Equestrian at the Summer Olympics

Equestrian at 2008 Summer Games: Equestrian is the "expertise to drive or ride a horse". Horses have been trained and used for transport and other practical works since the historical days. They have also been used for sports for a long time. Various types of horse riding are included in the program of equestrian events. Earlier some of the equestrian events were

open for only military officers. The equestrian events consist of three disciplines. The disciplines are-dressage, eventing and jumping or show jumping. Dressage is a ballet performance with horses. In the three round events, horses execute set movements. In the first two events, the horse and the rider have to practice the routine dressage actions. The third round is a freestyle round, in which the rider performs with music. Eventing is a combination of dressage and jumping. With the two events, there is one more event included in the eventing program -a cross-country ride on horse back. Eventing is contested at duration of three days. Jumping or show jumping is an event, in which, riders have to overcome obstacles set on the course. The sport is governed by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports or the FEI.

Equestrian in the Summer Games: equestrian was introduced to the Summer Games at the 1900 Paris Summer Games. In the 1900 Games, the events included in the equestrian program were jumping, high jump and long jump. The sport returned to the Olympics during the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games. This time more disciplines were included in the equestrian schedule. Since 1912, the sport has been contested regularly at the Summer Games. Equestrian is the only sport event, where men and women can compete together. Currently the events held during the equestrian competition are -

Individual jumping

Team jumping

Individual eventing

Team eventing

Individual dressage

Team dressage

Rules of equestrian: The International Federation for Equestrian Sports or the FEI is authorized to set rules for the equestrian event at the international level. Some of the rules are-

• The events contested during the equestrian competition can be divided in various categories.
• No rider is allowed to abuse the horse he is riding on during the competition. Abuse of the animal can lead to punishment, even disqualification from the competition.
• A number of judges are appointed during the equestrian competition to monitor the event.
• The course should be designed for each discipline according to the regulation of that discipline.
• A rider is penalized for knocking down the obstacles in the jumping events. The competitor with minimum number of penalties is declared the winner of the event.
• The age of the horses participating in the competition is specified by the FEI.
• The size and structure of the arena, where the competition is held, are determined by the FEI.
• In the jumping event, the height of the obstacles and the distance between two consecutive obstacles are specified by the FEI.
• During the dressage competition, the riders have to perform the specified set of movements.
• In a championship, a participant is allowed to ride only one horse.
• For each part of the eventing competition, a different time table is used.
• The attires of the competitors during the competition have to be in accordance with the sport's rules.

Medal winners in equestrian: Rodrigo Pessoa, Chris Kappler, Marco Katscher, Leslie Law, Kimberly Severson, Pippa Funnell, Anky van Grunsven, Ulla Salzgeber, Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, David O'Connor, Blyth Tait, Andrew Hoy, Mark Todd, Matthew Ryan, Pierre Durand, Greg Best, Norman Dello Joio and Sven Rothenberger are some of the leading horse riders in the field of the equestrian events at the international level.