With only four days to go to the start of the Championships, and only five until the first gold medal is won, Windsor is looking forward to five sets of medal presentations across both disciplines; dressage and show jumping.

With so much at stake for the competitors, what exactly does it take to win a medal? Here we explain the formats of the competitions:

The Dressage Championship
There are three sets of medals available; the team Championship and two individual competitions.

The first dressage competition is for individuals and teams and runs on Tuesday (25th) and Wednesday (26th). All riders will perform the same test and the winning team is the one having the highest total percentages of their best three riders (the fourth and lowest score is discarded for the team result.) Team medals will be presented at the end of Wednesday afternoon’s performance.

The second dressage competition is the Grand Prix Special which is an individual competition only. Only the top 30 placed pairings from the first competition will compete. Each horse and rider will perform the same set of predetermined movements, different to the first competition. The winner is the individual competitor obtaining the highest percentage score. There is no adding of percentages from the first competition; all competitors start on zero. Individual medals for the Grand Prix Special will then be issued at the end of this competition.

The third dressage competition, the Grand Prix Freestyle to Music (or Kür) then takes place as the final Individual competition on Saturday evening. The top 15 from the individual Grand Prix Special will compete in the Freestyle. Riders design their floorplan set to music, with certain movements that must be incorporated. As before, there is no adding of percentages from previous rounds. The gold medal goes to the combination obtaining the highest percentage score. Individual medals will be awarded at the end of the performance.

The Jumping Championship
Here there are two sets of medals to compete for; team and individual. Unlike the dressage, the scores for each round are carried over into the next.

Wednesday is the first Jumping competition for teams and individuals. All competitors complete one round against the clock. The time taken to complete the course plus four seconds for every fault is multiplied by 0.5 and rounded up or down to the second decimal place to give the points for each rider. The competitor with the lowest points after this conversion is given 0 penalties, and every other competitor is given penalties totalling the difference between their points and the lowest competitor’s points. The lowest three penalties in each team count as the team result - the highest is dropped.

The team final and second individual competition takes place on Friday afternoon. Because scores roll over, only those who have competed in the first competition can take part. This takes place over two rounds, not against the clock with a time allowed. Riders will compete in reverse order of the first competition results and the teams on the medals podium will be those who have the lowest combined penalties from their best three riders in the first competition and each round of the second competition. Team medals will be presented at the end of this performance.

The final day of the Championships is Sunday 30th August and the Individual Jumping final. Only the top 25 competitors from all previous rounds compete. The Individual final consists of two rounds, not against the clock but with a time allowed. The overall and individual winner is the competitor with the lowest combined penalties from all Championship classes. There will be a jump-off if there is a penalty tie. Individual medals will be presented at the end of the competition.

So 15 medals to be won and only days to go until it all kicks off….