Results of the Jumping Fence Design Competition were announced by the Olympic Equestrian Company in Hong Kong . Chinese tea-drinking is the common theme for the winning designs in the Professional and Junior Categories, while traditional Chinese operatic and folk art provided inspiration for the winning design in the Senior Category.

The winning designs will be used as a source of reference in designing the fences for the Jumping Discipline in the Olympic Games Equestrian Event to be held in Hong Kong in August 2008.

World-renowned Jumping course designer Leopoldo Palacios, an official Jumping course designer (in collaboration with American Steve Stephens), was among one of the judges for the design competition. He recently shared his professional views on how to design good fences for the Equestrian Jumping Event.

Leopoldo, himself a veteran rider, has numerous titles and honours under his belt, including President of the Venezuelan Equestrian Association and key positions at the International Federation of Equestrian Sports (FEI). He was also course designer for the Jumping Discipline in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

“In designing Jumping fences, we must first and foremost think about the horses, especially the horses that will be competing in that competition,” he mused.

“Horses fear some animals. In the Sydney Olympics, for instance, the “kangaroos” fence is designed in such a way that human beings recognize the two kangaroos but the horses don't. So the “kangaroos” fence was painted in red, yellow and blue, instead of brown, which is the natural color of kangaroos,” he explained. “If the horses recognize the kangaroos, they won't jump over them.”

He added that the dragon design should be fine with horses because horses are not supposed to have seen a dragon, which is a legendary animal and symbol of China .

Around 50 fences will be designed and produced for the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Jumping Events. “15 to 17 fences will be used on each competition day, and every new day we replace some of them with new ones,” he said.

To capture inspiration and to make sure their fence designs reflect the visual characteristics of Hong Kong and China, Leopoldo and his teammate Steve Stephens have spent about two weeks in China, visiting museums and monuments and taking tons of photos.

“The Great Wall will certainly be featured, and so will Hong Kong landmarks like the Tsing Ma Bridge,” he said, careful not to reveal further details.