NEWS NOTES

Faults in Show Jumpers Might be Predictable

Faults during show jumping events are driven by several different factors, including course length, arena surface, whether it is held indoors or outdoors, as well as, the experience and skill of the riders. A rivalry between riders also seems to drive faults, according to a recent study from the Czech Republic.

The researchers reviewed videos from 144 riders who jumped a total of 222 horses in 13 Western European League competitions. The elite competitions were held between 2017 and 2018 and looked at the first round and jump off. During the season, the horses jumped 9,114 jumps over 320 obstacles within 504 starts in first rounds of competitions and 141 starts in jump offs. The obstacles included oxers, oxers with water, triple bars, verticals, verticals with water and walls.

The researchers found that faults occurred more often at certain types of fence and their location in the course. The overall fault rate—a downed bar or refusal—was 7.85%, of these 8.12% occurred in the first round.

Many Factors at Play

Many factors played into the faults, however, the most faults occurred when jumping a vertical with water, and the least number of faults occurred when jumping a triple bar and wall, the researchers said. In both rounds, combinations led to the highest number of faults with the highest probability being on the first or second fence of a double obstacle.

Experience definitely played a role, with riders in subsequent competitions having fewer faults. “Riders’ experience could be associated with a better estimation of jump effort and easier adaptation to various courses of competitions, as well as with a better-balanced position during the jump compared to the less experienced riders,” the researchers wrote, adding that experience and education can also reduce rider injury.

“Other factors, such as the height, number and type of the obstacles, arrangement of fences, approach line, horse age and breed, or rider impact were associated earlier with faults in show-jumping competitions,” the researchers wrote.

“This suggests that faults are driven by various factors in different kinds and difficulty of competition, including different lengths of the course, the surface of the arena, the location of competitions (outdoors/indoor) or psychological factors such as rivalry of the riders.”

For more information:

Ničová K, Bartošová J. Still beyond a chance: Distribution of faults in elite show-jumping horses. PLoS ONE 2022 Mar 16. March 16, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264615 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0264615