Gymnastics measuring question

[Meshach]

I was looking up some gymnastic exercises online for ideas.

I see this article with Will Simpson who says

https://www.phelpssports.com/flatwork-gymnastics-day-one-olympian-will-simpson/

“set to trot in with a pole to a cross rail, a bounce to a vertical and then one stride to the first oxer followed by two strides to the final oxer. The bounce is 11’, the one stride is 18’ and the two stride is 30’.”

– so the two stride to the final oxer is set to 30’

but then the article with Brianne Goutal says

https://www.equisearch.com/articles/brianne-goutals-jumping-technique-tune-up

“… then add an oxer two strides away from the vertical—about 36 feet”

is the shortened distance in the first exercise (30’ vs 36’) because it’s oxer to oxer?

[Janet]

The shorter distance is because it is an exercise specifically designed to teach the horse to shorten its stride and rock back for the jump.

The “default” distance for a generic 2 stride, that isn’t specifically trying to shorten the stride, is 35’ to 36’. According to Richard Jeffreys’ guidelines, a 2 stride Oxer to Oxer in a course should be 34’6" to 35’.

[Meshach]

Thank you, Janet!!

[joiedevie99]

Another difference is the gait - you should set shorter for a trot-in gymnastic. Will’s exercise is set to trot in. Brianne’s is set to canter.

[Meshach]

I wondered about that. Does it make a difference when by the time you get to the 2nd to last element (the fence before the two stride to oxer) you are cantering already?

[bornfreenowexpensive]

The first exercise is set to trot in (so you set the distances shorter) and has a bounce (a fairly open one to be honest). But an 18’ one stride to 30’ two stride is pretty normal. It absolutely makes a difference if you are trotting into a line of gymnastics…even though you will be cantering after the first fence.

And remember…you need to know the fence heights too. For smaller fences, you need to bring in the distances.

[IPEsq]

That 2 stride is a bit short but it depends on the fence height. What struck me was trotting into a 11’ bounce from a cross rail seems rather long!

[Meshach]

Thank you all! Fence heights quite small at the moment, we had taken a long break due to horse’s illness issues last year. Will get back to taking lessons in June, just playing around right now.

You think I should shorten in that trot in to the bounce to 10 feet? and push out that 2 stride? horse is 18h.

[IPEsq]

What is your out of the bounce height? I’ve gone down to 9’ for a bigger horse who needed to learn to wait and not be so long, especially if doing X to X or small vertical kind of heights. I might start with 33’ for the 2 stride if the height is low and go from there. That’s more similar to the standard 18’ to 21’ one to one combination

[Meshach]

probably about 2’3" max. I always need to think about keeping him uphill and not dive on the forehand. When I tried that 36’ two stride this AM (the Brianne Goutal one) he felt a little long.