Horses have a very interesting past. While a lot of equestrian competitions have a long history, jumping is quite new. The early shows just started at the turn of the 20th century. Before that, there had not been any need for horses to jump since there weren’t many fences. In the 1700s, fences were put up all over England, and horses which followed fox hounds needed to be able to jump. Once it was understood that horses could do this, horse jumping became a sport, not only for following fox hounds, but in itself too.

Training

European training schools were the first to start teaching horse jumping, and as time progressed, it was evident that the horses were great jumpers. The conceptual design and ideas were the work of Captain Fiederico Caprillli, an Italian instructor who created forward seat jumpers which helped enhance the agility and ability of the horses during the jump.

First Show

The 1st large international horse jumping show was organised in the early 1900s. The riders were mostly from the military, but soon after, civilians started participating. The first competitions were unorganised and had little rationale. As things continued, the British Show Jumping Association was created. Different countries had different rules even after this, but that all changed when the FEI, Federation Equestre Internationale, brought universal scoring to all competitions. By the year 1912, show jumping had also turned into an Olympic sport.

Show jumping

Show jumping basically involves jumping over obstacles including double, and even triple combinations with turns and direction changes. There are a lot of riders who travel for these events. Nowadays, horse jumping continues to grow as a sport and thrives as a very important section of horse equitation. So, what are you waiting for? Isn’t it time you witnessed one of these events first hand.