephant polo is a polo game played by people riding elephants.
Cycle polo is similar to polo, but played using bicycles.

steeplechase is a form of horse racing conducted in the United Kingdom, United States, and Ireland and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside.

The steeplechase originated in Ireland in the 18th century as an analogue to cross-country horse races which went from church steeple to church steeple, hence "steeplechase". The first steeplechase was alleged to have been the result of a wager in 1752, between Mr. Cornelius O'Callaghan and Mr. Edmund Blake, racing four miles cross-country from Buttevant Church to St. Leger Church in Doneraile, in Cork, Ireland.

Equestrian vaulting is most often described as gymnastics and dance on horseback, and like these disciplines, it is both an art and a highly competitive sport. It is one of seven competitive equestrian events recognized by the International Federation of Equestrian Sport, along with jumping, dressage, eventing, endurance, driving, and reining. Therapeutic or Interactive Vaulting is also used as form of treatment for children and adults who may have balance, attention, gross motor skill, or social deficits.

Jousting is a competition between two knights on horses-back, wherein each knight tries to knock the other off his mount. Jousting was at the peak of its popularity in the 14th to 16th centuries. The knights were often each equipped with three weapons; a lance, a one handed sword, and a rondel. When one knight knocked the other off of his mount, he was declared the winner of the round. If both knights were knocked off their mounts at the same time, it was considered a tie; they would then engage in sword combat, and the last standing was victorious. The knights usually jousted in a best out of three situation.

Considerable honour and fortune could be gained by jousting. In its earliest form, jousting, or the tournai, was a simulated battle for training purposes. Victors in these battles usually gained the armor of their opponents, with a value equivalent to the price of a house these days. Many knights made their fortune in these events and many lost theirs as well.

Anagram collection of Equine sport

Jousting = 'Gut joins'.

Showjumping = 'Jumps win hog'

'Cross country' = 'Outcry Scorns'

'Eventing' = 'Net given'

'Steeplechase' = 'Else cheapest'

'Vaulting sport' = ''Pivotal grunts.''

birthplace of British PMs

birthplace of Australian PMs

birthplace of Canadian PMs

birthplace of Irish PMs

birthplace of Japanese PMs