Olympic Equestrian: Dressage, Eventing & Jumping

Greenwich Park, Greenwich, London
Olympic Equestrian: Dressage, Eventing & Jumping image
Ad
Event has ended
This event ended on Thursday 9th of August 2012
Admission
Ticket only
Location

Greenwich Park, Greenwich, London

Nearest Tube/Rail Stations
Westcombe Park 0.57 miles

Dressage (50 athletes, 2 gold medals): Thursday 2 August – Wednesday 8 August

Eventing (75 athletes, 2 gold medals): Saturday 28 July – Tuesday 31 July

Jumping (75 athletes, 2 gold medals): Saturday 4 – Thursday 9 August

Horses have been the cornerstone of the military for over 2000 years where military individuals competed in dressage tests to improve skill and agility. Over the years, the eventing competition was developed to assist further with military training. Eventing involves the three main elements of dressage, cross country and show jumping.

Despite the long history of equestrian sports, it only really generated widespread acclaim thanks to the Olympic Games and the subsequent setting up of the governing body Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) in 1921. Equestrianism entered the Olympic games in 1912 with just 70 horses.

Interestingly, equestrian sports are the only types of events in the Olympic Games in which men and women compete against each other on an equal footing. As well as being equal between men and women it is also the only sport in which animals are involved.

There are three main types of events in the equestrian games, dressage, eventing and jumping. In dressage the horse and riders work together in an arena which is sized 60 metres by 20 metres. A series of ballet like movements are undertaken and points awarded for the execution of each of the moves. Eventing is a combination of dressage on day one, jumping over cross country obstacles on day two and show jumping on day three. Show jumping is undertaken in an arena with multiple obstacles which need to be jumped, knocking any of them down or having a refusal incurs penalty points.

Tags: Sport

User Reviews

There are no user reviews