Keeping Horses in France: Competitions

You’ve made the move, registered the horses, and now want to join in the competitions. Welcome to the next installment in my series of Keeping Horses in France. If you haven’t been keeping up, check out my last post here: A guide to keeping horses in France.

This post mainly talks about Showjumping, Dressage, and Eventing, as they are the disciplines I am most familiar with in France.

License to Ride

To ride legally in France, you need to show that you are medically viable. This comes in the form of a license, it is the same for all physical activities and sports. The basic French Equestrian Federation (FFE) license for an adult costs 36€ per year and includes basic insurance for the rider. The license also enables you to have insurance if you are riding someone else’s horses. 

However, if you wish to compete you must pay an extra fee through your club, and upload a medical certificate via your FFE account.

If you are disabled and want to ride, you need to contact FFE directly to obtain the forms for para-riding. To be able to be recognised and/or take part in para-dressage events, you must apply for classification. For club level 3/2 events you can request simplified classification, for events from club 1 onwards you must request national classification.

Types of Competitions

France is fast growing to be a leader in the horse world when it comes to competition and development. See below the types of competitions below.

The Competition System

Club competitions are open to all riders with a valid competition license provided they have the required minimum number of galops.

Minimum number of gallops
Lower Levels: Club 4, Club 3: gallop 2
Club 2: gallop 3
Club 1: gallop 4
Elite Club: Gallop 6

CSO Obstacle height
Lower Level: Club 4 : 65 cm
Club 3 : 75 cm
Club 2 : 85 cm
Higher Level: Club 1 : 95 cm
Club Elite : 105 cm

Cross Obstacle height
Club 3: H: 60cm?W: 70cm River: 100cm Bank: 70cm + 1 combinaison
Club 2: H: 80cm W: 90cm River: 120cm + 2 combinaisons
Club 1: H: 90cm W: 100cm River: 150cm + 3 combinaisons
ClubElite: H: 90cm W:100cm River: 150cm + 3 combinaisons

Course technicality
Lower Level: Club 3 and 4: only one combination per course, no river.
Club 2: one or two combinations per course, no river.
Higher Level: Club 1: two to three combinations per course as well as a barred river.
Elite club: two to three combinations per course as well as a river of 3 meters.

Dressage tests
Find a comprehensive list of tests here.

Purebred or Non-Purebred?

As?mentioned in part of the registration process, you will need to declare if your horse is purebred or not. This will impact what competitions you can enter.
For Purebred horses, or Plein Papier (PP) there is no limit to what you can enter.
Mixed horses, either partially or fully known as Origin constaté (OC), or Origin Non-Constaté (ONC), are limited to Club level competitions only

What to wear?

Dressage

In the regulations, you must wear a show jacket, and a white or light-colored shirt with a closed collar and cuffs. Jodphurs should be white or off-white, with boots. Chaps are allowed with ankle boots. Gloves are optional but recommended. For the Club division, the regulations mention free, correct, and appropriate riding attire under the responsibility of the participating club. A helmet is obligatory and must be approved according to the standards in force regardless of the division.

The stick of 1.20 m is allowed during warm-up but not during competition. Audio assistance during warm-up is allowed with only one earpiece.

CSO

In jumping you are required to wear a helmet that meets regulatory standards, Light-coloured jodhpurs (white), a shirt and white tie, or polo for men; a white round-neck shirt, or polo shirt for women, a dark competition jacket or the federal jacket, dark boots (or dark boots and chaps).
You have the right to wear: A back protector, Gloves, and Spurs (except in Pony A classes): 2 cm maximum in Pony classes, and 4 cm maximum in Club classes.
An unleaded whip (75 cm maximum).
You must wear your competition outfit during the course walk, additionally, both in the paddock, on the course, and also during the prize-giving ceremony.

French Competition Language

More Horse Info

Be sure to check out my other posts relating to keeping horses in France.

Also, any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to comment below or send me a message!