Showjumping Course Analysis Combination Elements

As the JumpClear database grows, it's exciting to deliver more insights based on total member data.  Here we take a deeper look at Combination Faults...

Starting with the basics, Combinations - across all elements - made up 34% of Round 1 Faults for JumpClear members over the past 12 months.  They were a much smaller percent of faults in the jumpoff - just 15%.  

There numbers are interesting because they suggest that combination faults come down to simple math.  Combinations are faulted roughly in proportion to the percent they make up of total jumps on the course*; they are not - in fact - horrible bogey obstacles that stand in the way of every horse & rider's clear round.

(If you want to check that math: the average first round has between 12 - 14 numbered jumps with somewhere around two doubles and a triple or two doubles, so 19 to 21 obstacles of which combinations comprise 6 or 7.  The average jumpoff has about 7 - 9 numbered jumps with one double, so about 9 to 11 obstacles of which combination elements make up two).  

However, we see that combination faults differ quite significantly by division.

As a general rule, the lower heights have fewer combination faults.  This is largely - but not entirely - driven by the impact of the "mid" element and likely reflective of the limited use of triple combination in the 1.30 and 1.20 national classes.

By a slight margin, the most rails come from the Combination In Element.  Across all elements, faults are split nearly evenly between oxers and verticals.