More magic mushroom thoughts...

TableDancer

TableDancer

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Watched today's TV coverage with interest after Kerilli's comments yesterday re the problem of the middle of fence being higher than sides and horses' vision, which make sense: only thing was, from TV angle (ie behind the fence) that particular mushroom looked very square and table-like - ie sides about the same height as centre. Second one was much rounder but in a ditch so probably easier as can't get too deep. Any views, K or anyone else? It may be that the TV pictures are deceptive...
 
i thought exactly the same thing! First mushroom does looks as flat as any fallen log. The riders who coped better were the ones who really held their horses front ends up. I think if you gave them a fraction or got the tiniest bit in front of the movement you've had it.
 
just watched the Beeb's edited highlights (plus points: had people jumping the fences in the right order and only once
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and showed the big gaps from yesterday; minus points: Tucker's inane commentary...)
 
This was my question yesterday! I was saying that for the theory about the domed top to be correct the problems would have had to occur at the second mushroom.
The sides by the flag were about a foot smaller than the middle on the second mushroom, whereas the first was only about 3 inches,

I think that the profile of the first mushroom was far less forgiving to those that left a leg. The lack of solid ground line and possibly the take off and landing conditions. Also horses which were tired mentally or physically didn't respect the fence enough.

Either way I think the fence was obviously the wrong question to be asking at that stage in the course.
 
Yes I was thinking the same. It seems the horses couldn't judge the width of the first mushroom. Also the sticky ground on landing didn't help as the horses struggled to keep balanced.
 
I was about to post the same thing! The first mushroom was virtually flat on the top. Yes, there was a slight curve at the side, but the fence was wide enough that the horses line of vision would have been over the entire flat middle. Ironically, the second mushroom, which really was curved, was fine, perhaps because the ditch got horses in the air.

Some other explainations are that the ground on the take off, which wasnt shown, was very sticky. Also that mushroom was on the lip of a hill, and as horses jumped it they suddenly saw the hill and ditch in front of them and an expanse of people, which could explain why there were suddenly leaving legs. Also bear in mind that the fence came very late after one of the longest gallops, so horses were tired, and the light at the end of the day in that wooded area, when most fell, was very poor.

I agree with Kerilli that horses' sight makes rounded fences tricky, but equally at Luhmullen 4* there has been, for several years, a lottery ball, which is completely rounded, and has always jumped pretty well.
 
Unfortunately or fortunately as the case may be I was at Burghley yesterday for the X Country. There was no real difference between the two mushrooms. The ground was the problem, although the groundsmen had been doing a good job all day trying to keep the going as good as they could the two mushrooms were in the woods, the horses that were leaving a front leg behind their problem occured on take off some riders managed to get a good take off and some didn't there were quite a few fallers on the course yesterday, don't know if they showed them all. The course held up really well considering the weather but a lot of that was down to the stewards who were doing their best to keep the take off and landing areas as flat and safe as possible.
 
i had a really good look at that mushroom today... it was in a slightly different place to last year. i think the top of it was slightly flatter this year too, can't be sure.
contributing factors as listed above, definitely. also, the drop on landing was making horses lower themselves a bit, i think, but the top was much wider than they expected... if it had been 1' across the top not about 3', i don't think it would have been as bad. it was very big, a proper 3'11" i reckon (measured it), with the back slightly higher than the front.
whatever the reason, it failed as a fence. skinnies are supposed to cause run-outs, not falls.
i've not been to luhmuhlen, but i remember a spherical "globe" fence at WEG a few years ago i think it was, and a lot of good horses hit it hard, and it caused a few falls iirc.
i've jumped a single mushroom years ago on an Int course (can't even remember where it was) and it jumped badly fwiw. also jumped the rugby ball fence at A-le-W and it's the only fence the horse touched in the whole round...
i agree that that first one at Burghley didn't curve as much at the sides as i'd thought it did. oops. sorry. theory might have to go out of the window...!
the first year they were there, when they were jumped from the other direction, i think it was the one in the ditch that horses hit (the first one they met), and by the second one they'd learnt and jumped it clean... might be false memory syndrome though.
 
It was so hard to tell from the tv. It looked to me that 1st one was downhill, after a long gallop and with a poor groundline.....someone who was there might be able to enlighten me as to what the ground line was actually like? 2nd one looked to be on better ground with a ditch with served as a proper groundline.
I thought it was the approach and groundline that was causing the problems, esp as those who jumped it well were ones who really anchored and got horses sat on bums.
As i said though really could see properly from tv angle so i may be wrong.
 
Yes I agree, however Ive jumped beer barrells as skinnies for years now at many levels and they have always jumped really well with being higher in the middle - although they wont have been as big and wide as that mushroom!! I wouldn't have liked to canter into it!
I had a look at it too and didnt think the ground was bad at all - certainly not bad compared to what the horses have run on to get to burghley level in the first place.
Whatever the cause it was definately not a well designed fence to cause that many falls which, BE and FEI are trying to minimise.
 
http://www.burghley-horse.co.uk/3DayEvent/fences/fence25-26.htm

The fence had three little mushrooms at the front as per sketh. I was there and it was coming down a hill after a long gallop. The ground, by the time I got there at the end of the day, was (i'd have said) deeper than the rest of the course as there was less grass being in the wooded area and was a bit more mushed up. The two pics I took there, one of which I think was Laura, show the horses very low over the fence. The second mushroom with the ditch jumped much better due to the ditch, which I agree defo provided a more solid ground line and got them up in the air.
 
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