I don’t think hogsbacks are legal either…?
[QUOTE=Janet;7051902]
For HUNTERS. swedish oxers are legal for schooling, but NOT for competition.
Foe JUMPERS, it is the other way round- Swedish oxers are NOT legal for schooling, but ARE LEGAL for competition.
But they are definitely going out of favor in jumper courses.[/QUOTE]
Just out of curiosity, why is this?
(Coming from eventer land where we school all sorts of weird stuff at home, then have preset warmup jumps at competitions!)
I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t have Swedish set up all over their jump rings at home. They are the best because if you are schooling on your own and set them up at the height you want before mounting, you can ride them in either direction without getting down from your horse to change the direction - much more versatile for practicing than having a standard oxer set up. We always have at least one or two set in our home ring. 
I live in the MidAtlantic region and have seen Swedish oxers at most if not all of the jumper schooling shows around here. Skinnies, barrel jumps, natural fences, liverpools- just about everything. If it is legal, do it- jumpers should be fun and challenging, not look like a hunter course.
Technically, you can jump an oxer with a lower back rail… it is a “descending oxer” or an “offset oxer.” Are they legal in a course? I didn’t think they were, but I don’t see anything saying they are not. And what about a hogsback? For some reason, I also thought those were prohibited, but again, I don’t see any language that indicates so.
Re: Mexican X
From the USEF Rule Book, JP122 Jumper Courses
13. Crossed Rails. Double crossed rails (i.e., two pairs of crossed rails, with a spread
between them) are prohibited, and care should be exercised in constructing single
crossed rails to prevent abnormal difficulty.
I think this means no Mexican X? Unless I’m understanding wrong what the Mexican X is and what this rule is detailing.
ETA - Re-read the Mexican X description… while I don’t know it is what is described in the above rule, I think under that rule it would still be disallowed.
It is nothing like what is described in the rule.
[QUOTE=fourmares;7054064]
It is nothing like what is described in the rule.[/QUOTE]
No, upon re-reading your description, I didn’t think it was… but I could see “someone in charge” using that rule to say “no Mexican X.”
[QUOTE=pattnic;7054212]
No, upon re-reading your description, I didn’t think it was… but I could see “someone in charge” using that rule to say “no Mexican X.”[/QUOTE]
I guess I’m just really getting hung up on this thought that keeps going through my head - and I don’t know where I saw this, so I might be wrong - but I really think that there’s something about the rails needing to be on the same plane. Edited because I didn’t phrase this very well - I’m pretty sure that any given rail cannot be on 2 planes, so if I’m picturing the Mexican X thing correctly, it would be…
I actually think it sounds like a somewhat dangerous fence, but that’s just my humble opinion.
Either way, I would NOT be using a fence like that in a show situation, certainly not for people at that level.
JMHO, your experience may vary.
I’m not sure what would be wrong with a nice big square oxer…is there any reason you don’t want to use one?
I don’t think I have ever seen a hogsback in a jumper class.
I don’t know if a hogsback is legal anymore. I’ve jumped one in competition, but it was 25 years ago. They are an easy jump for the horse.
I don’t know if hogsbacks are allowed in jumpers (they should be for both h & j–they are pretty cool to jump :p), but most people I know do not like the Mexican Xs. The theory I’ve heard is that they do not fall down/apart safely; there is a chance that the top rail of the X can spin or pivot on the bottom rail if hit and there is a fear of a scissor-action if the horse crashes through it.
For those of you trying to picture the Mexican X, picture a crossrail. It is vertical. Now rotate it 90 degrees so that it is horizontal. So, the jump looks like an X if you are straight above it. (Of course, this description assumes that I’m understanding it correctly ;)).
[QUOTE=fourmares;7052925]
You want to freak people out set up a Mexican X (that’s what we call them around here… I don’t know why). Basically set up four standards like you would for an oxer. Put cups on the bottom holes on the front right and back left put a pole on them. Put cups on the third hole on the front left and back right. Put a pole on them. Put cups on the 5th hole on the front right and back left, add a pole, continue in this fashion until it’s as big as you want. It looks intimidating, but it’s about the easiest thing to jump.[/QUOTE]
Do you have a photo of that?
I was hoping I could find one… I guess I’ll have to build one and take a picture.
[QUOTE=saje;7053038]
I don’t think hogsbacks are legal either…?[/QUOTE]
I am thinking the same thing. Thought they were for training horses of tended to come down too early.
Anyway… I am all for square oxers and Swedish oxers. I set Swedish oxers up all the time and they are fun. Really, they are just a raised cross rail. 
I don’t know if this is the Mexican X but here is an old photo:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/10125_102211859795373_5645023_n.jpg
Now THAT is a bit scary but is definitely a question of accuracy! However, I have built one and had a student jump it and it was fun!
Another thought is if you are frugal with your poles you could make a fan jump and that would also be a high point fence.
And if you have broken poles, once sawed in half (think a 10 or 8 ft pole cut in half) those can become skinny fences, another high point fence.
Plank fences are relatively cheap and easy to make and another fun fence. I made a Swedish out of black and white planks and that was a blast to jump.
Coming from eventing, I see LOTS of big , narrow panels in SJ but not so much in regular jumpers. That is another thought. A 2’6" high, 5 foot wide piece of plywood painted pretty with a pole on top is fairly cheap and easy to make as well. And it is definitely impressive!
Good luck! Take pictures!
At a lot of the jumper shows in my neck of the woods there is a Swedish oxer or two on course. One local course designer in particular seems to love them. I personally really like them a lot, and even though they look kind of intimidating are a lot of fun to jump for the rider. We school over them pretty frequently at home, too, since they always seem to be at shows, plus they are good practice anyway. I like the idea of making it a higher point jump since some people may not be super familiar with them. I love the idea of a Gambler’s Choice class, by the way. I keep hoping that one of these days there will be one at a show I’m at, but so far, no such luck. They just aren’t popular in my area, I guess, which beats me since I think they sound like a blast!
Yes! That is a Mexican X… although I would never build one with the standards that far apart… for a local show setting the standards about 2ft apart should be intimidating enough.
Well, I didn’t end up having enough poles to set up a Mexican X as the Gambler’s Choice Joker AND still have the rest of the course set for the remaining classes… but I may use it in the fall. After all, while wanting to be safe, this is a schooling show so I can squeeb the rules a little.
We used square oxers and swedish for hte spreads. For the Joker I ended up using 6’ rails over top of a single barrel with plain (non-wing) standards. Didn’t max it out for height but thought it was a fairly challenging question. The Gambler’s Choice classes were a LOT of fun. Wish we’d had more entries for them (only 1 entry in teh 2’-3’ class and 2 entries in the 3’-4’ class). Those that rode did have a lot of fun, so maybe word will travel.
Overall the show went really well. i think the storms that kept circling us, but not ON us, all day may have kept away some of the jumper entries as we really didn’t have that many. Oh well, still ran in the black enough to make me happy wiht having to do 2 days of major work.
Thanks again for all the suggestions!
[QUOTE=fourmares;7057986]
Yes! That is a Mexican X… although I would never build one with the standards that far apart… for a local show setting the standards about 2ft apart should be intimidating enough.[/QUOTE]
I’ve jumped something similar in a clinic, but with the rails set at a 90 degree angle. So you could jump the middle of the X, or jump any of the four sides, then circle or loop back to jump another side, etc. Very good steering exercise.
