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.
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)
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
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.