Horse Jumping

Horse jumping Many people may say that it’s a dangerous sport and that you have to be crazy for doing it but, after they try it once they won’t leave it. Risking your life is worth it when you find passion on and over the horse, finding lots of new, rich and encouraging experiences that will make you grow as a person and as a rider; as, when you jump, you need to be focused, you even forget about problems you may have, it helps you not being a rancorous person. When you jump once you want to jump twice, the sensation is amazing, and after a while it becomes addictive; that’s something I’ve learned from this wonderful activity.

Horse jumping doesn’t have an exact date of beginning, but we can say that after the second half of the XVIII century this sport was practiced during the hunting activity. Since then the horse’s breeds have been taken care of, within the proper horse training; all of this to get a better speed and physic ability for jumping and getting the actual bases for modern horse jumping; nowadays there are two types of horse jumping contests, one that is based on jumping a single obstacle starting in 1. 0 meters high, and the other one that is based on jumping several obstacles (mostly ten) starting in 0. 70 meters, over to 1. 70 meters. You can learn how to recover from a fall (physically and metaphorically), even though it’s pretty hard; because for being successful in any activity you need to learn how to step up and continue with the same courage you started, I can say that with horse jumping I have proved to myself that the phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is absolutely right, after falling down you need to go over the same obstacle with more concentration and strength.

That’s how many world champions have gotten were they got, as Rodrigo Pessoa from Brazil, who was claimed champion in 1998 with his horse Gandini Lianos, or as Jos Lansink, who was claimed champion in 2006 with his horse Cavalor; they are a couple of the latest world champions in a contest that is done every 4 years and is organized by the FEI (International Equestrian Federation). The contests are ualified based on penalties, which you get when your horse refuse to an obstacle, when you confuse the sequence, when you fall down, or when you jump over the obstacle but one of the wood sticks falls down; each of this penalties is worth 4 points, when you get 12 points in penalties you are disqualified from the contest; if there is a tie (which normally happens), the time that each of the riders lasted is taken care of and the one with shortest time wins.

Horse jumping shows you how to get rid of any kind of heart feelings, I have learned that after been betrayed by anyone you need to forgive them and try it again, been more careful, but trusting on them after all, when your horse refuses to jump you need to try it again been more focused and having all the control on your hands. That’s how Alberto Larraguibel broke the horse jumping record in Vina del Mar with his horse Huaso jumping an obstacle of 2. 47 meters high; there had been higher records, but none of them have been in an official competition; the FEI has established that the next world’s record should be over the 2. 49 meters high.

I used to do horse jumping about half a year ago, I used to do it for a long time, and this activity has proved me that I’m able to do things that I wouldn’t have imagined I could; it has helped me to get rid of some fears that I had, and basically to risk myself for discovering lots of new things and sensations that the world can offer me. For doing horse jumping you need to have the horse riding pants, a security helmet, a short whip, horseback riding boots, riding gloves, and for preparing the horse you will need a bridal halter, the horse seat equipment and the horse seat, as an external equipment you will need the obstacle.

The sensation of being on the air over such a big animal, after a while becomes addictive; when you jump all the adrenaline or fear from the preparing is vanished, and after doing it for the first time not only the preparation fear is gone and the post jumping satisfaction is amazing, you feel capable of doing more, and within that, lots of your life fears are gone; in my experience before doing this I was scared from horses, but I ended up loving them, loving the sensation, and been more open minded in oing other kind of riskful activities that can offer you invaluable sensations; I think horses are beautiful animals, and besides their enchantment I am completely amazed about the fact of controlling such a big animal to even make them jump. I’ve learned to love nature and all the wonderful things you can find on it, this is the principal reason why this is my passion. Bibliography: en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Show_jumping www. horsesport. org/ www. ecuadorecuestre. com/… /FEI_WORLD_CHALLENGE_DE_ADIESTRAMIENTO_2010