This is a great help to team trainers and managers when selecting teams.
Dear members,
I am the eventing team manager and would obviously say that eventing is arguably the ultimate equestrian sport! For those of you who are new to the sport or would like a refresher here is some of the information I shared on Friday. Please read to the end for the competition details for 2024.
It is a sport which we start training and competing for in pony club, please follow the following link:
https://pcuk.org/sports/eventing/ and our members often compete in BE events (10 yrs up) as well as pony club and other unaffiliated events. There is
no requirement from pony club to compete BE. Eventing is also often called a one day event or ODE.
You can compete as an individual and it is you the rider and the same horse/pony that complete all three phases. You always complete a dressage test first – this is where you ride through a set series of movements and show the harmony between you and your horse/pony. The tests get more difficult as you go up the levels and they are different at PC and BE competitions; they are also different to pure dressage only competitions at PC. If you qualify for a championship, then they are also different again! Your good marks out of ten for each movement are added up and a % worked out and subtracted from 100 to give a starting penalty score. Anything less than 30 penalties is a very good start.
You will then complete your show jumping phase, at more prestigious competitions especially those over three days you will complete this last. The show jumping is often a shorter course than in a pure SJ competition and is to ensure you and your Horse/pony are capable of attempting the cross country XC test. You are given penalty points for every fence knocked down and every stop. There is a maximum number of two stops allowed. There will be a minimum requirement not to have more than 24 faults – these penalties are added to your dressage score to give you a two-phase score.
You then finish with the tough test of accuracy and bravery of riding your horse/pony over fixed cross-country fences (other than those with frangible pins) over a set distance and from PC 90cm upwards against an optimum time. The penalties are more expensive XC with 20 penalties for your first stop and a limit on the number of stops you can have around the course to avoid a welfare concern with an over tired horse/pony and rider struggling on the course. Your penalties are then added up to give you a total penalty score for the three phases and it includes any time faults for XC (and SJ).
The lower the score the better and FoD is the ultimate to finish having added nothing to your dressage score. Although that doesn’t guarantee you the win if someone has achieved a really low dressage score and adding any penalties for the jumping phases, they finish on a score lower than you.
If the scores are equal, then the person who is closest and under the optimum time on the XC is placed higher.
If this hasn’t put you off and you want to know more then, please ask at the information evening or by contacting me.
If you are in a team event, then the team will usually have four members and the three lowest scores are added together to get the team score. The team result is then worked out with the lowest score being the winner.
