Where is equestrian played

Indeed, it combines not only jumping and dressage, but also a long cross-country course, on mixed terrain with sometimes imposing natural or artificial obstacles.

Jumping developed after fences were put up in the English countryside, leading fox hunters to require horses that could jump. The discipline, as we know it today, developed as a result of competition among fox hunters, following the introduction of the Enclosures Acts that came into force in England in the 18th century. Previously, hunters would gallop across open fields in their pursuit of foxes.

But when fences were erected following the Acts, a new and much desired trait took the fore: the jumping horse. Before him, riders would lean back and pull the reins when jumping a fence.

However, this technique was awkward and uncomfortable for the horse. This technique is now universally used. The horse made its first appearance at the ancient Olympic Games in BC when chariot racing was introduced—and was by far the most exciting and spectacular event on the programme. Many centuries later, when the modern Games began, a few unsuccessful attempts, namely , , and , preceded the success of equestrian in the Olympic programme.

The top two in each group, plus the six next best partnerships, go through to the Grand Prix Freestyle individual final. The top eight teams, of three riders apiece, will go through to the Grand Prix Special set to music - a more rigorous examination than the Test - where the team medals are decided.

Every score counts with no dropping of the worst score as in previous Games. In the Grand Prix Freestyle, routines are devised by the 18 riders themselves but must be set to music and contain 16 compulsory movements. Previous scores do not count and the best score takes gold. In eventing, featuring 65 horse-and-rider combinations, each phase counts towards the team and individual competition.

The dressage now takes place over two days, hence the name change from three-day eventing to just eventing, followed by the cross country round. Cross country is a unique test on an undulating, demanding course approximately six kilometres in length containing around 40 obstacles including fences, hedges and water jumps. There are penalty points for a horse refusing to negotiate an obstacle while a fall to a rider or horse results in elimination.

The first of two jumping tests decides the medals for the team competitions. Knocking down a fence, also known as having a rail down, results in four faults with competitors also liable for time faults. Following the first jumping round, the top 25 pairings go through to a second round to decide the individual medals. There are 75 horse-and-rider combinations in the individual competition with the top 30 progressing to the final the following day.

If there is a tie after the final, it goes to a jump-off to decide gold with the fastest time the tiebreaker if two riders have the same number of faults.

Twenty teams of three horse-and-rider combinations take part in the team qualifier with the top 10 going through to the final the next day. The order of the third round in the final is decided by the score after two rounds with the leading team going last. Again, unlike at previous Games where the worst of four scores could be dropped, each one of the three scores counts. Equestrian events made their Olympic debut in with two disciplines of equestrian driving , three of equestrian jumping , plus polo.

The two equestrian driving events - not staged again after - were the Four-In-Hand race competition, with four horses drawing a carriage, and Hacks And Hunters which bore similarities to modern-day dressage but also involved the horse-and-rider partnership being judged jumping two low fences. Neither polo nor equestrianism were part of the Games but the former did return in and made sporadic appearances until its final sighting at the Berlin Games.

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Stories Sport Eventing. Events Athletes Horses Rankings. Lifestyle Stories. Sport Stories. Event Highlights. The enclosure consists of a low white fence about 30cm high. The surface of the arena is made of sand or a sand mix with a non-slip base. The letters on the long sides of the arena, nearest the corners, are 6m in from the corners and 12m apart from each other. It has two main formats, the one day event and the three day event. The first day is the dressage event, similar to regular dressage competition but rules modified so not quite as demanding.

These fences consist of solidly built natural objects logs, stone walls, etc as well as various obstacles such as water, ditches, drops and banks, and combinations including several jumping efforts based on objects that would commonly occur in the countryside.

These fences are brightly coloured and consist of elements that can be knocked down. Red or white boundary flags are used to mark the start and finish lines, compulsory passages and define obstacles. Each obstacle on the course is numbered. The start and finish lines are marked by distinct signs.