What is an Equestrian Jumper?

An equestrian jumper is a horse and rider pair that competes in the discipline of show jumping. A show jumping competition tests a horse’s athleticism, agility and tractability while testing the rider’s precision, accuracy and responsiveness. Depending on the level of show, there may also be a time element to the competition, with the horse-and-rider combination who completes the course in the shortest amount of time winning.

Show jumping is a competitive sport that requires a great deal of time and money to participate in, and most riders don’t make a living from competing alone. However, it’s possible for a skilled rider to reach the upper levels of the sport and earn a living through prize money. This requires a stupendous amount of training, luck and money to achieve.

There are a wide range of classes in the equestrian jumping discipline, and it is important for riders to know what type of class they are participating in before walking the course. Knowing if the class is a speed class, match the clock, immediate jump off or table A jumping is important because if a rider goes off-course even for a single fence they will lose significant time and potentially be eliminated from the competition.

The most common classes in show jumping are the hunters and jumpers. Hunters are a subjective competition where the judge scores the horse on how well it looks over the course of obstacles. The obstacles in hunters are designed to represent the kind of challenges a hunter might encounter during a hunt. The judges are looking for the horses to look effortless as they go over the course of obstacles and the jumps must be solid enough to represent those obstacles. Jumpers are a more objective competition with the fastest and fewest faults winning. Jumpers are a timed event and the jumps are made out of poles.

Generally, the height of the jumps is measured in inches and a point is added to that measurement for every inch it is higher than the minimum height. There are many different types of jumps, including verticals, oxers and combinations. A vertical is a standard with no spread, oxers have a wide, flat bottom and a stepped top, and combinations are two or more standards in a set. All the elements of a particular combination must be jumped in order and if any are refused the horse and rider will receive four faults for that refusal.

At the highest levels of show jumping, there is often a jump-off round. The horse and rider pair that finishes with the fewest faults in the jump-off wins. Riders are allowed to walk the initial course before the competition but they cannot walk the jump-off course before the event.