Equestrian: Rules, Regulations and the best Indians

Equestrian's history traces back to ancient Greece, where initially, dressage was developed to prepare horses for war. It was later part of the ancient Olympic Games, around 680 BC, when chariot races came to the fore.

In modern Olympics, equestrian events made its way to the Olympic programme at Paris 1900. It, however, was not a part of the Games in the succeeding two editions but returned in 1912 and has been an integral part of the programme since then.

Women's equestrian events, meanwhile, were introduced in 1952. Let's take a look into the various Equestrian disciplines:

Dressage

Dressage is also referred to as horse ballet as the riders and their horses are judged on the basis of their movement, calmness, suppleness and flexibility. It should also be noted that in this phase the horse's enthusiasm to perform each element with minimum encouragement of the rider is judged.

Type of horse used the phase

Usually, the riders prefer to use horses of the warmblood breed. The middle-weight horses with a calm temperament and excellent concetration that are used for this events are found in large numbers in Europe.

Understanding the arena

The dressage phase uses small or standard arenas. In these arenas, different letters are assigned at various positions to specify where the movements have to be performed,

The small arena is 20mx40m and is usually used for lower levels of eventing. The letters used in this arena from the starting point are A-K-E-H-C-M-B-F and are used in clockwise direction.

The standard arena is 20mx60m is used for both dressage and eventing. The letters used in this arena are A-K-V-E-S-H-C-M-R-B-P-F.

Interestingly, each of these letters have specific meanings, which are as follows:

A: Ausgang (exit)

K: Kaiser (Emperor/King)

V: Vassal (Squire)

E: Ehrengast (Honoured Guest)

S: Schzkanzler (Chancellor)

H: Hofsmarshall (Lord Chancellor)

M: Meier (Steward)

R: Ritter (Knight)

B: Bannertrager (Standard Bearer)

P: Pferknecht (Groom)

F: Furst (Prince)

The letter 'C' is the spot where the jury is seated. It is believed that such a nomenclature came from the Royal stables of the German Court in Berlin and the letters specified where each rider should stand with his/her horse.

Tests and judgement

The highest level of competition in the dressage phase is the Grand Prix level. In this category, movements performed by the rider and horses are key, as the riders and horses compete against each other. These tests are completed on one rider on a horse basis.

Each team, combining rider and the horse, is judged or scored between a scale of 0-10. In this scale 0 determines 'not executed' movement while 10 is for 'excellent' movement.

Judges in the phase are registered through their national federation. The set of judges determining the equestrians mark them on a consistent basis depending on their movement. It is also essential that the final scoreline of all the judges fall within five per cent of each other.

Interestingly, a maximum of seven judges, can be seated at different positions of the arena for scoring and observation.

Jumping

The jumping category determines co-ordination between the rider and horse as it jumps over several barriers in the course. There are several obstacles in the course for jumping which includes ditches, low walls and parallel bars.

Type of horses used in the phase

Various breeds of horses have been used in the recent past for jumping. Incidentally, grade horses (crossbreed) have also emerged as champions, in the category. However, most show jumpers prefer tall horses - 64 inches (1.62 metres or 16 hands) - from the warmblood or thorough breeding at the Olympics for better results.

Rules and scoring

The basic objective of the jumping event is that the rider and horse pair completing the course with least penalties and in minimum time are considered as the winners.

These are the most common penalties at the event:

Jumping penalty: It refers to refusals or knockdowns and can heavily impact the score. Every refusal or knockdown results in adding four faults.

Time penalty: The time penalty comes into play when the rider and horse duo take more time than allowed to cross an obstacle. Every time an equestrian takes a second or fraction of second over time then 1-time penalty is added.

Eventing

The category tests an equestrian across the three disciplines of dressage, cross country and show jumping over a span of three to four days. It starts with the dressage phase on the first-two days followed by cross-country and concludes with show jumping.

Scoring system

The scoring system in the eventing category comprises of penalty points. It should be noted that the participant with the lowest combined point - dressage, cross-country and eventing -- is declared as the winner of the event.

Best equestrians from India

Tokyo-bound Fouaad Mirza in the No.1 eventer in India. He will be the third Indian equestrian after Indrajit Lamba (1996) and Imtiaz Anees (2000) to represent the country at the Olympics. It will be after more than two decades that an equestrian will represent India at the Games.

Anees, however, remains the only Indian to complete the mixed three-day event category at the Olympics. He finished 23rd among 31 participants. It will be now be upto Mirza to improve upon that performance.