| Show Jumping is a newer equestrian sport. It started in the late 1800s in England when the Encloser Acts were enforced. This possed new challenges for the fox hounds. The act made obstacls for this sport so they needed horses that were capable of jumping the fences.
The early shows were held in France, and wasn't popular as the spectators and couldn't watch the jumping. After the introduction of these
events, fences began to appear in the arena. This was known as
‘Lepping’. After 15 years ‘Lepping’ competitions were
brought to Britain and by 1900 most of the shows
had ‘Lepping’ classes with the ladies in their own classes, but they rarely attracted more than 20 competitors.
Whilst, an Italian Instructor Captain Fiederico Caprilli heavily influenced
a forward seat and his ideas that the forward position would
help the balance of the horse negotiating obstacles. This style is commonly used today in jumping.
The first big showjumping class was held in England in the
Horse of the Year Show at Olympia in 1907. There was no
rules for the sport at this time. The judges marked on their own
opinions. Rules became into affect in 1907 but before that there were no penalties for a refusal were sometimes asked to miss the fence to please the spectators.
The number of faults depended on which limb hit the fence.
Water jumps were at least 15 feet (5 metres) wide. Higher jumping would start with a pole at around 5 foot but was later abandoned because the horses would go under the
pole so more poles were added and what is known as fillers came into use. The first showjumping at the Olympics was in 1912. |
