pure vs eventing show jumping

I learned to jump at a small private barn as a young rider and teen, and had chances to play around with small fences while volunteering at a trail barn in the summers. But it wasn't really until college that I started to learn the finer points of coursework at a hunter/jumper farm in Rochester.

It was here that I learned how to ride a proper hunter course, including counting strides and simple lead changes. Plus occasionally we spiced it up with more advanced lines like roll backs, loops and commas. Lesson horses at this farm generally topped out at 2'6 as a rule, tho the more advanced horses who didn't work as much were allowed the occasional 2'9 fence.

As you might imagine, hunter courses on schoolies could get boring fast for brave fearless infallible college students (ahem, cough cough). So my trainer kept things interesting by letting her more advanced students ride all the greenies that came through the lesson program.

This way, the greenies got the mileage they needed to be ready for a broader range of rider skill levels. And the riders were able to have fun and experience more variety, all with the jumps staying within the mandated size range.

show jumping might actually be this horse's best phase at present, much to my amazement lol

So. Long story short, throughout this period of my riding life, I learned a LOT about riding 2'6 hunter courses haha. And a lot about introducing green horses to that style of work. It was a useful education that was loads of fun while staying relatively safe.

This education has served me reasonably well in getting started with eventing too. Mostly I already knew how to string a course of fences together. Thanks to riding hunters for so long, I already had a grasp on the importance of prompt lead changes (simple or otherwise), staying balanced through the ends of the ring, and using my eye to line up my turns and approaches to related distances.

And about those related distances, in hunter land the most common course type is some mirrored variation of "inside, outside, inside, outside / side, diagonal, side, diagonal" plus maybe a few singles. So as a rider of these courses, I'd basically go into the ring thinking something along the lines of, "Ok the outside lines are 7 strides and the diagonals are 5. Keep a steady rhythm and get the same strides all around and you'll be golden!"

Boyd Martin & Bonito, MDHT Open Prelim Winners

Prelim Eventing Show Jumping

Show jumping courses tend to be quite a bit different in construction. The fences are often airier with less fill, compared to solid-looking hunter fences with all their boxes and flowers and panels etc. SJ fences also often lack ground lines.

The courses don't follow the same rubric as hunters either. There's no standard track pattern, but rather standard elements present in courses for each level. This might include an in-and-out related line (1 or 2 strides), a triple combination, bending lines, or roll backs. There are also different styles of fences that can show up too - liverpools, triple-bars (oxers with three rails instead of two), fences with panels instead of rails, etc.

Obviously another major difference between show jumping vs hunters is how it's judged: time and faults, and nothing more. In eventing, the score is based on an optimum time: come in at or below this time and you accrue no additional penalties. Come in over time and you earn penalty points for each second over time.

Personally, I haven't ridden many timed show jumping courses so the clock isn't something I have a ton of experience managing. At most events tho, and esp at the lower levels, it doesn't really seem to be an influential difference maker in final placings.***

Caroline Martin & Cheranimo, 3rd Place MDHT CCI2*

2* Eventing Show Jumping

Basically it's up to the rider to manage how to ride cleanly at the appropriate speed for whatever level they're doing. Assuming we're comfortable with that speed, and have schooled all the expected types of combinations and fence styles... Well, honestly, my approach to riding an eventing SJ round isn't all that different from my hunter days. 

In other words, I learn my course, learn the striding in the combinations. Focus on getting prompt lead changes in my corners, re-balancing as needed in the ends of the ring, and lining up my turns and approaches to each combination. Sure, the patterns are different, but that's kinda it, right? It's still just all about the good basics of rhythm, track and balance.

That impression hasn't really changed for me at all through these past few years of watching eventing show jumping. 

Even at the highest levels of eventing, the courses sorta seem like this. Almost like a mix-n-match assortment of the various combinations and fence types expected for the level, with some longer runs and turns and approaches in between each combo to set up for everything. 

Daniel Clasing & MW Gangster's Game, 4th place at the Morven Horse Trials Open Intermediate

Intermediate Eventing Show Jumping

Those gaps between combos might not always happen in the "ends of the ring" like they would in a hunter round, but the effect is sorta the same. The course flows in pieces, with a combination of related distances and longer "prep" zones. Does that make sense?

Pure show jumping, on the other hand, is far less familiar to me. Sure, I've done some lower level local jumper shows over the years - but honestly never really treated them differently than my eventing show jumping courses. 

I've seen the Grand Prix show jumping on video, but never actually in person before watching the invitational Grand Prix held at Kentucky this year. And.... wow, it struck me as really different. Maybe somehow the camera movements or cuts make it harder to follow on video, but in person what really stood out to me was.... there really were NOT any of those "gaps" between combinations. 

Oliver Townend & Cooley Master Class, Kentucky CCI4*-L Winners

5* Advanced Eventing Show Jumping

Every single portion of the track seemed like an explicitly measured distance. Like, in the Karl Cook video below there is literally no distance between fences greater than 11 strides (at least, not on the lines he took). That might not exactly be a "related distance" -- it's reasonably easy to get more variation in that amount of space -- but it's definitely NOT a lot of breathing room.

My impression watching those rounds was that every rider knew exactly how many strides they planned to do between each and every fence on course.

Compare that to the MDHT or Morven videos where there are distinct gaps of longer runs between each of the combinations. Even in Oliver Townend's 5* Kentucky round there are some runs substantially longer than that. 

To me, this is fascinating. Like, we always hear about how it's so important to hold your balance and quality of canter, shape and form etc, consistently throughout an entire show jumping round in eventing. But the reality is that there is generally time and space built into the courses to recover if you get strung out or lose it a bit.

Karl Cook & Callou 24, Kentucky CSI3* Invitational Speed Round Winners

3* Grand Prix Ranking Class - Pure Show Jumping

Whereas at least in this one example of Grand Prix show jumping, any lapses in balance, pace or canter almost always caught up to the rider with a rail somewhere along the track. The only exceptions were those most freakish jumpers who could jump from seemingly anywhere haha. In that way, it seemed like a much more substantial test haha (not even considering how much bigger the fences are lol!).

Obviously we already know that eventing isn't really about show jumping, in the same way it isn't about dressage either. Advanced level eventing dressage tests are roughly equivalent to 3rd level pure dressage, after all. And this little comparison tells me, unsurprisingly, that it's the same situation in SJ too. The highest eventing show jumping tests are more or less equivalent to a mid-range pure show jumping course.

This isn't unexpected tho, right? Eventing is an entirely different kind of test for horse and rider.

It's interesting tho. I feel like I still have so much to learn about jumping haha, let alone courses above 3'. But upon watching the Kentucky Invitational class above, part of me suddenly had a very deep urge to try a lesson or clinic with a proper show jumper one of these days. I'm curious how their perspective might be different from the eventers I've ridden with.

We'll see, tho. What do you think? Do you see differences between the two types of disciplines in the videos above? Have you ridden in multiple jumping disciplines -- maybe you agree with some of my comparisons between them? Or disagree and think I've kinda oversimplified things? Do you generally think that good jumping is good jumping, no matter what the discipline? Or maybe there are important stylistic nuances distinguishing each sport that I'm missing?

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***Yes I totally scraped all the 2018 FEI eventing results from Event Entries live scoring and ran some calculations. Roughly 18% of FEI eventing competitors had time faults in show jumping in 2018, tho only 5% did so without also accruing jumping faults. These riders tended to be either in the top half of their class (ie, they had breathing room) or had already had trouble enough elsewhere that they weren't racing the clock. So the clock alone doesn't appear to be the difference maker in final outcomes. Happy to dig further should you be curious tho haha!***