Show Jumping Around the World

By Jennifer Wood

South Africa
During a recent visit to South Africa, I saw the sport of show jumping in a new light and the future looks bright, albeit challenging. I was in the Karkloof region in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, home to the Karkloof Polo Club. Since polo is a popular equestrian sport in the country, and as we all know with polo comes large green grass fields, Karkloof has the ideal setting for our sport. Only six hours southeast of the hot spot of Johannesburg, Karkloof will have clout in years to come. Riders as well are coming along, influenced by the horses they buy and the clinics they host. However South Africans have their own set of equestrian challenges.

Introducing Karkloof
Set amid the rolling green hills and forests the new horse show grounds at the Karkloof Polo Club are an equestrian’s dream.

Founded in 1886, Karkloof is one of the oldest polo clubs in the country. The first dragoons* – British Army regiments – played polo at Karkloof as part of their training. Guy Benson, a prominent horseman in the area, provided a bit of the story. “In the Zulu War period, polo was a pretty strong Army based sport. A lot of officers had to perform on the polo grounds. There were four famous brothers who lived in the Karkloof Mountains called the Shores. They were undefeated. Teams used to come out from England and challenge them and couldn’t beat them.” *from Wikipedia: The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills.

Benson’s father, Mike, is a well-known local farmer and a key figure at the Karkloof Polo Club, continuing to play an integral role in the club’s vitality. Guy and his wife Jenni have their own warmblood breeding farm just down the road.

“My father’s vision has always been that it’s not just a polo facility, that it should be a multi-discipline equestrian facility,” Guy noted.

In the last 10 years, the Karkloof Polo Club has expanded from one field to four, allowing more space to host a variety of equestrian events. While there is room for improvement and plans for more infrastructure, it’s a solid start for the equestrian facility Benson envisions. Along with the recent addition of show jumping, Karkloof hosts the Spurwing Horse Trials, a three-star event and in 2010 a qualifier for South African eventers for the World Equestrian Games.

Historically, the horse show that included a World Cup qualifier was held at the Royal Agricultural Show in downtown Pietermaritzburg, the capital of the KwaZulu-Natal province. Like many urban horse shows, it has gone by the wayside due to encroaching city buildings and lack of financial support to invest in quality stabling and footing.

Rogan Asken, a rider and trainer from Johannesburg about six hours to the north, stated, “Equestrian sport has become so specialized that we didn’t find the Royal Show facilities good enough. There was a resistance to going back there. Eventually they took out the equestrian section of the Royal Show. This will be the replacement show.”

This was the first time that a World Cup jumping qualifier was coming to Karkloof, but due to unseasonal rain, the high-end class had to be cancelled. The show still hosted jumper classes for pony, junior, amateur and open jumpers, up to 1.40M.

Asken said, “I think it was a year too soon to hold a high level event here. They needed to let the arena mature. If they hadn’t had rain, they would have just gotten away with this arena. The rain kiboshed the arena a bit. But the facility is ideal. There’s loads of space, and normally the weather is really good.”

Outside Influence
The majority of show jumping sport is centered around Johannesburg, which is in the Gauteng Province and northwest of the Karkloof Polo Club. Asken explained, “There’s a massive population there and unbelievably good weather. There are a high number of people with large disposable incomes. In a five kilometer (three mile) radius from us, there are about eight big stable yards ranging from 120 horses down to 40. It’s massive and there are horses everywhere. It’s a bit like North Germany; every time you turn a corner, there’s a horse in a field.”

Asken compared the rise of show jumping in South Africa to that of the United States over the past few decades. “We did a very similar thing to America. We used to ride thoroughbreds off the racetrack. And then the warmblood sport horses have filtered in. The American style suited our style of riding; that forward, galloping riding on hot horses. Now we’re having to learn a little more European style like the Americans, a little more upright, more collection, more training,” he noted. “We’ve got quite a strong American influence because of our equitation system, which was loosely based on the American equitation system. We’ve had Kathy Kusner give clinics twice, we’ve had George Morris three or four times. We’ve had exposure to some very nice American trainers, and their impact when they come to us is enormous and highly valued. It’s a real treat.”

Perception & Participation
From an outsider’s viewpoint, race relations in South Africa is the most discussed topic in the country, and that extends to sports. Black Africans make up approximately 80% of the 50 million people who live there. Asken acknowledged that equestrian sport participants are predominantly white.

“The only downside (to the growth of the sport) is that we’re not attracting enough people of color yet,” he said. “It’s sadly not a high profile sport in the black population. We’d love to have much, much more black participation.”

Along with changing perceptions, equestrians in South Africa must also face other big obstacles, such as African Horse Sickness, extended quarantine times, and the expense of traveling outside of the country. Like riders in the United States, the grand prix level riders feel that they must also travel to Europe to stay at the top.

Asken pointed out, “I think the only way we’ll ever really be featured on the world stage is if we own a base. Southern Africa has got to somehow secure a base in Europe and allow young riders and horses there to get international experience. We’ve got to get in the deep end. There’s no point thinking you can prepare in South Africa for international competition. You see the Americans going over to compete in Europe. If they have to do it, how much more do we have to do it?”

Certainly a beautiful place with loads of opportunity to enjoy the sport, South Africans are embracing the high-end aspect more and more. As the pictures below illustrate, my trip was beyond amazing. It was also fascinating to see the horse world through South African eyes.