What does "cross-country machine" mean to you?

[kerilli]

To me, it means a horse like Over To You, or Darien Powers, or Supreme Rock, or Murphy Himself, one of the many many top horses who have consistently jumped brilliant clears round the toughest courses.
I only ask because i think it's getting a little over-used... in this month's Eventing someone (who should know better, having ridden at a higher level) who had won an Intro on an 11-year old described him as "a cross-country machine". It made me giggle a bit, anyway.

oh dear, i hope i don't sound like a right bitch.

*giggles more*

 

[I_A_P]

well in that case maybe i should know better...i always think of it as a horse who will always go out and jump a course clear... and really enjoy it..doesnt need to be ridden hard into their fences or overly set up for more technical fences.....or just that feeling when you have finished of WOW!

 

[seabiscuit]

A horse that just 200% bold finds its way round a cross country all by himself. You just point it and it goes. It never,ever has a backward thought whatever you put him at- it just goes and does it. Would never consider running out or stopping, will always find a way of scrambling over no matter what the circumstances. IMO these characteristics would be displayed at a minimum of one star level.
I think Murphy Himself would be described as the ultimate cross country machine,but he was too bold for his own good!

 

[kerilli]

hmm, yes, i can see your point, Fran, i guess i was just thinking that intro doesn't really test their bravery much. you're right though, they can be a machine at the lower levels i guess.

 

[I_A_P]

well, i know what you mean, intro you can pretty much kick and scramble over and i guess the same for PN.
i would say round a PN track my horse was a good xc horse...and shes been round the Novice track at Burnham shortly after an event, at a hunter trial and shes very much the same...

 

[I_A_P]

and like Doffthederby says one that doesnt feel like they are going to stop/run out

i know there are some people that use the phrase when they have jumped round a 2ft9 course and had to really ride them-and in that case i know what you mean!!

mind you i may be totally wrong as my mare is the only proper horse( by that i mean one i have competed properly) so maybe i have a slightly warped view, and if i had a horse better than her maybe i would feel differently..i dont know! lol

 

[kick_On]

that a complete numpty can ride and it still go clear no matter what rider trys to do to make them stop

but a 'really' xc machine are names you have stated

 

[H-J]

[ QUOTE ]
well, i know what you mean, intro you can pretty much kick and scramble over and i guess the same for PN.
i would say round a PN track my horse was a good xc horse...and shes been round the Novice track at Burnham shortly after an event, at a hunter trial and shes very much the same...

[/ QUOTE ]

I dont think you can kick and scramble over a few PN tracks - the PN at Tweseldown at the weekend had to be ridden, you could not really scramble round and over it! I know what you mean though some PN tracks are like big Intro's

 

[kerilli]

haha, i agree. my best-ever horses have straightened themselves up to jump corners and skinnies perfectly when mummy got her line a bit wrong...

 

[I_A_P]

yeh i meant some, not all..the xc course at MK was the biggest i think i have seen..with many skinnies as well, compared to others. Then some others are quite small with only one or too bigger fences. They do seem to vary quite a lot.... some intros are sometimes a very good height for example out of the 4 i ahve done..Houghton hall i would say was quite large.

 

[vhf]

I think it's more about attitude and ease of riding rather than whether they're up to Badminton - horses that would take anyone who could balance on top around a decent pony club open course, sorting out technical problems themselves when the rider lets them down, without taking advantage, getting too strong... I'd class that as a "machine" because it does the job with minimal rider input!
Your best 4* horses might well go to pot over a PN course with a muppet up top because they have to be so bold naturally.
Which then begs the question - XC machine or XC schoolmaster. The same or different - discuss!

 

[Orangehorse]

I have heard it described as "the desire to get over the next fence."

Ian Stark said it once, and I think others of the same era have said the same.

 

[kerilli]

hmm, xc schoolmaster = one, like a dr schoolmaster, which requires the rider to press the right buttons, or at least get it 80% right, i think. a rider won't learn much from a horse that does it all for them, except how to be silly brave and crash and burn on the next one, possibly!
a xc machine is different, and i'd say sometimes a more difficult ride. anyone fancy the idea of putting a novice on a horse like Murphy Himself?

only if you really didn't like them!

 

[WishfulThinker]

Mine was called that because he can power round an XC course, finish and he wants more! Same when he hunts apparently - he is called the Duracell Mouse to his friends now

 

[clipclop]

To me a cross country machine is any horse that goes cross country like a cross country machine

LOL

No, being serious now. For me a cross country machine is a horse that never gives a fence a second look, you put your leg on and the horse just goes for it. Quick thinking, quick moving, has an imaginary 5th leg that gets you out of trouble.

I have only ever ridden one horse that I would call a cross country machine. When you were out there you had like a special communication going on, she knew what I was thinking, I knew what she was thinking. She made me feel that what ever I pointed her at she would have jumped it. (It takes a lot to trust a horse that much, even more so as she wasn't my horse).

 

[Skhosu]

It doesn't have to go to a top level, Ireally fail to see why only these horses could be described as xcmachines? My lad until a little blip at the end of the year had 15/15 clears XC with a reasonably inexperienced rider, I would class him as a xc machine.

 

[FMM]

Cross country machines are ones that go round a course and jump everything (and anything) but not necessarily look after who is on board or indeed care if there is anyone on board.

Cross country schoolmasters look after the one on top and may occasionally have a stop if the rider is about to fall off before they get to a fence. They tend to get back to the lorry with their rider still on board, no matter how useless the rider may be.

 

[dieseldog]

FMM good description - reminds me of those Team Chase horses - they are never going to stop and the fences are scary big.

 

[MagicMelon]

I also think of it as a horse who basically eats up the course - ie. loves every second of it, will jump anything on the buckle etc.! To me, it doesnt really matter how big the course is.