Spotless Vision

03-July-2006

An accident while SJ training means that Oscar is out of action for at least 6 weeks. Although not seriously injured, swelling in a rear leg needs treatment and box rest. However, the vet is confident that Oscar will make a full recovery. Richard is devastated and has to cancel competition entries, but he realises that Oscar's future is more important than any short term goals.

7-February-2006

The pair travelled to Arena UK , near Grantham, for some show jumping practice. Oscar tackles a ‘clear round’ course for the first time with some aplomb. The twosome also received positive comments from the resident Instructor, who coincidently had ridden & competed one of Oscar’s sisters.

Eventing, with roots in the military, is steeped in history and is one of the UK's most successful sports in terms of medals won at major Championships. The following text gives a brief explanation of Eventing and a background history to the sport.

.........Continued........The vast majority of competitions are One Day Events - so called because all three phases take place on the same day - first the dressage, second the SJ and finally the XC. In 2004, 198 events were organised nation-wide with 182 actually being held, providing some 59,079 competition opportunities.

At the higher levels of competition in the Intermediate and Advanced levels each phase takes place on a separate day - hence ‘Three Day Event’. At a Three Day Event both the dressage and SJ tests are longer and more difficult than those at One Day Horse Trials. While the XC phase is much more substantial and is called the “speed and endurance” which is comprised of four elements in the long format and simply XC in the short format. In long format (with steeplechase), the competitor firstly rides about 2 1/2 miles on roads and tracks mainly at a trot. Secondly there is a steeplechase course of about 1 1/4 miles over 8 brush fences at a fast gallop followed immediately by a further 3+ miles of roads and tracks before a 10 minute compulsory rest before the start of the cross-country. During the 10 minute rest the horses are checked by a veterinary surgeon to ensure they are fit enough to start the XC. The XC is about 3 miles long over approximately 27 obstacles, the size depends on the level of the competition.

Three Day Events and International One Day Events are given a star rating according to their level of difficulty: Novice (1 star), Intermediate (2 star), Advanced/Europeans (3 star) and Championship/Worlds/Olympics (4 star).

Domestically, competition horses are graded according to the amount of points won at affiliated events: Grade I/Advanced (61 or more points), Grade II (21-60 points), Grade III/Novice (1-20 points), Grade IV/PRE-NOVICE (0 points).
The Championships follow in a four year cycle: Europeans, World Equestrian Games. Europeans, Olympics. Qualification is achieved by competing in selected 3 and 4 star events and their subsequent selection process by the NGB.
International Three Day Events take place in 22 countries throughout the world from South America to Canada and from Belarus to Australia and New Zealand. But the country which stages the most international Three Day Events is Great Britain with ten events - 4 star (Burghley and Badminton), 3 star (Bramham, Blair and Blenheim), 2 star (Burgie, Windsor, Hartpury College and Weston Park) and 1 star (Blair Castle, Hartpury College, Aldon and Weston Park).
Great Britain is the most significant country in the sport of Eventing, evidenced by the fact that many of the world’s leading riders (who are not British) choose to be based here. Such riders include Andrew Nicholson and Blyth Tait (New Zealand), Matt Ryan and Andrew Hoy (Australia) and many Japanese, Korean and Scandinavian competitors; while squads from many other countries frequently visit the UK to compete and train for periods of many weeks at a time.