Equestrian

Introduction

      Equestrian is a sport wich horses and people race together to win a golden medal. The sport is diveded in three disciplines: eventing, dressage and jumping. Others diciplines are individual and team competitions. Equestrian is the only sport which men’s and woman’s compete together.

      The olympic debut was in Paris, on 1900.

Rules

      Dressage:

      In a flat competition arena, the rider must prompt the horse to perform special movements in walk, trot and canter, as well as freestyle routines choreographed to music. Individual and team competitions are held simultaneously, in three phases:

The Grand Prix: the horse must perform pre-determined movements. Six teams and 32 individual riders progress.

The Grand Prix Special: again the horse must perform pre-determined movements. This phase determines the team winners and 18 individual finalists.

The Grand Prix Freestyle: determines the individual medallists, based on their final displays, which are performed to music.

Seven judges assess the precision of the movements and allocate scores from zero to ten. Three faults eliminate the rider.

      Jumping

      Riders and horses must complete a course of 8-12 obstacles – including fences, water jumps and walls – as quickly as possible without committing faults, such as toppling rails, hitting the water and refusing obstacles. Some faults, such as a fall, result in elimination. The winner is the rider with the least number of points.

Individual: After three elimination rounds, the top 20 compete for medals in two final rounds, the A and B finals. The rider with the best combined score from these two rounds wins.

Team: Teams are limited to four riders and each team discards its worst result. The best eight from the first round reach the final. The final standings are based on scores from both rounds. In the event of a tie, a jump-off decides the winner.

      Eventing:

      Considered the ‘equestrian triathlon’, eventing combines dressage, jumping and cross country. Riders compete on the same horse in all three disciplines, each of which has its own day.

A rider’s score (which counts for the individual and team events) is their total penalties from all three events, the lowest score winning. Teams have three or four riders but only the best three scores count.

In dressage, sometimes referred to as horse ballet, the rider must prompt the horse to perform special movements in walk, trot and canter.

Cross-country takes place on a course with 40-45 obstacles – such as logs, water jumps and fences – which must be completed in a given time.

In jumping, horse and rider must clear 9-12 obstacles, with the top 25 competing in a second round.

Top Medalists

      The top men’s medalists are Reiner Klimke (Germany) which six golden medals and two bronze medals; Hans Günther Winckler( Germany) which five golden medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal; and John Michael Plumb (United States) which two golden medals and four silver medals.

      And the top woman’s medalists are Anky van Grunsven (Netherland) which three golden medals, five silver medals and one bronze medal; Isabell Werth (Germany) which five golden medals and three silver medals; and Lisetott Linsennhoff (Germany) which two golden medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal.

Athletes and Contries

     The equestrian sport are 43 contries, including Brasil, United States, Canada and Great Britain.

      United States are 13 athletes, Brazil are 10, Canada are 8 and Great Britain are 14. The athletes are elder, 72% have  more than 31, and 62% of the athletes are men’s.

By Ethienne Fogaça Fernandes – 9ºC