BE Show jumping .... related distances

B

Bubblegum

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 July 2004
Messages
2,086
Visit site
Went SJ tonight. Only a local unaffliated evening, but in a good size arena with plenty of colourful jumps & fillers. Really went as we knew it was not busy and you can basically have a school round whatever height you like. In preparation for BE PN at Carlton on Saturday.
Daughter(14), having walked the course, said the distance in the double was 10 strides... and asked me for advice....
I said ' o dear... thats a toughie...short two, very long one!'
We asked the YO if the fence could be moved ( we had already said we were there to practise for BE.. and as she is trying to build up her reputation and attract more people she was pleased to see us)... but NO !
YO said that this is SJ and we should be able to shorten /lengthen our horse sufficiently to cope if we are at PN standard...!!!
My question is.... we have only done a handful of BE events (Intro & PN) and have not come across atricky distance in the SJ yet. Should we expect them at this level??
Thanks very much.
confused.gif
 
They should not do incorrect distances ,a double should be correct depending on if it is an oxer in and upright out or the other way round and if it is uphill or downhill.I don't think they know what they are doing!
 
No, you won't get stupid distances at BE level. I've found the striding is always correct (for a horse) between doubles, whether they be one strides or 2 and between other jumps on the course.

They use accredited course builders who are there at the showground all day. IMHO your Unaff centre needs some more training!!

Having said that, last year I went to an Unaff ODE held at a place where BE is run, and the SJ course was built by a lady who Events herself and runs the posh livery there.

Her Open SJ course that was supposed to be 3ft 3" - 3ft 6" was all over height and the distance between the double was an impossible 1 3/4 horse strides or 1 1/2 pony!

She initially refused to move it until all the competitors told her they wouldn't start until she did..... so it can happen.....but I've never seen an awkward related distance at an Intro or PN BE.
 
OMG that is total rubbish!!! She doesn't know what she's talking about.
smirk.gif


Don't worry, you always get correctly distanced doubles BE and BSJA.
smile.gif
 
O thank you so much everyone. I just had one of those 'am I actually right or not? ' moments....
Thought so.... thanks....
crazy.gif
 
10 human strides - ie. approx 10 yards. To be honest although it's not 'correct' you should easily be able to shorten your canter to get 2 strides in. I wouldn't do it with a baby but I often shorten distances in grids etc. to get horses 'bouncing' between fences and deeper to the second part. If your (human) stride is approx 1 yard (ie. 3 ft) then to get 2 strides into 10 yards instead of 11 all you need to do is get a short bouncy canter so that each canter stride is 1.5 feet shorter than previously. That still allows the same amount of room for take off and landing. Ken Clawson had us changing our canter stride lengths by up to 4 feet (from v collected to v long) on the flat, so losing 1.5 feet should be fine if you're adaptable.

It isn't correct at a competition, and I wouldn't want to jump a young horse through it, but if you have sufficient ability to shorten your canter then 2 canter strides in 10 yards should jump very nicely (much better than one long one!!!)
 
I hate that about unaff competitions sometimes. One i went had put the filler underneath the back pole of an oxer, giving it a false groundline. I questioned them about it to which I was told it was to make the riders think about it - what?!!!

I did jump round, but only because my horse does tend to stand off from things - but it could have caused a very nasty accident. I also had a momemt of ' I am sure I am right about this, although not so sure now'. I wish I was more opinionated about these things when I am right!!!
 
Whilst I agree an experienced horse and rider should be able to get 2 very short strides in, it certainly isn't something you would be expected to do even at the very highest levels (of BSJA or BE). In fact 12 yards (or human strides if you prefer) is 36 feet is a 'proper' two stride double...or 8 yards / 24 feet for a 'proper' one stride double. What this coursebuilder has built is an exact 1.5 stride double for a horse....or possibly a two stride double for a pony.

Were there ponies in the class ?
 
No... that's why I was so fed up about it. Our horse (16.1) was the smallest!!!!
Other people there included two teenagers I help out a bit and they were both on 16.3's .... so you can see why I asked for the jump to be altered.
After all we went there to have a 'coloured jump course' schooling session, and all the girls are still learning.
 
Also - just to chuck another thing in the melting pot

To walk a single stride at BSJA is 7 of my very big strides, whereas a 2 strides is 11 of my very big paces (I'm 5ft4" and walk almost goosestep to meet these!!!)

However I've been told off for using 7 at home as my instructor said to bring them in to make them pick up.

So if your daughter was walking a long stride (depening on how tall she is!) a short 11 could appear as a 10.

Either way even babies should be able to jump it as if you don't get the forward implusion a big 11 can be tricky!!!

On saying that if they stuck first part as a whooping great oxer I'd be less happy. Also depends on height as if tiny you have to bring them in anyway.
 
[ QUOTE ]

To walk a single stride at BSJA is 7 of my very big strides, whereas a 2 strides is 11 of my very big paces (I'm 5ft4" and walk almost goosestep to meet these!!!)

[/ QUOTE ]

Mr Stockdale would tell you off for not practising your '3 foot stride' then
grin.gif
wink.gif
 
No matter how many times I walk down a 12 foot pole I still cannot do a perfect 4 strides.... and I bought all his flipping dvd's and haven't turned into a professional *humpf*....
 
Have to say that went BSJA specifically due to the long striding in doubles and trebles with BE due to courses being jumped by both ponies and horses, only to find 13 striding double and a 9 striding double and i'm 6ft and leggy. My horse dealt with both happily as he was on a surface but had it been slippy grass or deep then there would have been carnage. Other horses were chipping in little ones and other stretching and causing poles to break. I would recommend schooling through grids at differing striding so that your horse is happy with tackling the fences.
 
See if you were a shortie like me you would be able to do it easily!
wink.gif
I walk 8 paces in a one stride.

Although as the Spot is still convinced that you should never use one stride when you can use two it seems a waste of time walking the distances anyway!
smirk.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top