Maclay finals

Not sure about equitation, but in hunter classes some judges consider tripping dangerous and won’t use the trip (Archie Cox comes to mind). Tripping in the hunt field could cause a fall and get you seriously hurt etc. And again before anyone comes at me, I know this is EQ and judged on the rider…

My guess is from the judges view it looked more like a 3 legged take off and not a stumble.

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I’m not a fan of Taylor Cawley showing a fence that obviously.

Do you mean before she started? They said she was told to hold up for a minute while the jump crew fixed a fence.

Typically the ingate person would not let the next rider in the ring until everything was set at this event, but once in a while, stuff happens.

Yup. I know she was told to wait, but she very clearly showed her horse that one bogeyman fence (I can’t remember which # that one is). I know doing so is permissible in the jumpers, but I’m not a fan of it for the equitation, unless done subtly.

It would have been interesting to see if that would have been held against her, but unfortunately she had trouble with that fence anyway.

I got frustrated with the livestream and gave up. Trying again for the flat.

Curious what others think of this course. I like the overall flow of it and the questions it asks, but I think some of these individual fences are a bit too much. If you don’t have a horse that will jump through fire for you, it’s hard to get around this one.

The only fence I’m not sure on is the second fence, the oxer. It seems like several riders have gotten a bad distance there and are very fortunate their horses are scopey enough, and there’s that argument of these classes shouldn’t just be to reward people who can afford really scopey horses.

The rest I like because it’s all about being very, very precise and adjusting, and I think it’s really letting the cream rise to the top.

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The course isn’t punishing the horses, so I like it. Could some of the jumps be a little “prettier”? Sure, but that’s not the point of this class. I’m just happy to see the majority getting around without major faults and leaving the ring with a positive ending.

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It’s interesting that you say that, because although I think I understand where you’re coming from, I don’t see that as much with this course, with the possible exception of the rainbow blocks. I really like the number of fences that are skinnies or don’t have a standard; I think that creates a test of accuracy and straightness over a track, as opposed to some other courses that we have seen at other finals that become a test of scope. I also don’t see anything that is too tricky or too much of an optical illusion in the design of the jumps. It’s creating a course where if you screw up your track and jump in funny you’re going to have a rail or a stop or a drive by- you’re not going to crash and burn out of the line.

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the rainbow walls are a bit much, but i prefer that accuracy question to a huge oxer oxer scope question.

I find the fence design very interesting, almost like cross county jumps some of them

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I’m going to start a drinking game. Taking a shot to the phrase “over cooked” I suspect I’ll be wasted in about 1hr lol

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I like this course! There are some approachable fences and some trickier. They require accuracy, straightness, and confident rides that’s for sure. But I appreciate the thoughtfulness that Bobby Murphy puts in to each course, and love following his Instagram sneak peeks!

what does she mean? too much pace, pushed down the line?

Will someone please translate “overcooking a jump” and “overcooking a line” for this oldster. I’m having to guess.

I don’t know that I feel that strongly about this course. The colored walls are a bit out there, but I think the majority of these horses are educated enough and shown enough that they shouldn’t be mind-blown by these. I think fence 8 caught a lot of people out simply because the horses didn’t expect it out of the turn, not because it was unreasonably spooky.

To me, the track rail one stride from last year was a much tougher fence than anything on this year’s course.

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I definitely like how it is testing one’s ability to ride a track, and I do appreciate that a mistake won’t have massive consequences.

I guess that what I’m trying to say is that I think equitation courses should be tests of the rider, not tests of the horse (though of course there’s a minimum quality of horse you need to compete at this level).

This course is not a test of the horse in terms of scope, but I feel some of the individual fences fall into that bucket (test of the horse). And I keep thinking this course could be just as nice and effective in separating the riders if some of the fences were a bit more traditional.

I might be wrong, but I think that might be along the same line as “pushing past the distance” or overriding in the line.

I think it means riding past the distance or getting down the line too soon.

I listened to Bobby Murphy on something (Instagram or commentary) and he said that the point of the Equitation jumps was to present an unobstructed view for the judges. Hence, the odd (IMO) looking eq jumps this year and in past years. I guess that’s the trend now so that the judges don’t have to peer around the standards.

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Did too much.

Got down the line too early, pushed too hard at the fence, etc.