The different types of equestrian competition

There are countless options when you want to take up riding. From show jumping to Cossack trick riding, the range of equestrian disciplines is very wide. Here is an overview of some of them.

Endurance

As the name suggests, the aim of endurance is to cover long distances out in the open with your horse, while knowing how to regulate your pace so the horse doesn't tire too quickly and doesn't go beyond its limits. Riders cover up to 160 km on a marked route, either at free or imposed speed. Endurance is a very popular discipline in the Arab countries. As a rule, veterinary checks are carried out before the start to confirm that the horse is fit to cover very long distances.

Vaulting

Performed as a team or individually, vaulting involves carrying out various figures on the back of a horse working in all three paces. During a vaulting routine the horse walks, trots and canters on a circle of no more than 15 metres in diameter. It also wears a surcingle, a type of girth fitted with handles and straps. This surcingle gives the vaulter something to hold on to. You can find one at La Sellerie Française.

Carriage driving

When talking about carriage driving, this broad discipline needs to be split into two main sub-disciplines: standard driving and traditional driving. In both, a driver handles one, two, three or even four horses harnessed to a two-wheeled vehicle. In traditional driving, the vehicle must be a period model.

Spread over three days of competition, carriage driving consists of a dressage test, a marathon and an obstacle-cone phase, a sort of slalom. These phases assess key skills and the driver's handiness. They also test the horses' excellent physical condition, obedience, honesty and suppleness. One particular feature here is that the driver may be accompanied by one or more team-mates seated in the vehicle.

Show jumping (CSO)

Show jumping, or CSO, is one of the leading disciplines in France. It accounts for more than 80% of competition activity. Here, horse and rider must jump a series of movable fences of varying height, width and spread without faults, and within the time allowed. Several difficulties are then spread around the course. A fall by horse or rider is punished with a penalty or elimination. Penalties are also given if poles are knocked down, if the horse refuses a fence or runs out. Riders who go clear are separated by the time they take to complete the course. This is a discipline that calls for agility as well as technique. Distances, the type of fence, angles and turns all have to be studied and taken into account in order to complete the course faster than the others.