Georg-Christoph Bödicker • Werner Deeg • Susanne Strübel
– Fascinatingly Logical
Bibliographical information of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library)
The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie (German National Bibliography); detailed bibliographical data is available online at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
©2006 FNverlag of the Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung GmbH, Warendorf (FN Publishing House of the German Equestrian Federation Ltd., Warendorf)
This book is protected by copyright. All rights, particularly of translation, reprint, use of pictorial material, transmission, reproduction by photographic or other means and storage in data processing systems, even in part, are reserved. All compensation claims in accordance with section 54, para. 2 German Copyright Act (UrhG) will be dealt with by the marketing company Wort.
2nd Revised Edition 2014
| CD | Course Designer (Parcourschef) |
| APO | German Equestrian Education Regulations (Ausbildungs- und Prüfungs-Ordnung) |
| DOKR | German Olympic Committee for Equestrian Sports (Deutsches Olympiade-Komitee für Reiterei e.V.) |
| DRV ... | German Judges Association (Deutsche Richtervereinigung for Competitions TC Technical Committee for Show-Jumping and Course Design |
| FEI | Fédération Equestre Internationale, International Federation of Equestrian Sports |
| FN | German Equestrian Federation (Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung e.V.) – National Association for Horse Sport and Breeding |
| LK | Provincial Commission (Landeskommission) |
| LPO | German Performance Regulations (Leistungs-Prüfungs-Ordnung) |
| TD | Technical Delegate |
| WEG | World Equestrian Games |
Authors:
Georg-Christoph Bödicker, Eschwege
Werner Deeg, Feuchtwangen
Susanne Strübel, Fellbach
Editing:
Dr. Carla Mattis, FNverlag, Warendorf
Revision:
Korrekturbüro W. and G. Kirchhoff, Büren/Brenken
Cover photos:
Werner Deeg: large photo
Thoms Lehmann, Warendorf: top centre
Jacques Toffi, Hamburg: top right and left, top right (taken from: Pollmann-Schweckhorst, Elmar: Springpferde-Ausbildung heute. Warendorf 2nd edition 2006, page 65)
Photos/Illustrations, back cover:
Werner Deeg, Feuchtwangen: top
Franck Papelard, NL, Eindhoven: bottom
Photos and illustrations, content:
Image editing:
Köster + Gloger GmbH, Osnabrück
Translation:
Lena Rindermann
The publisher and the authors accept no liability for personal injuries or property damages that may occur during the practical application of the methods or information depicted in this book.
Ludger Beerbaum
A rider without a horse is just a pedestrian. A jumper rider without a horse is just a rider. The obstacles and, thus, the courses are what make us as jumper riders who we are. The various classes at competitions tell my colleagues and me whether our preparation, together with our partner, the horse, was sufficient or whether the set task was, potentially, too difficult for one of us. The courses at big championships are what has us as professional riders in thought, in awe or, sometimes, in despair, long before we even enter the arena. After only a two-minute performance, meaning the world to us, these courses have us analyzing, philosophizing, cheering, or grumbling – but, in any case, discussing well into the evening.
What turns a collection of poles, jump stands and decorations into a real course? How do riders, course designers, trainers and organizers prepare? How have the course’s lines changed over the years? What is the fascination of course design? How have the national and international requirements developed, and how has modern horse breeding reacted to this and vice versa?
In this book, the three authors Georg Bödicker, Werner Deeg, and Susanne Strübel have addressed these intriguing questions and have found many answers. The “Fascination Show-Jumping Course” is real! Let yourself be inspired by this sport, too; the same way that we, show-jumping riders, already are.
Those, who “place” obstacles before others, should own this book. ”Course Design – Fascinatingly Logical“ shows how a course must be designed to meet the modern expectations and standards of riders and horses.
The reader will be familiarized with the theoretical knowledge of designing a course and enabled to fulfill upcoming tasks as a course designer or trainer. In addition, riders will receive valuable advice and a look behind the scenes.
The first chapter portrays the historical path from the origin of show-jumping to the current requirements of today’s performance sport.
The following chapters name the goals that good course designing should pursue. A comprehensive theoretical knowledge (chapter 3), with which anyone engaged in show-jumping should be familiar, is the prerequisite for attaining these goals.
Chapter 4, titled “The Course“, is the heart of this book. Taking into account the wealth of experience of the authors, including extensive photo material, this chapter goes deeply into detail.
First, the authors address the infrastructure and conditions of the competition venue. After, they expand on the variety of obstacles, the obstacle material, and the additional equipment. Subsequently, the design and development of courses, the design of obstacles, and their effect play a role. In addition, the completion of the obstacles, different ways of approach, the tasks, and their degree of difficulty are depicted. Another important factor are the distances between series of obstacles (related distances). The list of factors that may influence distance measurements may be of interest here. Furthermore, the reader learns about planning the course for a jump-off.
Chapter 5 explains those individual steps that are recommended, or rather imperative, for the effective planning and successful implementation of show-jumping competitions. Particularly fascinating: the thoughts on the necessary psychological empathy of a course designer, who has to please sponsors, riders, and spectators, as well as consider the well-being of the horses.
Nothing works without a bit of politics; there are ideological and political aspects, summarized in chapter 6 and well worth reading. A field report, titled “A Course Designer’s Fear of the Grand Prix“, illustrates that not even well-known course designers are spared fear and difficulties.
Chapter 7 dwells extensively on numerous suggestions for training and for setting up jumping exercises, grids, and training courses.
Chapter 8 is a recent edition to the book. It provides guidance concerning the work of international course designers and the differences between the German and the international set of rules.
Georg-Christoph Bödicker
Born in 1951, long-time teacher, judge, national and international trainer, international course designer, including at the European Championships for Juniors 1995 in Berlin, as well as speaker at course designer’-, judges’-, and trainer seminars. Co-author of the FN Principles of Riding Volume 2, with jumping as the area of expertise, and the FN-educational film part 4 “Basic Training of the Rider in Show-Jumping”, published by FNverlag.
Werner Deeg
Born in 1951, former show-jumping rider to the highest level, official, international course designer, including at the Asian Games 2002, Munich, and Spruce Meadows. Chief Steward for jumping at the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000, the WEG in Jerez 2002, at the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens, and at the WEG 2006 in Aachen. He is a judge for dressage and jumping and has been the technical delegate of the FEI at championships several times. Since 2008, he has been a FEI Course Director General and is thus jointly responsible for the education of CDs worldwide.
Susanne Strübel
Born in 1961. After the organization of horse shows and the respective activities as press official (currently: Longines Global Champions Tour), PR-consultant of notable companies and internationally successful riders. Close relationship with the international equestrian scene, author for equestrian magazines, books: Ludger Beerbaum – Success is no Coincidence; Springen lernen – erfolgreich in Parcours und Gelände, various anniversary books.
Captain Caprilli (Italian Riding School) in the Campagna. Photo: Menzendorf, loan Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung and Kreissparkasse Verden im Deutschen Pferdemuseum, Verden/Aller/GER
The ancient civilized nations were not familiar with show-jumping competitions and courses according to today’s understanding. However, it is safe to say that people have ridden over obstacles for as long as they have been riding. We know from traditions that the Greek Equestrian General Xenophon mentioned the jumping of stonewalls and ditches, as well as the riding over banks, in his handbook on the art of riding regarding the training of horses for war purposes as early as 370 BC.
From then on, it has taken a long time until the horse’s performance ability over jumps was tested in record attempts, and before jumping various obstacles in no particular order led to a highly practised sport.
The first significant development tendencies that riders became acquainted with jumping over obstacles date back to the eighteenth century (c.f. Foreword from Heinz Meyer in: Federico Caprilli – Caprilli-Documents, Quadriga 1981).
The increased cultivation of agricultural areas in Europe was followed by fencing these with artificially erected hedges, stonewalls, ditches, various fences. Anyone moving about on horseback for hunting purposes, with peaceful or hostile intentions – there was no other purpose of riding at that time – was more frequently confronted with such obstacles. Especially in eighteenth century England, hunting behind live game was highly popular. Numerous engravings and paintings of manifold hunting scenes from that time document for us not only the successful jumping of obstacles but, very often, also the difficulties in doing so.
Thus, a logical consequence was to practice for potential real-case scenarios over specially and carefully chosen and constructed practice obstacles, designed to recreate those of the countryside. Constant practice eventually developed into a pleasure for jumping on horseback and, with growing routine, the ambition to prove one’s own and one’s horse’s skill also increased. This epoch also saw the birth of the steeplechase sport.
A soldier’s mount needed to be prepared for all possible battlegrounds. Here too, the increasing development of the landscape became problematic. Suddenly occurring obstacles needed to be jumped safely and skillfully if the cavalryman did not want to be brought into unnecessary difficulties or, in worst case, life-threatening danger. Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, the most famous Cavalry General of his time (1723–1771), practiced riding over obstacles in a marked-off area as early as 1753 to give his military horses and riders an improved safety in cross-country riding (c.f. E. Freiherr von Maercken: Springprüfungen und -Geländeritte, FN-Reprint, Warendorf 1987).
Many European countries followed his example – cross-country riding and jumping emerged as a new branch of cavalry activity. The officer corps of the Italian cavalry, in particular, developed a perfection for riding over terrain and for jumping various types of obstacles, a perfection remarkable for those days. The show-jumping style, still used today, was developed in the Italian schools of Pinerolo and Tor de Quinto. Its most famous representative, Federico Caprilli, celebrated this new way of jumping in competitions at the beginning of the twentieth century.
After some initial scepticism, the forward seat over the obstacle was adopted by all significant nations. The instructors of the Cavalry School in Hanover created a well-working synthesis between the training of a jumping horse, based on dressage according to the military regulations (HDV), and the style of jumping developed by Caprilli. However, only the subsequent realization of these principles of training has made it possible to use the jumping of difficult obstacles, in swift succession, as a criterion of performance ability in competition courses. The specialization of riders and horses in the recent decades, as well as the efforts of horse breeders to breed specific horses for jumping, served as additional, important elements of today’s high performance standard in show-jumping.
Indoor competition 1938
Riding over obstacles as a competitively practiced sport only started to take shape during the second half of the nineteenth century.
The Royal Dublin Society organized the first registered horse show, according to todays’ understanding, in Europe in 1864. A competition including high and long obstacles served as a hunting horse’s preparation for use in the country and tested its performance ability. Record high jumping competitions continued to enjoy great popularity decades later. In France, by that time the classic nation of the art of riding, the first horse show in Paris in 1866 was followed by other horse shows from 1872 onwards. These were the so-called “Concours Hippiques“ in Bordeaux, Lille, Vichy, and Wancy. These events were groundbreaking and the decisive factor for France to become the leading nation of equestrianism and its language. The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the international equestrian association, has thus equipped all official horse shows with French names.
The 1880s saw horse shows emerge in Austria, Belgium, Italy, and Holland. Germany followed this trend with a marginal delay: Small show-jumping events in Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Aachen, and Hamburg attracted a competent audience in the 1890s. Overseas, the riders also vied for success at competitions. The Madison Square Garden invited New York to its first National Horse Show. As in many other fields, the World Expo in Paris in 1900 set standards for the equestrian sport. Paris was host to the first international horse show, and it was quickly followed by similar events in Buenos Aires, Turin, Barcelona, Biarritz, Lisbon, London, Luzern, Madrid, San Sebastian, Brussels (c.f. F. Thiedemann: Das Springpferd. Edition Haberbeck, Lage Lippe 1979, 3. edition).
The Hamburg Derby (1920), Wiesbaden (1929), and Aachen (1927) became established international horse shows in Germany, which, at the time, laid the foundation for their good reputation, still valid today.
Aachen was awarded its status as an official international horse show in 1929 and hence became a venue for Nation’s Cups. The first Nation’s Cup in history was held in London’s Olympic Hall in 1909.
At the conference of the Olympic Committee in Athens in 1906, Earl Clerance von Rosen, Master of the Horse at the court of the Swedish King, put forward the proposal to include equestrianism in the Olympic program.
Before the Second World War, mainly military officers from different nations characterized the equestrian competition history. This was clear from the field of participants at the Olympic Games of 1936 in Berlin. Only a few brave equestriennes and male civilian riders competed against the officers at horse show venues.
After the turmoil of the Second World War, the development of the show-jumping sport entered into its next stage. With the introduction of the World Championship for Show-Jumping Riders in 1953 in Paris – renamed to World Jumping Championships in Aachen in 1956 – another equestrian event of the highest competitive significance established itself next to the Olympic Games. Continental Championships such as the Pan-American Games and the Asian Games were inaugurated. In 1979, the Show-Jumping World Cup took place for the first time.
In Europe, it soon became particularly important to train young riders and, through junior championships, introduce the younger generation to the higher level of the senior performance sport. European Championships for junior riders have been in place since 1952. Since 1957, European Championships for male and female riders were held at different competitions, with separate rankings for male and female riders. The emancipation took hold in the international equestrian sport in 1975 – since then, European Championships have been held at the same competition for female and male riders alike.
The development of the equestrian sport after the war in Europe found its origin in the so-called rural or agrarian riding. Officers were no longer at the forefront. The children of farmers, with a sound sense for horses, took their place. The first German Championships for female and male senior riders, as well as juniors, took place in Berlin in 1959.
From there, it was full steam ahead: The percentage of show-jumping classes at horse shows worldwide developed rapidly in the last three decades of the twentieth century. A tight-knit network of equestrian events was spun, especially visible in Europe.
From a German point of view, the high number of horse shows in the country is more than satisfactory: 3,539 horse shows took place in Germany in 2016 (Source: Annual Report of the FN and the DOKR 2016).
The leisure and consumer society continuously looks for new areas of activity. Thus, it was inevitable that competitive sport events no longer know a limit – indoor arenas and large equestrian event facilities were constructed. These offered equestrian sport on a high level in front of thousands of spectators, even in the winter. Public broadcasters climbed on board and led to an enhanced visibility and appeal of the equestrian sport, away from its agricultural base. The increased public interest in equestrian sports stimulated new ambition and created a new objective for the responsible actors and the officials in the federations: Anyone’s aim today is to offer high-performance sport, to present show-jumping at its highest level, and to work out the skills needed in the interaction of rider and horse. In doing so, the fairness towards the living creature is always paramount. To demonstrate exactly this performance capability at competitions, to make it testable and comparable, a good course design is a necessary prerequisite. For the 42,739 regular show-jumping classes and young horse show-jumping classes that took place in 2015 in Germany alone, almost as many courses needed to be built (Source: Annual Report of the FN and the DOKR 2015).
Horse shows in Germany
| 1990 | 1992 | 1994 | 1996 | 1998 | 2000 | 2002 |
| 3,184 | 3,542 | 3,684 | 3,858 | 3,204 | 3,236 | 3,349 |
| 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 |
| 3,384 | 3,292 | 3,692 | 3,669 | 3,609 | 3,536 | 3,539 |
Regular show-jumping classes and show-jumping classes for young horses in Germany
| 1990 | 1992 | 1994 | 1996 | 1998 | 2000 | 2002 |
| 31,006 | 31,986 | 34,335 | 37,044 | 38,907 | 43,395 | 44,112 |
| 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 |
| 40,804 | 39,281 | 41,398 | 42,143 | 42,317 | 43;454 | 41,978 |
Source: Annual Report of the FN and the DOKR
According to its original purpose to train useful hunters and skillful riders in natural terrain, the demand in the design of competition obstacles was for a naturally looking appearance. Another consideration was to build the obstacle in a fair manner and so massive that the horses would have to respect them. Fairness also meant to equip the obstacle with wings. Natural material such as wood, stone, and soil were used for the design of banks within its imitation. Ditches were dug and connected to obstacle parts. Hedges were planted and integrated into the obstacles. Right from the beginning, a great creativity with regard to the design developed under the condition of naturalness. Most of the obstacles were firmly anchored in the ground and semi-solid. Poles, simple bars, or wall elements served as the part that could be knocked down. Portable obstacles only gained in importance later. Obstacles such as post and rail, different fence- and gate-constructions, palisades, stone- and wood walls, obstacles built over hedges, ditches, and diversely constructed banks shaped the image of courses of the competition venues and the few indoor arenas of the past. From today’s perspective, the front width of the obstacles was rather long. Narrower obstacles were only rarely used to test the horses‘ obedience.
In 1939, August Andreae, who shaped the course design in Germany in the first half of the twentieth century, and who was also jointly responsible for the design at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, still demanded, in the 5th edition of his book, ”On the construction of show-jumping courses, the design of competition obstacles and those for teaching horses how to jump” (Sankt Georg Verlag, Berlin), that, in general, the front width of competition obstacles should be at least 6 m from jump stand to jump stand. Oxers should measure eight metres from jump stand to jump stand. The poles only became shorter in the 1950s. From the 70s onwards, a pole length of four metres was the common standard at all big competitions.
Olympic Games Munich 1972: Obstacle with garland
Olympic Games Munich 1972: Massive oxer
The claim to build imposing obstacles showed itself in a very massively appearing design for several decades. Many of the obstacles that could be knocked down were very heavy; the lighter ones were placed in deep cups. Most of the obstacles were built in a way that they could only be knocked down if the horse had hit them quite hard. Since the purpose was to test the horses for their cross-country suitability, the trainers wanted to prevent the obstacles used in competitive jumping from giving way. Trainers and riders worried about the horses losing respect for the entire obstacle if the pole fell. This would then lead to unwanted careless jumping.
In the past, show organizers wanted to give good horses the opportunity to show their entire potential. Refusals and falls of less talented animals were accepted for selection purposes. Particular obstacles were constructed for special classes such as record high jumping or wire high jumping (c.f. Freiherr von Maercken: Springprüfungen und Geländeritte, FN-Reprint, Warendorf 1987).
After the Second World War, a reorientation took place. The show-jumping sport needed to be rebuilt and show-jumping competitions needed a new purpose. With that, the entire equestrian sport over obstacles began to change completely. New course lines began to develop, and the share of fixed obstacles lost more and more importance; portable fences were on the rise.
Wings, before placed next to the obstacles, were now used as jump stands and equipped with cups so that they became the supporting element of the obstacle’s knockdown elements.
Few natural obstacles kept their original value up to the present: coffin, Normandy banks, and the “Big Bank“, the way we still find it in derby courses, the dry ditch, and – in the first place, the open water jump – have prevailed until today. The wall-imitations of today’s courses have often only kept the name of the stonewalls to remind one of what they used to be. Yet, and despite the fact that the obstacles are now portable and the knockdown parts are shorter and, thus, much lighter, course designers have kept the massive appearance of obstacles, whenever possible.
Olympic Games Seoul 1988: Theme from the Korean cultural history
During the time in the 1960s and 70s when Hans-Heinrich Brinckmann shaped the course design in Germany and worldwide, the space between the individual hanging elements of the obstacles was mostly very close. This made the individual obstacle look very compact. If, to him, an area of the obstacle appeared too open, he would often affectionately decorate it with fir garlands. Spreads were filled out with brushes or fir pin boards (equipped with upright standing fir or spruce trees), between the front and back elements, to make them look more massive.
Brinckmann tried, through the use of colours and decoration in many of the obstacle elements he used, to retain a connection to nature. Harmonic lines and appropriate distances between the obstacles clearly set the rhythm for riding his courses.
Hans-Heinrich (Micky) Brinckmann
Hans-Heinrich Brinckmann
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