February 28, 2003, Newsletter Issue #114: March--Jumper Tips

Tip of the Week

In the Jumper Classes, you usually have two or three rounds per class. . .usually. These rounds have a set time in which the complete course must be jumped UNDER. If you should go over the time set, you are awarded penalty points; these are usually a percentage of a point per second over the alloted time set. Most frequently it is a quarter of a point per second over time.

Next comes the knocking down of rails. Each fence that is changed by a rail or object within the fence, being knocked down from the fence by the horse during the jump that either changes the HEIGHT or the WIDTH of the fence is considered a "knockdown". If the fence does not change in HEIGHT (such as a middle rail being knocked out) or if the WIDTH of the fence is not altered (such as a center rail again) then there is no penalty points awarded to the horse/rider combination.

If there is what is considered a "knockdown" then the Horse/Rider combination receives a penalty "FAULT" of 4 points.

If a horse stops his/her forward momentum towards a fence, and either stops or turns back, then the Horse/Rider combination will receive 4 faults in some countries, and only 3 faults in others; which is considered and termed a "Refusal".

When the "class" is more than one round, USUALLY the points are accummulated from each round. More on this subject next week.

Here’s hoping you have Good GO!s every outing with horses.

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