Eventers - following on from Rider Frighteners, what's the biggest/

kerilli

kerilli

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scariest fence you've ever jumped? And how did it feel?

Mine is the corner of the bank on Bishop Burton A track. The long route is jumping on to the bank and off again, and over a rail iirc, the short route is jumping the massive corner of the bank (imagine a big wedge of cake and jumping that). It is downhill, and it looked pretty huge.
i'd already decided that if i missed at the previous triple bar, or things just weren't going well, i'd go long, but we were having a great round and we came flying down the hill and i went for it, and prayed for a good stride, she just sailed it, gave it about a foot and seemed to be in the air for 10 seconds!
what a feeling.
i heard a shutter click in mid air but never got a picture through.
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it was my/our first Advanced clear, too. nice memory. RIP lovely Doris, who would have jumped the moon for me.
what's yours?
(oops, sorry if that is very self-indugent!)
 
I don't know what THE biggest / scariest fence is as I think there's a been a few (I must be a woose!). But 3 spring to mind which weren't actually very scary now I look back! The first one I used to dread was the "Wee Mans Shelter" at a local unaffiliated course! Its a big wide boxy shelter type fence going down a drop the other side. Id ridden at that course for years and always thought Id be so proud if I ever got to jump that! I have a few times now, its purely a rider frightener. But it does give an "into space" feeling which I dont like! Other fence was at Aswanley, the one pictured in the other post but only because I was there in '05 when the first few had huge problems, I think the girl in the second pics (link in other thread) broke her leg, fence was taken out pretty quickly! They had changed it by last year when I first jumped it though but was still wetting my pants over it. Pony jumped it fine as usual! Third most-worrying fence was at the BRC Champs at Offchurch last year. A big very square boxy narrow thing. I couldn't decide where to jump it as the angle was faced towards you but off-centre. Ned did jump it a little funny but no prob, he had 2 stops at some stupid narrow brush out of the first water though - gutting!

I always wish the photographer was at the scariest fence because I think most people want pics at those! I never buy pics taken at simple boring fences no matter how good my horse looks!
 
Probably this one. Weston park 2000. Wasn't just the height or width but the slope on landing and suspended log angled across the ditch so also needed some accuracy
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A bullfinch at Bramham into a wood and on a turn and there was a huge bullfinch at South of England Adv the year it was on TV.

Also the Deer leap at Windsor I was 15 yrs and my horse stod 15hh (14.2 really) I walked the course with a top eventer and got to that and thought OMG and they did not think anything of it and I was oh no as I walked on, but it jumped great, I must scan the picture of it.
 
TimeFaulter, i did the 1* at Weston in 2000, i can't remember that fence at all. actually, i can't remember any of the fences... oh dear. *slips into early-onset senile dementia*
Janet always builds lovely courses, as long as your horse jumps skinnies. heaven help you if not!
 
Bella, which one's the Deer Leap?
it isn't the pimple-chasm-bounce over palisade and drop before the last water, is it? cos that one scared the pants off me but jumped fine.
there used to be a humungous table early on SofE A course, that was quite an eye-opener as well! don't think i got as far as the bullfinch!
(mare popped nicely off the step into the first water and just disappeared. i was 3rd to go, and not the only one to do that... they said there definitely wasn't a hole, but if there wasn't one when i fell in, i certainly left one for everyone else to fall in afterwards! poor mare cut her knees quite badly, we retired immediately, but it took months to get her bottle back at water, poor love.)
 
Yes the one at Tetton is a little bit smaller, and after that one in the picture (Storeton Hall) didnt seem at all scary
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The funniest thing at Tetton was the first fence which is the hedge, the practice fence is like 2ft high and the hedge is full up!
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I loved jumping that ditch and brush fence, maybe I really am weird?
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At Sansaw CCI * in 2000 they had a variety of huge fences. Not just on the XC course but the steeplechase as well! I swear that I couldnt see over those steeplechase fences. Found them scary but little Trevor just bolted round the course making nothing of them. Hang on for dear life as he was literally bolting! Then he galloped round the rest of the roads and tracks refusing to trot or walk b... Arrived in the 10 min box fresh as a daisy.
Then onto the XC There were then quite a few big and scary fences- including those rails over the ditch- which feels like you are taking off into space. They were just massive. Trev skipped round and went up 45 places after the dressage. That was a true three day event track!
Did anyone else do Sansaw CCI* in that year? It was such an AMAZING course with brilliant fences. Gi-normous, But they rode so well. Have not since come across anything like that course, Weston cci* completly pales in comparision to that one! It was probably as big as Highclere Intermediate.
There are also some impossibly big fences at Highclere too- another rail/spread/table thing going over a ditch into air which I couldnt see over.
 
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Did anyone else do Sansaw CCI* in that year? It was such an AMAZING course with brilliant fences. Gi-normous, But they rode so well.

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Not me but OH must have collected your scores on the quad!
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OOoh really!?! Would your OH would remember my bolting bay mini-horse and me hanging on for dear life at the water jump!

Aw that event holds such happy memories - I will never forget it!- the whole thing was such an adventure- beautifull setting, beautifull jumps, wonderfull people ( everyone was so extraordinarily helpfull and friendly!)
 
MM - I was going to say 'the wee man's shelter' as well! Although I have only ever jumped the novice and intermediate ones. The first time I jumped the novice I was terrified (it is only 2'6) It was at the RC areas. I was 13 on my 26 year old 14.2hh and he just popped it. but when he was younger he could have jumped the open! I have a lovely photo of it still hanging on my wall. Plus it was the last ODE I won. I was last after the dressage but no-one got round the sj and xc! I was the only person to have a double clear, lol.

The drop wall was scary at Burgie but it jumps so well.
 
Ha! I very much doubt it; he has a job to remember mine!

It's a crying shame there won't be another Sansaw. Lovely RT has handed over the running of the park to his son who has got some organic ideas which means they won't have the space/land available to spare for the event. Great shame as they had done a lot of truly natural fences there and they will all go to waste now.

Glad we're a nice bunch too!
 
Probably this one i did out schooling....large from take off side as well as having a massive drop and then you have to turn quite quickly right.

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toto - He he, I think everybody round here who's done Philorth hates that shelter at any level! I love Philorth, definately the best unaffiliated course because it's pretty beefy. My horse has still never got over that damn narrow single barrel (open) in the combination of 3. We will be getting over that next year...

Yeah, the drop wall is a bit of a rider frightener, I think because they seem to include it in the lower levels so its a bit worrying on a green horse.

fran - thats quite large!
 
i think my scariest fence was a 5 bar gate out hunting, but then it was unintentional, i was hoping to stop and open it but Ron didn't allow that so we climbed it from almost a stand-still!

i think in competition it was a trakhener at June Dent's course near darlington... the ditch seemed bottomless, and was about the maximum width allowed for RC open. other wise there were a couple at this years BRC Champs in offchurch that were a bit rider-frightening including a double at an angle with a tree in the middle (short route straight thru on an angle with 2 strides, long route jump, right angle turn round tree and jump again) i had to slip my reins over the first one and couldn't get him turned to the second one and had to circle....
 
The big Trekenher at Firle. Bit scary as the log is so big. Also the cake on my sig as you need jump a skinny first then turn right straight away and the cakes wide!! . I think they are on the Novice course now. My friend did badminton in 1995 and she said the jumps were worse then for size and she said there was the flint wall which was horrid!!
 
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Bella, which one's the Deer Leap?
it isn't the pimple-chasm-bounce over palisade and drop before the last water, is it? cos that one scared the pants off me but jumped fine.
there used to be a humungous table early on SofE A course, that was quite an eye-opener as well! don't think i got as far as the bullfinch!
(mare popped nicely off the step into the first water and just disappeared. i was 3rd to go, and not the only one to do that... they said there definitely wasn't a hole, but if there wasn't one when i fell in, i certainly left one for everyone else to fall in afterwards! poor mare cut her knees quite badly, we retired immediately, but it took months to get her bottle back at water, poor love.)

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Yes there was a huge table too.

I remember Windsor.... I walked the steeplechase with Tiny Clapham, Tiny walked so fast I had to run to keep up and I thought the steeplechase was huge teeteetee I was OMG then I walk the XC and that was huge too.

The deer leap was at the bottom of the hill you jumped over a triple bar over a ditch then turn and had about 10 strides to the deer leap it was in 1987 the last fence in 1989 was huge (too same ditch)
 
This one: Senior areas this year, my first real novice type course, and some of it was huge, this is the intermediate eventing ireland water and I was crapping myself, it is a big fear of mine the horse somersaulting and landing on me, when the intermediates jump this they get brush added. Needless to say my lovely boy didn't even think about it! Sadly we slipped later in the course and both the horse and I went down. Note, only about 2"6-2"9 on take off but a biggg drop!
http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2521409630065949736PRfNUH
 
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There are also some impossibly big fences at Highclere too- another rail/spread/table thing going over a ditch into air which I couldnt see over.

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They scrapped that fence, I did it the first time I did Highclere and agree it was massive and not off a nice turn either!!

I've never met anything stupidly big, maybe once or twice out hunting on my pony but eventing wise there has never been anything that really terrified me.
My sister has some pics of her tiny little 15.1 jumping round Blenheim and they terrify me!!!
 
Another jump which really scares me (I have never done it!) is the CCI* trekenher at Burgie. When I was at Pony Club we used to often ride past it and it terrified everyone. The one year my sister attempted to jump it (in the Novice 2DE) Glen jumped in it. Luckily he was so small he was able to walk underneath the log.

Here is a picture of a random jumping it
http://www.peak-photo.co.uk/index.php?pa...mp;search_mode=


Again never jumped it but this is all the 1 stars at Burgie talk about. But I have never seen any problems at it.
http://www.peak-photo.co.uk/index.php?pa...mp;search_mode=
I am sure this is the drop wall I was talking about, they have added an extra pole but it has been used as an intro fence!
http://www.peak-photo.co.uk/index.php?pa...mp;search_mode=
 
This was pretty big off the back of a not-very controllable 15.2, was in the Advanced at Lulworth, unfortunately you can't see where the ground is, but it was definately at max height, and that must be near max spread I would have thought:

DecoLulworth05.jpg


I always found Rolleston Advanced rather beefy, was disappointed when I heard it had been toned down for this year (but got rained off). The 2nd or 3rd fence in the Advanced at Brockenhurst is a walloping big raily parallel. And the 90 degree stone wall corner at Bramham was pretty big.
 
That Lulworth table was huge, I remember it well!!
Whenever I walk Brockenhurst I think that, considering it's supposed to be an easy advanced, I never, ever want to go advanced!
This parallel was fence two in 06
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never seen that bank at bishop jumped before as have never been when they have run advanced - but oh my god!!!!!!! - its huuuuggggeeeee

I spent last summers event sat on top of that, had a lovely view of the course!
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I thought the TNT Flyer at Blenheim was a bit scary the first time, and it was about fence 5 or 6 so there wasn't much time to settle my nerves before I got to it. It was made more scary knowing that Andrew Hoy's horse had bottled out and jumped down into the ditch once.
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