Eventing

Eventing Committee

Liz Sanders and Sue Nolan organise all Rallies, Training, Team Competitions, Area Selection Sessions and Team Training. In the Winter months rallies are more likely to follow a Combined Training or Arena Eventing format with Cross Country Schooling added into the calendar in the Spring time and when the weather allows. Please contact horsetrials@chhpc.org

Eventing Instructors

We like to use instructors who have competed and have experience within the sport of Eventing and so currently the Instructors we use are Sue Nolan, Ken Spencer, Jess Ayres and Annabella Williams  (AB) . We will use other instructors from time to time.

Eventing – The Sport

Eventing, or Horse Trials as the sport is also known, gives Pony Club Members a competition which needs courage, determination and all-round riding ability combined with the careful and systematic training of the horse. Riders gain a deeper understanding of the different disciplines open to them.

Its main aim is to encourage a higher standard of riding throughout the Pony Club and to give the young a greater interest in riding as both a sport and as a recreational activity.

The sport could be termed an “equestrian triathlon”. It involves working with your pony/horse both on the flat and over jumps. Today, the sport is most known for its cross-country phase where horse and rider gallop over an outside course of solid obstacles which the horse has never seen before.

Eventing is an Olympic discipline in which Great Britain has a long tradition amongst very competitive fields.

Eventing is split into three phases:

Dressage

Dressage is a French word meaning training. Precision, smoothness, suppleness and complete obedience showing off the horse’s gymnastic development.

Ideally it should look as if the horse is performing of its own accord, carrying its rider in complete harmony. The test is scored on each movement, rather like the scoring in figure skating, and the overall harmony and precision of the whole exercise is taken into consideration.

The combination are marked out of 10 for each movement. This is then added up and put through a coefficient to arrive at a mark which illustrates the number of penalties incurred on the test.

Show Jumping

The second phase takes place in the show jumping arena over coloured knock-down fences. The combination will get faults for knocked down fences (4 faults) and refusals  (4 faults) at a fence. The combination can also get time faults if they go over the allocated time. The aim is to finish your Show Jumping round with as few penalty points as possible!

Cross Country

Finally, the cross country phase is designed to test the horse and rider’s ability over a variety of fixed fences and undulating ground, it should also demonstrate the rider’s knowledge of pace and the use of his horse across country. A refusal results in 20 penalties added to your score. At Area and BE Level you get time faults for going over the optimum time. Again the idea is to finish with as few penalties as possible!

Scoring

At the end of the competition, scores for all the competitors are totalled. Each test is scored individually and the penalties accrued are added together for the final results. The lowest score is the winning score.

In the case of a team competition, the individual scores of each of the four team members are added together. If all four team members have completed the competition the best three scores count and the team with the lowest team total is pronounced the winner.