Three-Day Eventing

Show Jumping

There are many disciplines to horse riding from dressage to long distance but here we look at three-day eventing.

Three- day eventing is stretched over three days. The first is dressage, where the horse and rider perform complex movements like piaffe and passage.
The second is cross-country, where the horse and rider jump obstacles made of hardwood such as benches and solid log jumps into water. Cross-country needs control and coordination between horse and rider and demands skill and good judgement.

The third day is show jumping where you jump painted wood or plastic fences with knock able poles. Errors include the horse refusing (stopping in front of a jump), running out (running off to the side of the fence. This is said to always be the riders fault for not properly being in control) and jumping the wrong jump, either forgetting the course or being out of control and knocking the poles off.

On the first show jumping error you lose two marks, on the second you lose four marks and on the third you are eliminated.

If you are just a child and want to be a three-day eventer you can start by going to one day only with much lower fences. Otherwise you can go to a local equestrian centre and do show jumping, cross- country or dressage on its own.