I’m looking into the possibility of para show jumping, but the US only offers Para Dressage. I’m curious why they have para show jumping in Europe, but not the US.
Agree Natalie. I have neurological Lyme Disease and have considered getting evaluated for a para equestrian grade, but I’m not really interested in dressage.
[QUOTE=Natalie A;8713841]
I love dressage, but I’m priced out of para dressage (and high-level regular dressage, for that matter)! Love the horses I ride, but they aren’t the amazing Warmbloods that everyone’s riding.[/QUOTE]
I think one of the US horses going to rio is a quarter horse cross! There are only a handful of para riders in the US with international quality para horses, so I hope those few people aren’t keeping you from doing what you’d like!
Para show jumping is on the to do list. It’s just a matter of having someone passionate jump in to get it started. It would not be hard for usef shows to run a para class over the same course that is already set, but the hard work is getting it to that point and details such as getting riders classified.
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I too have been interested in show jumping becoming a para discipline here in the US and have gotten similar feedback to what flyracing said. I’ve also gotten the impression that the USEF is hesitant since para-show jumping hasn’t yet been recognized by the FEI.
I am an amateur visually impaired/blind show jumper myself, and over the past few months have started trying to build a network of other individuals in the United States (and Canada) who are interested in the development of para-jumping as its own discipline in the hopes of getting us all connected and talking! I know there are many of us who already compete against able-bodied riders in eventing and the hunters and jumpers, and other paras who are interested but don’t know how or where to start. The problem is that at this point the resources aren’t yet available for any of us here in the US. My hope is to advocate for the emerging sport of para-equestrian jumping, with the ultimate goal of para-show jumping becoming a competitive international discipline and a Paralympic sport. While para-jumping is officially recognized as a discipline in various European countries, there is still much legwork that needs to be done to integrate it into equine-sport on both a national and international level in the Americas. My hope is that we can inspire and encourage interest and acceptance of the sport, and that this will lend to expanding the knowledge base, offerings, resources, training, competition opportunities and pathways available to para-equestrians interested in jumping.
If anyone is interested, I’d love to connect with you! Feel free to add me on LinkedIn or FB, or send me a message (wren@wrenblae.com)!
Hi everyone! I was on the forum looking up para-show jumping and came across this thread from 4 years ago and wanted to circle back! Good news! Over the past few years i’ve been plugging away at the regulating bodies (perhaps a bit persistently 
haha) and was finally able to get a meeting with some top people at USEF right before covid hit, and got great feedback! We are FINALLY moving forward with putting on some demonstration classes (just to raise awareness and prove that it’s both possible and safe for people with disabilities to jump horses), and then if everything runs smoothly we will be moving forward with regulating and officially adding the discipline to the rulebook!
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Does anyone know about possible para show jumping at WEG in 2024? I’m a grade V para dressage rider in New Zealand, and I keep hearing about para jumping at WEG, yet can’t find anything about it.
I haven’t heard anything. Why not contact the FEI directly and ask about it?
