There are different types of classes of horses that compete in these events. The two most common classes are the Hunter class and the Jumper class. Hunter class horses are judged by their style, how they look and their manners in performance. The show jumper horses are judged with a point system. The winning horse will have the highest score due to little or no faults given during the course. The Hunter class requires that the horse be calm and have a special kind of style. The Jumper class horse needs to be a bold horse with strength, speed and accuracy.
There are a variety of different things that will create faults that will be given to the horse which will lower its score. Those would be knockdown or refusals as well as time violations. Note that there is no fault given to the horse if the knockdown did not result in making the jump shorter. That means it is alright for the horse to knock down a bar that is in the middle or the bottom.
If the horse refuses to do a certain jump and it interferes with the competition, that horse can then receive up to four faults for the one refusal.
There are time penalties during show jumps as well and that is based upon the average time it should take to run a certain course and if they go over the average time then they will receive one fault for ever second that they go over the allotted time.
Another fault is called the combination fault. This is when the course happens to have repeat areas during the course and the horse has to go through a particular area more than once. Should this area be an area that the horse refuses to do each time they get to that point, they will be given four faults for each refusal. So if the horse decides to refuse that area two times in a row, he would receive 8 faults.
The type of equipment or tack they use are English style saddles with a design called close contact is a saddle that allows the horse and rider to have more freedom during a jump. They also will have bridles that are attached to a noseband and may or may not have a bit in the mouth. The bits are examined before allowing their use. They want to make sure it will not hurt the horse.
There are several different competitions available around the world. Grand Prix is one where the horses are made to jump ten to sixteen different types of jumps. Some of which reach as high as six and a half feet. This particular course can be seen in the Olympics.
Other types would be the Speed Derby, Puissance, a competition where the show jump can get as high as seven feet, Six Bar, riders and horses are required to jump six show jumps that are in a row beginning with the lowest in height to the tallest, Gamblers Choice, the rider picks own course, Maiden or Novice, for horses with only one to six wins, courses are easier and time limits are longer and a lot more.
The show jumps themselves vary as well. The Vertical is one where the horse must jump several different poles place on top of one another and there is no width for the horse to deal with. Another one is the Oxer and what that is, is when they put two Vertical jumps together adding some width to the jump for the horse. The Triple Bar is when they use a fence type jump with three different height bars. They have a Wall jump made up of material to look like bricks and many more types are available.
The two main breeds that frequent these types of competitions are the Warmbloods and of course the Thoroughbred. The competitions however; are not limited to just those two breeds, many horses that have not come from this stock have competed successfully.
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