they put that jump in the world championships 3 years later. They cleaned it up a bit, but that was were most of the crowd was. The big water jump followed immediately, and I think 4 horses had a stop or a fall at the water. that little drop caused no trouble, just a rider and spectator frightener.
Rocking Horse had an Irish bank until like 2012/13. They made it just an up/down bank. Also there was a Helsinki at Sporting Days I think. Have a picture of jumping it with my horse in 2009. Didn’t Millbrook have a slide in the back of the course for Int/Adv? I remember watching them go down that massive hill.
Also you dont see a lot of bounce up banks. There was one on the preliminary course at Pine Top that used to scare the heck out of me. I just remember putting my leg on and trying to stay out of the way. The drop on that used to make me sick when Id walk the course.
I miss the tire fences. Used to be a line of double tires through the trees at RH that was a really fun question with the light/dark but rounded so forgiving enough. There was a big X jump over a ditch at FL HP that was on the intermediate course which I used to hate but made for awesome pics.
Riders of the Pacific Northwest will likely remember the heyday of Chase Creek event, with its Snowy River Hill for all levels.
As the name suggests, it was seriously steep, similar to the “slides” posted here, but the lines were in treed areas. It was a real test of courage, partnership, and rider commitment. The jumps were horse friendly but often rider frighteners - one enormous black log at the lip of the hill, Intermediate, was simply called the BFL 
When you made it through Snowy River hill, you always felt good as you and your horse had really accomplished something!
Sadly the event was canceled this year and, after many glorious events put on, the owners are retiring from hosting competitions there 
4 Likes
One of our local top tier event riders told me about a jump like that at Aspen on the intermediate course and she hated it. We were walking the course and she said I should go take a look. BFL and steep downhill after and in the shade too. No thank you!
One other I remember was at the now defunct NW Event that was held in Rainier had a hill like that going down into the water. Log then steep down hill. Lots of people chickened out on that one.
1 Like
I’m pretty sure I rode over that SB mound at novice! Maybe without the jump on the top or something? In any case I’m pretty sure it was on the course, but this was YEARS ago.
Course Brook has (had?) a few fun terrain elements in the woods too, though I haven’t been there in a few years. One of them was a couple of mounds in a line with logs on the top. Very fun.
You’ve seen a…what?! How do you move a hole in the ground??
Do you happen to know what it is called?
Many moons ago, Pleasant Hollow in Area 2 had a jump the locals called the Jump for Jesus. Blind landing jump onto a very steep, narrow trail in the woods that lead to a bank into the creek at the bottom. As a novice rider, I couldn’t imagine getting it done!
The double circle jump shown above had a number of iterations around here in the early 90’s . Generally, you could go straight through the middle or jump the arms.
2 Likes
My GMO has one that we use for lower level starter events. It’s just a wooden frame that you fill with dirt/mulch/gravel. It looks like a ditch and rides like a ditch but it isn’t permanent. It makes a nice friendly baby ditch for BN and below.
3 Likes
To be honest, when I started asking the Course Designer how one makes a moveable ditch something happened with a rider and I forgot to re-ask my question. I think it was just a long, narrow box sunk into the ground. It could be lifted out and the ground then returned to a previous flat condition.
Say hey, I’ve jumped that one! Unicorn Farm!
Yup! They also used to have a Novice or Training version of a slide which was a blast.
Doesn’t the Equestrian institute in Washington run through the woods? I sadly missed that event when I lived there.
It does and it’s so much fun! Never experienced a course like that (grew up in Area 3), and I loved it. Feels like you’re on a trail ride, and in the spring, there are purple and yellow wildflowers everywhere.
1 Like
Ill look tonight, I can’t remember which one it is. Its huge though, like at least 10" pages I believe with full photos.
1 Like
Ask and you shall receive - not the best photo but you can see by the angle of my body how steep the landing is 
It rained the whole weekend too…
8 Likes
Yes, it does. I love the courses there.
I love grass footing for dressage warm-up! Some of my best rides started that way. My horses always engaged really well on grass. It felt like half my work was already done for me. Once in the ring, they were like powerhouses, huge push up over their backs, with lots of spring and suspension.
3 Likes
Here’s the book…dug it out, try and post some of the pics from it tonight. First page I looked at this morning was awful lol
2 Likes
Thats awesome.
We have a little slide here in Ontario but it’s more like a bowl.
This is my video from a few years ago, around 1:13 mark in this is me falling off, as Penny says - what the heck??? Then we jumped it successfully. It doesn’t look as steep in the video, in real life it’s pretty intense!
3 Likes
OMG my mom has this same book! I used to love reading through it. I’ll have to go dig it out.
