Safety Matters: Four More EquiRatings Stats You Can Calculate

Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.

Earlier this month, EquiRatings began posting a series of metrics that each rider can calculate for themselves. By making these data points easy to understand and calculate, the idea is to use the information to encourage rider responsibility and safety.

We started with the 6 Run Average, which is used to calculate a horse and rider’s average dressage performance as a benchmark.

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This week, we'll be introducing each of our five DIY metrics that you can put to work for yourself. It's our philosophy that in order to manage improvement, you must measure progress, starting with where you are now. We've developed, honed, and challenged this set of five metrics to help YOU take ownership of your journey and confidently manage your progress, regardless of whether you’re a grassroots rider or aiming for Olympic gold. We start with the 6RA. You've heard us talk about this metric before and it's become the first tool in our set. Check out our stories to see #SleepingSam tell you all about it. #equiratings #eventing #simplemetrics #6RA @ingridklimke @sapsports @julia_krajewski @michaeljungofficialnews @olivertownendofficial @andrewsmcconnon

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Let’s move on to the jumping phases and some metrics you can tabulate using your competition record. Take a moment to click through each slide on the Instagram posts embedded below for a deeper dive:

Cross Country Jumping: XCJ10

This metric is once again quite simple, intended to put hard numbers in front of us. The XCJ10 is a gauge of your clear jumping rate. EquiRatings has identified a sample size of 10 as a more accurate data set from which to pull your jumping rate.

To calculate your XCJ10, take a look at your last 10 cross country rounds (or use whatever you have on your record, if less than 10). Add up the number of rounds you finished with no jumping penalties, and convert that number to a percentage by multiplying it by 100. If you’ve jumped 10 cross country rounds with no jumping penalties, your XCJ10 score is 100%.

Cross Country Time: True Speed Rating (TSR)

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Day 3 of Simple Metrics week and we’re evaluating cross country time. The True Speed Rating (TSR) captures your speed across the country. We know riders don’t push for the time on every run, for tactical and training reasons, and this metric takes that into account. Know this number to gain valuable clarity on how you’re consistently performing against the clock, stay keen to inefficiencies, and track improvement. Get started with your TSR – it’s simple, tested, AND informative – but, once again, check out our stories to hear #SleepingSam dig a little deeper into analyzing your speed. (And don’t worry, we’ll be saving this week’s content, including the videos, as a story highlight.) #equiratings #eventing #simplemetrics #TSR

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Now let’s talk about time and speed on cross country. Educating riders on riding safely at increased speeds is a crucial step in an eventer’s education. Developing a “feel” for speed will help riders understand better how to efficiently manage the clock and ride smartly, not just mach 5.

The EquiRatings True Speed Rating (TSR) is designed to track your performance against the clock and track improvements in speed as well as efficiency. For this measurement, you’ll want to look at your best six times from your last 10 runs. Add up the time penalties from those six runs, then divide that number by six. A lower number is better here.

Let’s say a horse collects 4, .4, 2.8, 6, 4.4, and 3.2 time penalties in its last six fastest rounds. These numbers give that horse a TSR of 3.5. By calculating your TSR periodically, you can track trends in your riding and make adjustments accordingly.

Show Jumping: SJ6

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Day 4 of Simple Metrics week and we’ve arrived at the show jumping phase. The SJ6 measures your show jumping performance by averaging your recent jumping penalties. Like the 6RA, it sounds especially simple and that’s because we’ve worked to keep it that way without compromising accuracy. Find out where you are with this number now. Then, as you train and gain experience, track this metric over time to evaluate the results of your efforts. Take hold of the SJ6 to get a strong start and then watch our stories to hear #SleepingSam explain how we expand on this metric to capture variance in course difficulty. (And yes, we’ll be saving this week’s content, including the videos, as a story highlight so you can always check back.) #equiratings #eventing #simplemetrics #SJ6

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Next, we move on to show jumping metrics. This is a similar metric to the 6RA, taking the average of jumping penalties over your last six rounds. Once again, six is designated as an ideal sample size so that accuracy is not compromised. To measure your SJ6, add up the number of jumping penalties you’ve accumulated in your last six runs, and divide by six. Similar to the other metrics, your SJ6 can be tracked to monitor trends in your riding and performance.

Overall Performance: OBP6

Last but not least, we end with an all-encompassing metric that gauges horses’ and riders’ overall capability and performance. The Opponents Beaten Percentage (OBP6) measures your performance by stacking it against that of the opponents you’ve bested. Once again, this measure will look at your previous six runs. If you’ve got less than six, just use what you do have (the recommended minimum from EquiRatings is three).

To calculate your OBP6, add up the total of opponents that you placed higher than in your last six runs in which you started cross country. Divide this total by six, then multiply by 100 for a percentage, to get a clearer picture of your OBP6.

For more data focused content such as this, be sure to follow EquiRatings here.