In my opinion, what makes 3 day eventing so great is it's long standing history. To understand the sport we need to go back about 2,500
years to ancient Greece.
A military commander by the name of Xenophon discovered that military horses were better suited for battle when in tune with it's rider. Up
until this time, most horses were ridden in a more barbaric style which worked, but was not as sufficient as what was soon discovered to be
"classical dressage." Xenophon took what seemed to be a great deal of time to train an equine to be well balanced and equipped for
whatever may be faced on the battle field. Almost every dressage movement that you may see today in a dressage show were developed
beginning in the ancient Greece era for the benefit of the soldiers.
Moving up in time to the medieval and early european eras there is also a history of competitions similar to our modern eventing shows. At
this time, competitions were held to find the best horses fit for battle that would then serve in the king's army. The horses were first put
through a series of ground movements similar to what we call a "dressage test" which as we know, stemmed from what Xenohpon started.
These horses were then tested over several jumps to prove agility and later tested on their endurance to ride long distance. Only the best
equines were then kept for the king of the time.
As we know, there is no need for military equines in our modern day of technology. Despite the lack of need, dressage and eventing
is still practiced as an art form and
first started as a sport in the Olympics in 1912. Modern day eventing is a thrill to watch for anyone!
So in this time period, what is modern day eventing?
Three day eventing can be best described as an equine/ human triathalon team. Most event shows are held over a period of three
days hence the name. The first day a dressage test is composed in front of the judges. All dressge tests are performed in a rectangular
arena which has a series of letters used as a form of markers for the rider to use as a reference for when and what movement needs
to be carried out. They are being judged on a series of components such as correct form, balance, accuracy and compliance in the equine.
The second day of eventing is to prove the bravery and stamina in the rider and equine. This is called Cross Country jumping. Horse
and rider have a very long enduring set of natural
looking obstacles to jump that can be over a mile to three miles long depending on
the competition level. Some of these jumps may be log jumps, ditches, steep hills, banks and water complexes to jump in and out
of all on a time limit.
The third and final day is stadium jumping. Stadium jumping is usually held in a ring where the rails of the jumps will fall if even
gently brushed making the competition tight and nerve racking! Points are added for knocked rails and time faults.
All points in the eventing shows are accumulative over the three days and the winner is the one with the least amount of faults.
Eventing is a long standing and exciting sport that anyone can enjoy on any level of advancement. Having a team mate in which
you can accomplish goals, overcome fears and find a thrill all without even a spoken word between the two is what makes
eventing such a unique sport! Anyone can find their nitch within this discipline of riding.
