Is anyone else terrified of cross country fences?

[bornfreenowexpensive]

[QUOTE=annashulltz;7202023]
For some reason cross country jumps over 2’6 terrify me. I’m not sure if its because the jumps are solid, but they just look so intimidating. I’ll jump any size showjump over them[/QUOTE]

I’m sure jumping 2’6" intimidates other people. We all have things that make us nervous. Me…not a big fan of hugh heights…but for some reason, I don’t have the same issue as jumping xc. It is about trust. You start with things that don’t scare you and then just push it a bit further.

What is REALLY scary is when you are on a green horse…and jumping xc I do it but the first time you start to jump anything of substance, yeah, it is even intimidating for event riders. But then you do it, and it goes well, and you and your horse have fun…and then it is less intimidating. But if you don’t want to do it, you absolutely do not have to do it!

[GotSpots]

It’s funny - I’m far more nervous thinking about getting down the lines to a 3’6" hunter course than I am about jumping the average training or preliminary XC jump. Even if solid, manyof the XC jumps at that height are pretty inviting, and the horses tend to respect them, plus there’s almost always a lot more room to adjust your canter as is necessary. In a hunter course, sure the jumps might fall down, but to my eye they always seem a lot further away at the end of a line! Plus, in general you’re coming to XC jumps with a more forward gallop or canter, so the distance tends to work out more easily (at least to my, never-seen-a-tug-I-didn’t-want-to-take, eyes).

As far as ditches, etc.: when they are coupled with a fence with height, they almost always act as a great groundline and much of the time the horses don’t even see them (Weldin’s walls that aren’t tall enough in comparison to the ditch being the prime exception). Just don’t look down - they ride great. And downbanks are all about letting your horse pour over the edge rather than launching.

Come have an XC lesson at some point! More fun than you can possibly imagine, nice people, and worth the “I did it!” feeling afterwards. Might not do it for you in your heart of hearts as a sport, but definitely worth trying.

[event_ryder]

Intimidating no. Though many do bring out a healthy dose of respect. However when you look at a lot of the fences built in the big hunter rings they really are not any less solid then what eventers play with. You just don’t have the same speed/terrain element. Think of all the boxes/gates/fill that go into the fences- they create a pretty decent fence, and yes the top rail will drop but ive seen some ugly messes when horses get tangled in the rest. To be honest a lot of times I’ll walk up to a large table on xc and go, “if those crazy hunters can canter over something like this I better be able to do it as well!”

[poltroon]

I grew up doing hunters and I too was once afraid of solid obstacles, or obstacles with terrain. Then, I had the chance to do it, and I loved it.

Most of you will have jumped 2’6" or higher rolltops or coops. It is the same thing really.

A ‘coffin’ sounds scary but at an appropriate height, they are very very fun when they ride well. It’s basically a triple combination with a relatively easy ditch as the middle element. The middle element is often at a lower elevation, so you have downhill, to the ditch, to an uphill. In show jumping, you’ll sometimes see them as a grob.

A trakhener is just rails over a ditch. You ride it just like a vertical with ground lines rolled out. Your horse might look, but no reason you need to, and the horses jump them pretty well.

Up banks and down banks look harder and scarier than they are. I jumped my first up bank in a competition. I don’t recommend that, but it was just like what happens if you’re cantering an uphill trail and then you get to a level part. Fun! If your position is solid, and your balance is proper, no problem.

The big lesson that is much more important in eventing than in hunter equitation is that you should not ever jump in front of your horse.

It’s not until the upper levels that the jumps get really scary, as far as ditches and solidity.

[Simbalism]

You all are making me remember this awesome jump combo we used to ride. It is long gone now with development. We used to ride out from the farm where I boarded and we had access to alot of land where the local hunt rode. Lots of coops and telephone pole type jumps. There was this lane that ran between two fields with trees on both sides, slightly uphill. There were about 6 jumps of varying style at least three feet(some higher). We would canter down the dirt road and then up this lane in a line and jump and laugh out loud because it was so much fun. Getting older now and some health issues so mainly just pop over the small log on the trails these days.

[hunterrider23]

Would I try XC with a different horse, absolutely. Would I take my horse out now to do it? Nope. I honestly don’t trust him to realize that they’re solid and he can’t be lazy, not that he couldn’t do it, but there are too many what ifs there. We do have some fun little log jumps and regular derby/hunter jumps in our field, and a bank, but it’s different to me.

[Lix_Tetrax]

Yeah, the cross country fences scare me. Always have, lol. I think I would try them, if I had a horse I could trust not to kill me. My guy now would flip at those fences- he can’t even ride in our field quietly.

Definitely give the eventers a ton of credit- they got guts!

[WinsomeTK]

I had the luck of learning to ride at a facility that had gigantic fields/foresty areas that they used as paddocks for the herd - the 45 horses went outside all night, every night and all day on sunday - and their giant paddock had cross country jumps in it. No badass coffins or trakehners, but water, logs, hedges and stuff like that. Enough to have fun, and all at decent (by that I mean not super high) heights, I think the hedge at it’s highest must have been like 3’3 and that was the highest.

There was also a huntcourse ring where it was all fixed obstacles (small irish bank, tree trunks, tire jumps, stone walls, the “in and out” which was basically four trees planted squarely and a small trunk between each, so a fixed one stride), and the “number 10”, a pyramidal logs & tire structure that I dreaaaamed of jumping)

The horses were super familiar with the jumps, we all rode in the huntcourse before being schooled in the field, so it was easier to be comfortable with starting XC in the big field, but otherwise I’m pretty sure I’d still be scared about them!

And at this point in my life, after an injury and only riding h/j for the past 10 years on and off, I’m not so convinced I’d still have the same balls about it… But my heart aches for it! Sooo much fun!