Cross-country riding: rules, levels and compulsory kit

On a cross-country course, the fence does not fall. That single sentence explains why this phase is like no other, and why its rulebook is built around compulsory protective equipment. Cross-country riding is the endurance phase of eventing: an outdoor course, against the clock, over solid fences built into the ground. This guide gives you what most pages on the subject leave out: the required speeds level by level, the real heights, the exact penalty table, a precise list of what the rules oblige you to wear, and how to prepare for your first course without nasty surprises.

Cross-country riding: definition and place in eventing

Cross-country is the endurance phase of eventing: an outdoor course over varied natural ground, where the combination jumps solid fences within a set time. It is also called cross-country or simply the cross.

Eventing strings together three tests that the same combination must complete:

• Dressage, which assesses submission, regularity of the paces and quality of the contact in an arena.
• Cross-country, which assesses boldness, stamina and the combination's ability to handle ground it does not control.
• Show jumping, which assesses technique and how well the horse has recovered from the previous day's or that morning's effort.

Cross-country is always run second in that order. That is not incidental: the show jumping placed after the cross exists precisely to check that the horse has recovered. A tired horse, or one marked by the endurance phase, will have poles down.

Cross-country also exists as a standalone class, outside eventing. These classes are usually run at more modest levels and organised locally. They are often how club riders first meet the discipline, and they remain the best way in.

What really separates cross-country from show jumping comes down to three things:

A fence that does not fall changes everything: the horse cannot save itself by rubbing through, and the rider cannot rely on a pole to absorb a mistake on the approach. That is where the demand for boldness comes from, and that is where the equipment comes from. If you want to place cross-country among the other equestrian activities, our article on the different equestrian disciplines puts each one in context.

What a cross-country course looks like: the 7 families of fences

A cross-country course reads as seven families of fences, each setting the combination a different technical problem. The course designer combines them according to the terrain available, which is why no two courses are alike.

The seven families are as follows:

• Gradients: sharp climbs and descents, which change the horse's balance before it even meets the fence.
• Spread fences: wide, asking for scope rather than height. A ditch and rails, a table.
• Ground-built fences: banks, mounds and steps, where the horse gains or loses height as it jumps.
• Upright fences: logs, palisades, gates. The easiest shape for a novice horse to read.
• Water fences: the water crossings. Entering the water is the most common sticking point for an inexperienced horse.
• Fences into space: sited on a crest or in front of a drop, where the horse sees the landscape rather than the landing ground.
• Directional fences: narrow, angled or arrowhead, demanding an exact line because the horse can simply run past.

To these families you can add two terms you will hear constantly on a course. A step up is a jump onto a raised platform, where the horse climbs. A drop is a jump downwards, where the horse comes off a step: the most impressive fence on the approach, because the rider is looking into space.

Flags: the rule that eliminates

Every fence is framed by two flags. The red flag is always on the right, the white flag always on the left. The combination must pass between them, in that direction. Failing to respect a flag, anywhere on the course, means elimination, not a penalty.

Fences are numbered. When a fence has several elements to be jumped in succession, those elements carry the same number followed by a letter: 7A, 7B, 7C. Many fences also offer an alternative, a longer but simpler route, marked by a second pair of flags carrying a black line. Taking the alternative costs no penalties: it only costs seconds.

Before you set off, you have regulation practice fences available: an upright, an oxer and a simple cross-country fence, at the exact dimensions of your class. You then start from a start box, where you may turn in walk, and the clock starts as you cross the line.

Speeds, distances and official heights: the FFE rulebook figures

In cross-country, speed is not the rider's choice: it is set by the level of the class, and it is what determines the optimum time. This is the most widely misunderstood point in the discipline, and the one almost no page documents.

Here are the official standards from the competition rules of the French equestrian federation (Fédération française d'équitation, FFE), specific eventing provisions, in the version applicable from 5 January 2026.

Three readings stand out from this table.

First, the speed gap between the lowest and the highest level reaches 50%. You go from 380 to 570 metres per minute. For a club rider, that means progress in cross-country depends as much on holding a fast balanced gallop as on the height of the fences.

Second, the permitted drop is consistently higher than the fence itself. From Club 3, a fence tops out at 50 cm but the drop can reach 80 cm. That is exactly why a cross-country course always looks more impressive than its dimensions suggest on paper.

Third, height is not the limiting factor. A Pro Elite jumps 120 cm, which is modest compared with show jumping. What makes the phase difficult is the accumulation: the speed, the number of jumping efforts, which can rise to 36, the terrain and the fact that the fences are solid.

How the optimum time is calculated

The formula is official and simple:

Distance divided by speed, multiplied by 60 = time allowed in seconds.

Take a Club 3 of 750 metres at 380 m/min. The calculation gives 750 / 380 = 1.974, multiplied by 60 = 118 seconds, that is 1 minute 58 seconds. That is your optimum time. Going faster earns you nothing, no bonus exists. Going slower costs you penalties.

Two useful details. The time limit on cross-country is double the optimum time: exceeding it means elimination. And the clock always rounds up to the next second, so 30.25 seconds is recorded as 31 seconds.

Finally, there is a safety valve. If conditions demand it, ground too heavy or weather turning bad, the President of the ground jury may lower the cross-country speed by 10 to 50 m/min before the class starts, in consultation with the course designer. A new optimum time is then recalculated and posted.

What riding level do you need for cross-country

The FFE rulebook does not tie entry in cross-country to a specific riding certificate: it is your club and your instructor who sign off your access to the discipline. That is the honest answer to a very common question, and it deserves unpacking, because many sites quote a figure as though it were a federal rule.

In practice, the progression seen in clubs is fairly consistent:

• Galop 4 (French riding certificate): first outings across country, jumping low natural obstacles under supervision.
• Galop 5: structured introduction to cross-country, jumping small solid fences, first standalone classes at Club 3 level.
• Galop 6: access to real technicality, combinations, drops, water crossings, and entry in club-level eventing.

What counts is not the number in your logbook, but the technical skills behind it. Before your first course, you need to be able to:

• Hold a regular balanced gallop over ground that climbs and drops, without your horse speeding up of its own accord.
• Steer accurately, because a directional fence is missed by running past it, not by refusing.
• Link several jumps without losing your position or your rhythm between efforts.
• Stay in a light seat over the distance, with your stirrups shortened by two or three holes compared with dressage.
• Manage your horse in water and on undulating ground, which is learned out hacking as much as in the arena.

If you are still working on the quality and regularity of your canter, our guide on how to canter a horse covers the basics before you move to the cross-country gallop, which is rounder and more sustained than the school canter.

Compulsory kit for the cross-country rider

Two items are compulsory under the rules on cross-country: a riding hat meeting the equestrian standards in force, and a body protector meeting the equestrian standards in force. The second is specific to cross-country and is not required in either of the other two eventing phases.

Here is exactly what the rules require of the rider on the cross-country phase:

• The riding hat meeting the equestrian standards in force, required across all three eventing phases. Chinstrap fastened: jumping a fence with an unfastened chinstrap is grounds for elimination.
• The body protector meeting the equestrian standards in force, required specifically on cross-country. The applicable standards are published by the federation.
• The number bib, compulsory on the cross-country phase. You must wear the numbering supplied by the organiser.
• Long hair plaited or in a bun, a requirement specific to the cross-country phase.
• Boots or jodhpur boots with a clearly defined heel. Models without a marked heel are banned, because the foot can slide through the stirrup.
• The medical card, recommended by the rules without being compulsory.

The point about air jackets that almost nobody writes

The rules are explicit on this, and the misunderstanding is common at the point of purchase: an air jacket may be worn over the compulsory body protector, but it never replaces it.

In other words, if you set off across country with an air jacket alone, you are not compliant. The two forms of protection follow different logics: the body protector absorbs direct impact through its foam, permanently; the air jacket deploys when you separate from the horse and protects the trunk and the neck, but it does nothing if it fails to deploy. The rules treat them as complementary, not interchangeable.

Beyond the compulsory list, a few items make a real difference to comfort on an endurance course: gloves that grip a wet rein, a stopwatch to check your time at the minute markers, and close-fitting clothing that does not catch the wind. You will find practical accessories in our riding accessories selection, and everything to complete your club outfit in horse clothing.

How to kit out your horse for cross-country

The cross-country horse wears closed protection on all four legs, overreach boots, and tack checked piece by piece before the start. Natural ground and solid fences expose the legs to knocks that an arena never produces.

The horse's basic kit on a cross-country course breaks down as follows:

• Leg protection: brushing boots in front, fetlock boots behind, designed for cross-country. The rules govern their shape: a single rigid shell on the inside face, no longer than 20 cm, with one-way fastenings that do not wrap the whole boot.
• Overreach boots, which protect the bulbs and the coronet from strikes, very frequent when the horse digs into heavy ground.
• The saddle pad and the half pad, chosen so they do not slip over the length of the effort.
• Girth and stirrup leathers checked, with the girth tightness verified just before you enter the start box.
• A running martingale if your horse tends to throw its head up, permitted and common in cross-country.
• The bit your horse usually works in, possibly a little stronger, but never one discovered on the day of the class.
• Safety stirrups, which release the foot in a fall. They are not compulsory, but their value in this phase is obvious.

Before the start, a series of checks is in order. Spurs, incidentally, are officially inspected by a member of the ground jury or a steward before you set off on the cross.

Your everyday kit can be found in the riding collection, and the small yard items that complete your competition bag in horse accessories.

Optimum time, penalties and elimination: how you are scored

In cross-country, everything is counted in penalties, and the best possible score is zero. Those penalties are added to the dressage and show jumping scores to establish the final eventing placing.

The official penalty table is as follows:

Only three faults exist at the fences, and they are defined precisely.

The refusal. At a fence over 30 cm, your horse refuses if it stops in front of it. It may take a step sideways without penalty, but if it steps back even with a single foot, that is a refusal. At fences of 30 cm or less, a halt followed immediately by a standing jump is not penalised; above 30 cm, that same standing jump is sanctioned as dangerous riding.

The run-out. Your horse runs out when, presented at the fence, it avoids it in such a way that its head, its poll and the points of both shoulders do not pass between the flags. This is the classic fault at directional fences.

The circle. You are penalised for a circle when your horse recrosses its own track before jumping the fence. However, once you have been penalised for a refusal, a run-out or a circle, you may recross your track as many times as necessary without further penalty until you re-present your horse.

Two useful rules at this stage. You may change your line at any time without penalty, including after a mistake: switching to the alternative after a refusal on the direct route costs nothing beyond the refusal already counted. And at a fence whose two elements are 5 metres apart or less, jumping the first element cleanly counts as a presentation at the second.

Is cross-country dangerous? What the rules actually require

Cross-country is a committing discipline, and the rulebook acknowledges it by organising a safety framework found in no other equestrian phase. Saying anything else would be dishonest, and playing it down helps nobody prepare.

Here is what the rules put in place in concrete terms:

• A fall means elimination, wherever on the course it happens, and dismounting counts as a fall. There is no regulatory incentive whatsoever to continue after a fall.
• Any rider who falls must be examined by the event's medical service. This is not left to their own judgement.
• Any horse that falls must be examined by the vet or by the President of the ground jury.
• Fence judges are stationed on course. They can wave a red flag to stop a competitor when a fence is blocked. The time stopped is recorded and deducted from your total time, so stopping costs you nothing.
• A competitor in difficulty at a fence must dismount and is eliminated, rather than trying to free the horse while staying in the saddle.
• A phased return procedure exists for the horse. A horse eliminated for a fall at a fence at level 2, 3 or 4 is identified as such in the results and must complete a class at a lower level before it can run again at the same level, on pain of disqualification.
• Mobile phones are banned on course and earphones are banned during competition, so that you can hear the fence judges.
• Overtaking is regulated: a competitor about to be overtaken must give way, and overtaking may only happen in a safe place.

The useful reading of all this is the following: the risk in cross-country is real, it is identified, and the rulebook addresses it by mandating equipment, compulsory examinations and stopping procedures. Your share of the work is not to enter above your level, to walk the course seriously, and to wear equipment that is compliant and in good condition.

Preparing your first cross-country: the three-week checklist

A first cross-country is prepared over three weeks, dealing in order with the equipment, the work out of the arena, then the course walk and the time calculation. Here is how to reach the start box with confidence.

Three weeks before:

• Check the compliance and condition of your body protector and your riding hat. A hat that has taken an impact must be replaced, even with no visible damage.
• Check the expiry date of your hat and that the standard label is present on your body protector.
• Book two sessions out of the arena with your instructor, over varied ground, to work on a balanced gallop on gradients.
• Test the leg protection on wet ground, to check that it does not twist round and does not pack with mud.

Two weeks before:

• Work on entering water calmly, in walk to begin with, never forcing the crossing.
• Jump a low drop and a directional fence in a lesson, so that neither is a discovery on the day.
• Get your horse used to a sustained gallop over the distance of your class, without chasing the clock.

During competition week:

• Calculate your optimum time as soon as the distance and speed are posted, using the formula distance divided by speed multiplied by 60.
• Walk the course on foot, fence by fence, noting the alternatives and locating the flags.
• Identify the two or three fences that worry you and decide in advance whether you take the direct route or the alternative.
• Prepare your cooling-down kit: buckets, sponges, sweat scraper, rug depending on the weather.
• Check the tack piece by piece the day before, and retighten the girth just before you enter the start box.
• Fasten your chinstrap before you present yourself: jumping a fence with an unfastened chinstrap means elimination.
• Plait long hair or put it in a bun, a requirement specific to the cross-country phase.

One final recommendation, the most useful of all for a first course: aim for a clear round at the fences, not for the clock. Time penalties cost 0.4 per second, a refusal costs 20. Taking thirty seconds longer to ride an alternative you are confident with is almost always the right call.

Frequently asked questions about cross-country riding

Here are the answers to the six questions riders ask most often before their first cross-country, from the level required to the exact cost of a refusal.

What is cross-country in riding?

Cross-country is the endurance phase of eventing. The combination covers an outdoor route over natural ground, jumping solid fences within a set time. It is run second in eventing, between dressage and show jumping, and it also exists as a standalone class, generally at a more accessible level.

What riding level do you need for cross-country?

The federal rulebook sets no compulsory riding certificate for cross-country in the Club division: your club and your instructor sign off your access. In practice, riders discover the discipline around Galop 4 to 5 and enter club competition around Galop 5 to 6. The real prerequisites are a regular balanced gallop, accurate steering and confidence out of the arena.

What equipment is compulsory for cross-country?

Two items of protection are compulsory under the rules: a riding hat meeting the equestrian standards in force, required across all three eventing phases, and a body protector meeting the equestrian standards in force, required specifically on cross-country. To these are added the number bib, boots with a clearly defined heel and, for long hair, a plait or a bun.

Is an air jacket enough for cross-country?

No. The rules state that an air jacket may be worn over the compulsory body protector, but that it never replaces it. Setting off across country with an air jacket alone puts you in breach. The two devices are complementary: the foam absorbs permanently, the air jacket deploys when you separate from the horse.

How many penalties does a refusal cost in cross-country?

A first disobedience at a fence costs 20 penalties, and a second disobedience at the same fence costs 40. By comparison, exceeding the optimum time only costs 0.4 penalties per second started. That is why it is almost always more profitable to slow down or take an alternative than to risk a refusal.

Is cross-country riding related to cross-country running?

No, these are two unrelated disciplines. Cross-country running is an athletics event on foot over natural ground. Equestrian cross-country only shares the idea of a course outdoors over varied terrain, but it is a mounted phase codified by the equestrian federation.