Jumping terms and types

The basic stadium jump

As with all things horses, there is not just one kind of jump. There are dozens of basic jump types, all with their own names and variations upon variations. Here is a diagram of the basic “cross rail” stadium jump. Stadium jumps can be knocked over, and are usually made out of light wooden or plastic poles resting between two supports, called “standards.” These poles are held up by “jump cups.” If a jump has a ground pole, you ALWAYS jump the jump so that the ground pole is in the front of the jump. At shows or busy arenas, there is always a red flag that marks the right side of the jump and a white flag that marks the left side. Always jump a jump with the red flag on the right side of the jump.

There are really only three basic types of stadium jumps: cross rails, verticals and oxers. A cross rail is just two poles in an “X” shape, which you can see in the picture above.

A vertical jump

A vertical jump is a single pair of standards with the rails straight across. A vertical can be made of any number of poles, although there is usually at least ground pole and a top pole. You can see the picture here of a vertical with a top pole and a ground pole. Since the ground pole is directly underneath the top jumping pole, you could jump this jump from either direction. Verticals can be hard for horses to jump properly because it’s very easy for them to not jump high enough and then knock down the top rail. Some horses are put off by the “airy” nature of these jumps, which have so much open space underneath the poles.

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A "gate" jump

Horses tend to like solid jumps better. You can help a horse by putting more poles in the vertical, or using gates, like in this picture. A “gate” jump is just a vertical with a plastic gate filling in the vertical. Often horses find these easier to jump because they can see a solid object.

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Noah and me jumping a small rising oxer

An oxer is made of two pairs of standards and two sets of poles, giving the jump width, or “spread.” An oxer can be square, with both the front poles and the back poles at the same height, or a “rising” oxer, with the front poles lower than the back poles, like this jump Noah and I are jumping in this picture. Rising oxers are usually easier to jump than square oxers.

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A coop

Cross country jumps are supposed to be more natural obstacles, including water, ditches, stone walls and logs. Unlike stadium jumps, cross country jumps are very, very solid. Horses often find cross country jumps easier to approach, but they can be more dangerous because they don’t just fall apart if something goes wrong. Here is a common cross country jump, called a “coop.”  You’ll notice there are two sizes of jumps next to each other. This is a common practice in cross country, since the jump heights can’t easily be adjusted like they can in stadium.

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A stone wall with half logs on top

Here is another common cross country jump, just a simple stone wall with logs on top. Again, you can see the two sizes of jumps side by size. On a competitive cross country course, you have to make sure you know which jumps are yours, because you will be eliminated if you jump the wrong level jump!

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A classic cross country ditch

Here is a very nice cross country ditch. They’ve put great ground lines in this ditch (the logs lining each side of the ditch) which makes it much clearer for your horse where he’s supposed to jump. Many, many horses (Noah included!) really don’t like ditches. It can take a lot of work and confidence to get comfortable jumping ditches. A great way to practice is to put a small stadium cross rail over a ditch and just jump it like a normal jump. Oftentimes the horse won’t even realize at first it’s a ditch!

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A water crossing to a small jump

One of the more difficult (and the more fun!) parts of a cross country course is a combination. Here is a picture of a water obstacle to a small log pile jump. This is from a novice course Noah and I did in Wyoming. The tricky part is keeping your horse’s momentum up through the water, as he has to jump a jump as soon as he gets out. Water obstacles can be much harder than this one, with vertical drops (called “banks”) into or out of the water. You can even have jumps right on the edge of a water complex, so the horse lands into the water off the first jump.

Hopefully this helps you understand a little more about the types of jumps out there. Don’t hesitate to ask questions!

Cheers,

Ali