More on Eventing

Eventing is an equestrian event which comprises dressage, cross-country and show-jumping. This event has its roots as a comprehensive cavalry test requiring mastery of several types of riding. It has two main formats, the one day event (1DE) and the three day event (3DE). It has previously been known as The Military, Horse Trials, and Combined Training.

Contents:
1. Non-Olympic Competition
2. Safety
3. Other Notes
4. Short vs. classic format
5. International Competition
6. Domestic Competition
7. The type of horse required

Non-Olympic Competition:
In its early days, the sport was most popular in Britain, and the British gave the competition a new name, the "Three-Day Event," due to the three day time span of the competition. In America, the sport was called "combined training," due to the three different disciplines and types of training methods needed for the horse.

The first annual, Olympic-level event developed was the Badminton Horse Trials, held each year in England. First held in 1949, Badminton was created after a poor performance by the British Eventing Team at the 1948 Olympic Games, with the purpose of being a high-class preparation event, and as extra exposure for the military horses, who very rarely had the chance to compete. At first, only allowed British riders to compete (although women were allowed, despite being banned at this time to ride in the Olympics), but the competition is now open to all. To this day, Badminton is one of the most prestegious competitions to win in the world.

The second three-day competition to be held at Olympic level each year was the Burghley Horse Trials, first held in 1961. Burghley is longest running international event.

The first CCI held outside of Britain on an annual basis was the Rolex Kentucky Three Day, held each year in Lexington since 1978.

Safety:
Since the first few events, course design has become increasingly more focused on the safety of the horse and rider. Fences are built more solidly than in the earlier days, encouraging a bold jump from the horse, which actually helps prevent falls. The layout of the course and the build of the obstacles incourage the greatest success from the horse. Safety measures such as filling in the area between corners on cross-country or rails of a fence help prevent the entrapment of the legs of the horse, decreasing the number of serious falls or injuries.

The newest improvement in cross-country safety is the frangable fence, which uses a pin to hold the log of an obstacle up. Should a horse hit the obstacle, the pin would break, and the horse would simply fall to the ground. This technique helps to prevent the most dangerous situation on cross-country: when the horse hits a solid fence between the forearm and chest, and somersaults over, sometimes falling on the rider (this fall has indeed caused the death of several riders, as well as horses).

Leg protection for horses has also improved. Very little was used in the early days, even on cross-country. However, it is now seen on every horse and almost every level.

Rules protecting riders have improved as well. RIders are now required to wear a safety vest on cross-country, as well as a jumping helmet with fastened harness when ever jumping.

Other Notes:
From the beginning, event horses had to carry a minimum weight of 165 lbs. (including rider and saddle) during the endurance test. This rule was dropped in 1997.

Short vs. classic format:
Recently, the phases A,B, and C have been excluded on cross-country day from 3-day events. This is mainly due to the fact that the Olympic Committee was considering dropping the sport of eventing from the Olympics, due to the cost and large area required for the speed and endurance phase with a steeplechase course and several miles of roads-and-tracks. To save the sport, the "short format" was developed by the FEI, which excluded the phases A, B, and C on endurance day, while retaining phase D. The last Olympic Games that included the long, or "classic," 3-day format was the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, where American David O'Connor won the individual gold medal aboard 16 year old Custom Made.

The change in format has brought about controversy. Many wanted the continuation of the classic format, believing it was the "true test of horse and rider." Others believed the classic format was superior because it taught horsemanship, due to the extra preparation needed to condition the horse and the care required after the several miles of endurance day. However, some upper-level riders claim to prefer the short format, as they believe it saves wear-and-tear on their horses and allows the horse not only to compete in more 3-days each season, but decreases the chance of injury to the horse. Despite this purported belief, many upper riders prepare their horses for the short format using the same conditioning and training as for the long format, thus undermining the basis for their rationale. Breeders of heavier horses with more outcrosses than in the traditional thoroughbred also have supported the short format, perhaps as a way to showcase their breeding programs.

In the United States, one- and two-star level events usually will offer "with steeplechase" (the classic format). However, three-star events will now only offer the short format. The Rolex Kentucky Three Day, the only four-star in the United States, plans to alternate years between the short format and the classic format. In Britain, however, most plan to switch to the short format. This includes the 2 four-star 3-day events that are run in Britain, Badminton and Burghley, which will begin running the short format in 2006.

International Competition:
International events have specific categories and levels of competition. CCI (Concours Complet International, or International Complete Contest) is one such category and defines a three-day event that is open to competitors from any foreign nation as well as the host nation.

CCI : International Three-day event (Concours Complet International)
CIC: International One-day event (Concours International Combiné)
CCIO: International Team Competitions (Concours Complet International Officiel). Includes the Olympics, the World Championships, the Pan Am Games, and other continental championships
The levels of international events are identified by the number of stars next to the category; there are four levels in total. A CCI* is for horses that are just being introduced to international competition. A CCI** is geared for horses that have some experience of international competition. CCI*** is the advanced level of competition.

The very highest level of competition is the CCI****, and with only five such competitions in the world (Badminton, Burghley, Kentucky, Adelaide, and Luhmuhlen Horse Trials) it is the ultimate aim of many riders. The Olympics and World Championships are also considered CCI****.

One, two and three star competitions are roughly comparable to the Novice, Intermediate and Advanced levels of British domestic competition, respectively, and to the Preliminary, Intermediate, and Advanced levels of American domestic competition, respectively.

Domestic Competition:
In the United States, 3-Day Eventing is broken down into the following levels:
Beginner Novice: X-C and Stadium fences 2 ft 7 in, ditch 4 ft, drops 3 ft 3 in, 300-350 m/min (meters per minute) on cross country.
Novice: X-C fences 2 ft 11 in, ditch 6 ft 7 in, drops 3 ft 11 in, 350 to 400 m/min; Stadium fences 2 ft 11 in
Training: X-C fences 3 ft 3 in, ditch 7 ft 11 in, drops 4 ft 7 in, 420 to 470 m/min; Stadium fences 3 ft 3 in
Preliminary: X-C fences 3 ft 7 in, ditch 9 ft 2 in, drops 5 ft 3 in, 520 m/min; Stadium fences 3 ft 7 in
Intermediate: X-C fences 3 ft 9 in, ditch 10 ft 6 in, drops 5 ft 11 in, 550 m/min; Stadium fences 3 ft 11 in
Advanced: X-C fences 3 ft 11 in, ditch drops 11 ft 10 in, 570 m/min; Stadium fences 4 ft 1 in
(Beginner Novice through Advanced is recognized by the USEA).

BE Levels of eventing:
Introductory: maximum fence height 0.90 m Pre-Novice: max fence height 1.00 m
Novice (equatable to USEA Preliminary level): max fence height 1.10 m
Intermediate Novice: max fence height 1.10 X-C; 1.15 m Stadium
Intermediate: max fence height 1.15 m
Advanced Intermediate: max fence height 1.15 m X-C; 1.20 Stadium
Advanced: max fence height 1.20 m

In Australia, the levels are as follows:
Introductory: XC: fences maximum height 0.80 m ditch 1.40 m drops 1.0 m 400 m/min; Stadium fences: 0.8m Preliminary: XC: fences maximum height 0.95 m ditch 2.00 m drops 1.2 m 450 m/min; Stadium fences: 0.95 m
Pre Novice: XC: fences maximum height 1.05 m ditch 2.40 m drops 1.4, 500 m/min; Stadium fences: 1.05 m
Novice: XC: fences maximum height 1.10 m ditch 2.80 m drops 1.6 m 520 m/min; Stadium fences: 1.15 m
Intermediate: XC: fences maximum height 1.15 m ditch 3.20 m drops 1.8 m 550 m/min; Stadium fences: 1.20 m
Advanced: XC: fences maximum height 1.20 m ditch 3.60 m drops 2.0 m 570 m/min; Stadium fences: 1.25 m

The Canadian Levels are as follows:
Entry (equatable to USEA Beginner Novice) Pre-Training (equatable to USEA Novice): XC: fences maximum height 0.91 m ditch 1.50 m drops 1.10 m; Stadium fences: 0.96m
Training: XC: fences maximum height 1.00 m ditch 1.80 m drops 1.40 m; Stadium fences: 1.05 m
Preliminary: XC: fences maximum height 1.10 m ditch 2.80 m drops 1.60 m; Stadium fences: 1.15 m
Intermediate: XC: fences maximum height 1.15 m ditch 3.20 m drops 1.80 m; Stadium fences: 1.20 m Advanced: XC: fences maximum height 1.20 m ditch 3.60 m drops 2.00 m; Stadium fences: 1.25 m

The Horse Required:
Thoroughbreds and part-thoroughbreds usually dominate the sport because of their stamina and athletic ability, although many warmbloods and warmblood-thoroughbred crosses excel. In the UK, Irish sport horses, have been popular for many years. In the lower levels, it is possible for any breed, if well-trained and conditioned, to do well.

The horse should be calm and submissive for the dressage phase, with good training on the flat. For cross-country, the horse must be brave, athletic, and (especially at the higher levels) fast with a good galloping stride and great stamina. An event horse must be very rideable to succeed, as a horse that will not listen to a rider on the cross-country phase may end up taking a fall at a jump. The horse does not have to possess perfect jumping form, but should be safe over fences and have good scope. The best event horses are careful over jumps, as those who are not tend to have stadium rails knocked on the last day.