Dzhigitovka is a whole cascade of acrobatic exercises and tricks performed by a rider on a fast galloping horse (speed not less than 400 m/min). It is very popular among the peoples of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia and Central Asia. As far back as the period of the ancient Greek Olympic Games there were known races in which riders jumped to the ground, ran with their horses and jumped on them again in motion. Nowadays jigging is carried out on a straight line 360 meters long and not less than 10 meters wide or on a circular arena of a circus and is subdivided into sport and circus.
To perform the jigging a horse should be saddled with a Cossack saddle or a dressage saddle or a Caucasian saddle. When saddling, special attention should be paid to the tightening of the harness. They should be tightened as much as possible to prevent the saddle from moving sideways. To perform the jigging moves, the horse is sent to a field gallop or a brisk gallop.
The jigilant must perform as many diverse exercises as possible or one element as many times as possible. The first group of difficulty includes jogging on the ground with landing in the saddle. The second group includes jerks performed in one tempo with a grip on the front or rear bow, as well as “scissors” and lifting rings from the ground from one side of the horse.
Circus jigging consists of a cascade of tricks: jumping on the horse, jumping off, riding standing up, getting under the horse’s neck or belly, raising coins and shooting at a target from different positions.
Lifting any object from the ground is carried out at a gallop. To facilitate the task to the front bow tie a cinch (pack strap) with a loop, and stirrups under the belly is connected by a strap called “skashovka”. Having inserted the legs into the stirrups and grasped the loop of the cinch with one hand, the rider throws the body back and down in the direction of finding the object and picks it up from the ground with the other hand.
There is a more extreme way to lift objects from the ground: it is performed without any additional devices to facilitate the task and is more suitable for tall and experienced riders jigging on small horses. The rider hooks on the rear bow with his foot (if the object should be lifted on the left, then with the right foot, and vice versa), the body goes down and lifts the object. In addition, when jigging a number of arbitrary collective exercises are used: these include such exercises as building a “pyramid”, a live bar, overcoming obstacles while standing, laying a horse, etc.
Trying to perform elements of jigging on your own is dangerous, especially for those who have never been familiar with its subtleties. Any slightest mistake can lead to injury or even death. It is not without reason that the word “jigit” means “skilful and valiant rider. In this kind of equestrian sport, a trot or a fall of a rider is considered a loss. Jigging used to include target shooting and hand-to-hand fighting techniques and was of a military nature.
Horsemanship and jigging are complex types of training for riders, almost extreme, peculiar and in some ways similar. Having mastered their techniques, riders in any kind of equestrian sport can perfectly sit on the horse and cope with it even in critical situations, as well as learn to avoid injuries when falling down and instantly jump off the horse when the animal needs immediate help.