How do time penalties work on the cross-country?
B · Beginner · Cross-country · 5 of 6Every course has an optimum time, worked out from its length and a set speed. Each second over it costs 0.4 of a penalty. Finishing faster earns nothing. Taking more than twice the optimum time means elimination. At the top level the speed is 570 metres a minute.
How it works
- How it is set: "The distance chosen, carried out at the chosen speed, gives the optimum time."
- No bonus: "Completing in less than the optimum time is not rewarded."
- The penalty: "0.4 penalties per commenced second" over the optimum time.
- The limit: "The time limit is twice the optimum time." Exceeding it means elimination.
- The speed: 570 metres a minute at four and five star, 550 at three star and 520 at two star.
- When the clock starts: at the signal to start, or when the rider crosses the start line if that is sooner.
- When it stops: on crossing the finish line.
- Held on course: time during which an official stops a rider is recorded and deducted.
- Own pace: between start and finish riders are free to choose their pace.
- Too fast can be an offence: riding fences too fast is on the list of dangerous riding.
- In a tie: the cross-country time closest to the optimum is the third tie-break.
The glossary has the optimum time, the time fault entry, cross-country and the final classification.
Tricky cases
A rider finishes 20 seconds inside the optimum time. Do they gain anything?
No. Completing in less than the optimum time is not rewarded.
A rider is ten seconds over. How many penalties?
4.0. Each second commenced costs 0.4.
A rider is held for three minutes while a fence is repaired. Does that count against them?
No. The time they are stopped is recorded and deducted from their total.
Can two riders with the same total be split by who was faster across country?
Not by who was faster. The third tie-break is whose time was closest to the optimum.
Why the rule exists
An optimum time, and not a race, means there is no reward for galloping a tired horse flat out. The speed is set so that only a fit, well-ridden horse makes it without wasting ground, and the rider's skill is in arriving on the second with a horse that still has something left.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-country | 0.4 a second over the optimum time | FEI Eventing 548.2 |
| Eventing jumping test | 0.4 a second over the time allowed | FEI Eventing 553.2 |
| Pure jumping | One penalty a second | ../jumping/ set |
| Championships and Games | An optimum time of about ten minutes | FEI Eventing Annex A |
From the rule book
Fédération Équestre Internationale, Eventing Rules 2026, articles 525.1.1, 528.1.6, 545.2, 545.4, 545.7.1, 548.2 and Annex A. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: FEI Eventing Rules 2026 (PDF).