Dear members,
Completion of HKEF online sharing session on “Introduction to Jumping Course Design”
Under the pandemic times, the HKEF is keen to organize a series of online sharing sessions to keep our members, riders and officials connected and to refresh their knowledge. Following the first online sharing session on FEI jumping steward and judge on 10 October 2020, the second session on “Introduction to Jumping Course Design” by Mr. Michael Sin was held this morning.
Being one of our national Jumping Course Designer as well as an FEI Level 2 Jumping Course Designer, Michael designs more than 200 local and local international courses every year. Apart from designing jumping courses, he also acted as the Assistant Course Designer in different major local or local international events over the years, such as the FEI Children’s International Classics Final 2011, the CSI5* Longines Masters of Hong Kong (2014 – 2019) as well as the 2nd Asian Equestrian Federation Junior Jumping Championship in 2017 etc.
The session started off with an introduction on the concept of course design and the roles of a Jumping Course Designer. When producing a course plan, the course designer has a responsibility not only towards athletes and horses but also towards spectators, audiences, sponsors and staff. Besides, different types of obstacles and materials for building a course were introduced.
The highlight of the session fell on the detail introduction and explanation on example course plans. Differences between a good and bad course plan were illustrated. Useful advices have also been given to all member and riders on the elements that they need to bear in mind during the course walk before the start of a jumping competition. Michael said “the basic concept of the course design is that every jumping course needs to produce fair sport and contribute to the education of both horses and riders. Among all factors which need to be considered, safety is the most important thing.”
The HKEF would like to thank Michael for his time and effort in preparing the sharing session for us. As one of the most important tasks in the organization of jumping shows, course design is a very useful topic in which we hope members have enjoyed the session and gained more knowledge on jumping course design.
Please feel free to share with us any suggestions or ideas for the upcoming online sessions by replying this email. We would love to receive your opinion to provide a variety of contents.
Thank you for your attention and have a nice weekend.
Best Regards,
Hong Kong Equestrian Federation
