United States Eventing Association

The Development of Show Jumping at the Modern Olympic Games 1900-2008

Richard Jeffrey, a highly respected show jumping course designer, presented a visually appealing lesson about how the sport of show jumping has changed in Olympic competition since 1900. While not a seminar specifically targeted to eventing, many course designers who design show jumping courses for eventing were present, and the development of the sport was a great reminder of the developments of cross-country too. Richard said he was a collector of course plans and presented plenty of diagrams and photos of tracks and fences along with interesting tidbits about the specific Games.

One thing that was evident is the sport of show jumping has evolved and learned much the same way as the sport of eventing. Like eventing, only military officers, or gentleman, were initially allowed to compete, and women were not allowed at all. The 1952 Olympic Games at Helsinki was the first time civilian riders were allowed. This is also the year striped poles began to make an appearance.

In the early 1900s, show jumping courses looked very much like hunter derbies with cross-country type fences. It is not unusual to find a water jump on a show jumping course now—although the horses are meant to jump over it and not run through it—but ditches, coffins, and sunken road type fences were at one time negotiated on show jumping courses. Until the 1960 Olympics in Rome, show jumping courses followed a figure-eight pattern, and fences were often jumped multiple times in different directions.

In addition to a lesson on the changes in courses themselves, including scoring and the types of fences that were jumped, Richard has plenty of interesting facts to share as well. For example, at the time of the 1928 Games at Amsterdam, horses were still shipped overseas via boat. The American team acquired a treadmill and used this device to keep the horses fit during their journey to Europe.

The show jumping course decoration at the Atlanta Games in 1998 was heavily themed based on the location. The course in Atlanta depicted Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, the Arizona deserts, and the American space program. This idea of themed courses continues today.

Equestrian Sports Psychology

Sports Psychologist Daniel Stewart had the room rolling with laughter during his discussion about positive thinking before and during competition. The theme was to ride above distractions and he gave several examples of ways to do so. He encouraged riders to change negative thoughts into positive thoughts and to reinforce a positive attitude in a creative way. At the end of the discussion, Daniel gave the room “homework,” telling attendees to pick their three favorite strategies to implement and teach to others.

Daniel explained that music is a motivator and can help riders to ride well or better. Music develops rhythm, harmony, and tempo. He encouraged riders to choose their favorite motivating song and use it to deliver a message and put them in the right mindset for competition. One example he used was a rider who sang “Bad Boy” as he approached a massive corner at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.

Daniel said that the letter “C” is the most positive word in the English language, while the letter “D” is considered the least positive letter because of the prefix “dis-“. He encouraged riders to surround themselves with positive words beginning with the letter “C,” particularly the word “confidence.”

Daniel gave several examples of sports psychology techniques such as pre-competition rituals, memory motivation, riding rehearsals, mental rotation, and desensitization. He closed the discussion reminding the riders to never forget why they ride. He encouraged them to laugh, learn, and love.

“We never started to ride because we love blue ribbons,” he said with a smile.

Developing Your Eye: Judging YEH & FEH Conformation and the FEH Open Forum

Susan Graham-White, Future Event Horse Committee Chair, gave attendees plenty of visual aids to understand what conformation qualities are judged and why at YEH and FEH competition. She reviewed the conformation of young horses, FEH success stories, and current top competitive mounts.

The group analyzed several pictures of horses for “overall impression” before discussing specific qualities of horses’ conformation. Susan also emphasized the proper presentation of an FEH or YEH entrant, stressing the quality of hoof maintenance and grooming. However, she explained that baby antics, unless dangerous, and superficial scars or other visual flaws that do not affect a horse’s movement or potential is not penalized.

The room moved right on to the FEH Open Forum, where it was clear that setting a standard of judging and what is expected of high level horses in terms of conformation was of key importance to the attendees. Susan said that all horses are appropriate to bring to the FEH program; it is important to produce amateur riding horses in addition to upper level competition mounts.

Susan presented one idea pertaining where the FEH program is going and why. Because training and preparing judges for judging yearlings, two-year-olds, and three-year-olds at a standard level is an expensive, time consuming task, it has been suggested that the USEA FEH program piggy-back on the well-established and respected dressage young horse program. This does not mean that the USEA will not continue to participate, but FEH competitions may be held at dressage competitions and may also be integrated into the breeders’ series championship finals held at Dressage at Devon.

FEH Committee member Robin Walker said that because the FEH program needs more structure, experience, and facilities, taking advantage of other sports with established young horse programs seems like a sensible direction to start. There was clear concern in the room about this proposal. Attendees were mostly concerned about how their horses would be marketed to the eventing community if they were competing at dressage shows, and they wanted to be sure their horses would be judged to eventing standards and not as if they were a dressage horse. Susan responded that outlining specific score sheets for the eventer horses is being worked on, and that this is so far the best solution based on the resources currently available to the program.

Get the Most out of your Pre-Purchase Exam

Max Corcoran has groomed for Karen and David O’Connor for ten consecutive years and is very experienced with the ins and outs of pre-purchase exams. She shared some of her insight with a large crowd Friday afternoon. Her presentation material was compiled with the assistance of Dr. Christiana Ober.

Max said to be sure to get the correct veterinarian for the job. If your own vet cannot be present at a pre-purchase exam, get a recommendation for another vet. It is important that the vet performing the pre-purchase exam knows what the horse’s job will be with his or her potential new owner and what level the horse will compete. It is important to have a vet one can communicate with, and Max said don’t be afraid to walk away and find another vet.
Throughout the discussion, Max repeatedly referred to the clinical exam, which consists of walking and jogging the horse in a straight line and on a circle, performing flexions if necessary, and allowing the vet to see the horse lunged and ridden on firm and soft surfaces to evaluate soundness. Plenty of technologies allow potential buyers to see flaws in the mechanical and physical make-up of a horse, but not all of these flaws will directly affect the horse’s competitive potential. So, even if x-rays and scopes are not perfect, refer to the clinical exam to assess the horse’s overall ability based on its intended purpose and what the new owner can handle in terms of management.
Max stressed the importance of insuring a horse before paying for it. She also suggested having your own vet review x-rays and reports if he or she did not perform the exam.

Dr. Kevin Keane, who is receiving the 2011 Amateur Rider of the Year award, stated that veterinarians have ethical guidelines to abide by when performing pre-purchase exams. He said comments should be restricted to the medical aspects of the horse, and it is considered unethical to assist in the negotiation of the value of the horse. It is also not necessary for a veterinarian to comment on the horse’s temperament unless it appears to be a danger to its handlers.

Rule Change Open Forum

Malcolm Hook led the Rule Change Forum where proposed rule changes that would be presented to the Board of Governors’ meeting on Saturday. The following key proposals were discussed:

• The first proposal discussed is changing the rule on false starts which currently penalizes a rider who leaves the box early with five penalty points added to their score. The new rule does away with this penalty. The rider must still be “under control of the starter.” This rule proposal met with little resistance. A professional scorer stated that this rule will reduce result delays and errors in scoring.

• Riders may have a whip handed to them by a fence judge or bystander along with headgear or spectacles. Therefore, the word “whip” will be added back to the rule’s wording.

• The top rail of a stadium fence must be constructed with solid timber poles. This no longer allows the use of hollow PVC pipes as jump rails.

• At the suggestion of the Professional Horseman’s Council, the rule that Advanced and Intermediate divisions with more than 40 entries must be divided will be moved to be removed. This would give organizers the option to divide the divisions at their discretion.

• The liveliest topic was the revisit to the one fall and out rule. Currently, riders who fall from their horses at any time in competition may not remount and are immediately eliminated. This rule was pursued for safety reasons and met with significant complaint from riders. The new rule proposal would allow Beginner Novice through Training level riders to continue after one fall as long as they still were uninjured and had control of their horse. The parameters of “control” were of great concern. The riders do not have to keep their hands on the reins, but if the horse “escapes” to the barn or too far from the rider on course, the rider may not continue. The rider also may not remount until an air vest, if worn, deflates, which takes several minutes and it was mentioned that the vest would not deflate before a lower level rider exceeded the time allowed. It was also pointed out that if a hybrid air vest was worn and removed to help it deflate faster, the rider would be eliminated for removing their protective gear on course. Malcolm stated he had many reservations about the wording of this rule and said the committee would revisit the wording and discuss the topics of “control” and “escape.”