Time-motion analysis of show jumping competitions

The objectives were to describe the time-motion characteristics of the sport of show jumping at the preliminary, intermediate and open levels of competition. Videographic recordings were used to measure the time spent galloping between fences and the airborne time over the fences at the different levels of competition. In the first round the total time decreased progressively from the preliminary (80.8 s) to the intermediate (75.0 s) to the open (67. 5 s) level, but the average speed (399. 6 m/min, 399.0 m/min and 403.2 m/min, respectively) did not differ between levels. Both the galloping time between fences and the airborne time over the fences were longest at the preliminary level.In the jump off, the open competition had a significantly higher speed, together with a significantly lower total time and galloping time. Comparing the jump off with the first round at the 3 levels of competition, the total time, the total galloping time and the airborne time were shorter in the jump off. There was an increase in the percentage of time spent galloping between fences and a corresponding reduction in the percentage of time spent airborne in the jump off compared with the first round. However, the average speed increased only in the open competition. In the competitions studied here, the horses performed at speeds in the range of 399.0 to 445.2 m/min for periods of 39.1 to 80.8 s. The interval between jumping efforts varied between 4.3 and 5.6 s. This information can be applied in formulating interval training workouts for show jumpers.