With the Pennsylvania Nationals coming up (starting this weekend and running through the week until next Saturday, October 27th) in Harrisburg, PA and the Washington Nationals following, many different classes of horse showing will be going on. One of the most exciting ones to watch is Show Jumping. There are different levels for show jumping and the one in particluar I like to go see with my kids is the Grand Prix Show Jumping. So, I thought I would explain Show Jumping to all of you non-horsey people.
First of all, Grand Prix Show Jumping is a National and International competition where the upper level and top riders and horses compete. The horses and riders work their way through the many levels to reach this point. This is the highest level you can go in Show Jumping. The fences can be as high as 5 feet.
There is a course designed for the horses to jump to test their skill and agility. Usually a course consists of about 15 different types of jumps, including combinations. The jump course can include water jumps and ditches in addition to the normal rails. The course is to be ridden within the time allowed. The riders walk the course before the competition begins to get a feel of it and how to ride it with their horse. Then each horse and rider combination ride the course individually. The order of go is predetermined before hand.
If the horse and rider complete the course without knocking down any fences or having any refusals, they have no faults. For every rail knocked down, 4 faults are added. If a horse refuses to jump one of the jumps, it is 3 faults. A second refusal is another 3 faults totaling 6 faults. Now, if a 3rd refusal happens, then the horse and rider are eliminated. If you go over the time allowed, faults will also be added to your score. If a rider should fall from the horse, they are automatically eliminated. It takes a lot of work, athleticism, teamwork and skill to jump a clear round.
After all the competitors have ridden the course, then all of the horse and rider combinations that had clear 
rounds will go on to the "Jump Off". This is a speed round and the horse and rider that have the least amount of faults and the fastest time in this round wins.
Show Jumping is very exciting to watch and even non-horse people enjoy watching it.
Great info Brigita. Having an extensive amount of time on horses myself (~12 hr) :^)...
I can appeciate the skills involved.
Bill:
Unfortunately, these events tend not to be televised. The only time they televise them is if they need to fill time on the network. Many of us would enjoy seeing it televised.
Ann:
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I will post more about other events. So, keep your eye on my future posts.
Rob:
Very good! Let's keep you going. How about a few riding lessons?
It takes many years of riding to get to the top.
Danny:
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the post.