Inside Look: Horse Show Jumping Course Design and Strategy

Class-Specific Course Design 

Have you ever wondered what goes into the design of a jumping course? Did you know there are different types of courses built for Hunters, Jumpers, Equitation riders and Hunter Derbies?

We’ll explain the role of a course designer and the different elements he or she uses to create a jumping test for various over-fence classes. 

What Does a Course Designer Do?

In short, a course designer is a trainer tasked with asking the right questions with each obstacle to help competitors advance from their current level to the next one. The job requires a deep understanding of the sport. Many course designers have extensive experience as riders or trainers themselves.

A good course designer creates courses with their own artistic style and vision. Someone who excels at their craft will have a signature style and be able to be both creative and expressive with their design. Most importantly, a good course designer always values safety first.

Good course design encourages riders to be soft, forward and find a nice flow on course.

Poor course design instills fear in the horse or rider through the use of “trappy” distances or unfair obstacles.

Course Design Strategy & Considerations

A course designer considers many things when deciding what obstacles to include and how to place them. The level of the competitors is one of the most important factors.

The top level of the sport demands incredible talent, fitness and skill from horse and rider. Designers at this level must have an excellent understanding of how each type of jump impacts the horse and how to use distance and position to make the jumps challenging.

It is not easy to challenge the horses and riders performing at the top!

The jump construction materials available at the top venues in the world can satisfy even the most creative designers.

Weather, however, can add unpredictability to even the best venues.

Even in premier footing, the weather can have a significant impact on the success or failure of a class.

Along the broad spectrum of lower level competition, designers act as trainers, presenting questions that will foster progress in both horse and rider as they progress up the levels.

Footing and Terrain

Footing is a significant consideration when designing a course.

Weather has a dramatic effect on the footing and atmosphere, so a designer needs to be flexible and able to make changes to improve the quality of the competition at the last minute if a weather event changes the show environment.

The course designer will consider the grade, or incline, of the terrain if applicable.

Just a decade ago, there were many competition venues that incorporated a grade in the show arenas as an added challenge. There are not as many venues today with a grade, but some do exist.

The hugely popular Old Salem Farm Show, held an hour north of New York City, has top-level competition on a grass field that includes a grade. The course designer strategically places certain elements on the grade to pose questions of various degrees of difficulty with each jump.

The time of day that a competition occurs can cause an ordinary course to have dramatic shadows that can impact a horse’s perception of the obstacles and environment. Courses in indoor venues with skylights, in particular, are prone to dramatic effects from shadows.

Available Materials

Course designers are limited—or inspired—by the materials and equipment on hand available to build a course.

Generally speaking, jumps must meet national standards for safety, including dimensions of lumber and size and type of jump cups used.

Most major show facilities have a variety of jump types available for use. Jumps typically found in Jumper courses include brightly-colored poles and planks, walls, hedges and liverpools.

A liverpool is a jump element that can hold water. It can be a plastic or metal tray, or a low, padded rectangular box made from tarp-like material that can be filled with water and placed beneath or in front of a jump.

Liverpools are used to test bravery and, at the upper levels, to test the horses’ and riders’ ability to navigate extremely wide obstacles.

Very dark, solid-color planks are visually challenging to a horse, especially when placed near the bottom of the jump.

Having dark-colored poles and panels at the bottom can be difficult for horses to see, and therefore spook them.

Similarly, very light-colored solid planks are challenging to jump, especially when placed at the top of the fence.

Solid elements, such as walls and logs, can also be intimidating or scary to horses.

In some cases, natural fill—such as hedges—is used to test bravery and may cause a horse to spook or to jump off-balance.

Horse Show Support Staff

Horse show managers are always balancing finances against providing a safe, fun, competition environment.

The world’s top shows have far greater budgets for support staff—including jump crews. Therefore, the classes at the top shows can be built to suit, even if that means moving all the jumps in between every class.

At almost every level prior to this elite class there are limitations to the number of jump crew staff—or volunteers—that the show can provide at each ring.

This means that the course designer must place the jumps and design the courses in a way that does not require every jump to be moved to a new location in between levels.

Different Classes, Different Courses

Course designers create courses for a range of different jumping disciplines. Jumper classes alone can include a number of formats.

The United States Equestrian Federation defines the formats in detail in the USEF Rulebook every year.

Hunter classes, Derby classes and Equitation classes are also outlined in the rulebook. We will briefly discuss each type of class:

Jumpers

In Jumper classes, the horse is being judged based on clearing the obstacles in the fastest time.

There are many different formats under which show jumping classes can be run, but the basis of the sport rewards the athletic ability of the horse, specifically, carefulness, agility and power.

Looking for more information on Show Jumping? Try A Horse Rookie Guide’s to Show Jumping.

The different formats include:

• Classes where the jump-off (or speed class) comes after all the competitors have completed a preliminary round
• Classes where the jump-off comes at the end of individual rounds 
• Classes where the jump-off is built into a single round of competition 

The course designer uses the fence materials, heights and widths, distances between the jumps and time allowed as variables to create the best possible course for each class.

Hunters

Modern day Show Hunter classes are based on fox hunting, which includes galloping over natural obstacles.

Hunter classes are scored on the jumping style of the horse, the smoothness of the gait and the overall demeanor of the horse.

Judges reward Hunters for:

• Calm, well-mannered behavior.
• Carrying forelimbs and hindlimbs evenly over jumps.
• Legs that are straight in their movement across the ground.

Course designers typically have a variety of colored flowers and foliage to decorate Hunter obstacles.

The poles must be natural or solid colors. They typically use small walls and gates to create solid-looking jumps with ample ground lines. A ground line, or rail on ground, helps a horse judge the correct take-off spot when strategically placed in front of the jump line.

The USEF suggests appropriate distances between jumps in its rulebook using a 12-foot stride. Distances must be published prior to the start of the class. The lines between fences are straight or gently bending, the oxers are always ascending and the courses are straightforward.

A typical Hunter course contains 8-10 jumps.

Equitation

Equitation classes are the only classes in the Hunter/Jumper world that are judged on the rider.

Of course, the style and behavior of the horse has a significant impact on the overall appearance of the pair, but the rider is being judged on position, control, and efficiency in executing the course.

Equitation classes can be held over Hunter or Jumper courses.

Oftentimes, equitation courses include tighter rollback turns (similar to a car’s u-turn, this turn requires the rider to jump one jump, then turn tightly, ride in the opposite direction to jump the next jump), bending lines, fences to be taken at a trot or additional tests to determine rider skill.

Derbies

Hunter Derbies combine the perfection and smoothness of an ideal Hunter round with the athleticism and challenges of a Jumper class. They have become extremely popular.

Derbies are held over natural obstacles similar to Hunter jumps and can include post and rail fences, stone walls, white gates, hedges, logs, coops, aikens (vertical rails with mounds of fir boughs), banks and ditches.

Jumps are similar to obstacles encountered while fox hunting.

The Hunter Derby is judged on jumping style, pace, quality of movement, scope and presence.

The Hunter Derby incorporates a Handy Hunter round, which rewards brilliance of pace and “handiness”—or efficiency—of the horse.

Course designers are expected to be creative and present challenges reminiscent of fox hunting, including unique jump approaches, tight turn options and jumps to be taken at a hand gallop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does a course builder do?

Yes, there’s a career path for building jumps and designing jumping courses! You can get set up as an apprentice to an established course designer, or get started as an independent contractor. This article provides a ton of great info from Eric Bull, owner and course builder of ETB Equine Construction.

Q: Is there an app for course walks?

Yes! Well, for the eventer. The app CourseWalk was developed with the eventer in mind, offering maps, minute markers, optimum time, fence pictures, and dressage test scores. 

Q: Who is responsible for jump course safety?

Both the course designer and the horse show stewards (along with knowledgeable competitors) have responsibilities around safe course design. At higher level FEI events, ground juries also help oversee the competition.

Parting Thoughts

Course design is challenging work and is of critical importance to the success of the horse show and development of both horses and riders.

P.S. Enjoy this article? Trot on over to:

• A Horse Rookie’s Guide to the Show Jumping Course Walk
• Jump Jargon: A Simple Guide to Horse Jumping Terms
• 10 Best Stirrups for Jumping Clear (And Staying Safe)
• Horse Riding in High School and College
• 100+ Things to Pack for a Jumping Horse Show (Checklist)