Maryland 5*

[Texarkana]

@anonevent

My impression (based on people who walked the course) was that jump height wasn’t the issue, as much as the course being an especially strenuous arrangement of jumps in relation to the terrain.

That’s my understanding too. I went on a course walk Friday then was with the horses and riders at the end of the course all day Saturday.

The horses all seemed in fine condition, but the course was tricky. I don’t think anyone thought it was unfair, just difficult. Terrain was used to the max by moving some straightforward jumps ever so slightly. The combinations required a lot of precise riding. The sun was super bright. The only real complaints I heard were with some of the super tight corners.

But this is just my perception as a layperson who has never and will never tackle a 5 star course.

[tabula_rashah]

I am not an event rider but I am an endurance rider who lives in the Fair Hill area and I keep my horses adjacent to Fair Hill. I condition my horses and myself (I also run ultras) there almost daily. I know the terrain really, really well. Fair Hill does not have huge hills but it rolls almost constantly and averages 100’ of elevation gain per mile. Whether it be endurance rides or events, the terrain always gets to a lot of the horses. It looks so inviting- open beautiful fields and galloping paths that make you want to hit that gas pedal while not realizing that you’ve not gone a single step on flat ground.
It does always amaze me that very few seem to learn from this happening every year though lol

[TheJenners]

Boyd got some light ribbing on SM about wearing sunglasses for the trot in Pau to hide his black eye … I hope he makes good decisions.

[Equibrit]

They look like a bunch of brickies on a pub crawl

[omare]

I was there as a spectator -no expertise here–with family and little children so I was not always paying attention to the event. My impression was it was very technical - it exhausted my brain how someone can concentrate that long at such an intense high level and process everything–so quickly and keep going!

Second the hills did seem to get to horses–you would see a horse going along easily and suddenly you knew they were running on empty going up the hill (and maybe the rider also?) So I saw stops and glance-offs and pecks/awkward on landing (?) that might be related to that observation.

The sun was really intense and bright—coming at an intense angle-the type of day you put a jacket on or a towel over you head (!) to shield you from the sun even if you were otherwise hot! We are not that far out of summer so it is not like we are use to cool weather already in Md yet I still thought the sun was intense for this time of year.

So maybe I missed the worse of it- but the eliminations I saw were due to tired horses and wise riders (retiring) or horses pecking/awkward at landing and dislodging rider.

[Live_Wire]

One thing I didn’t consider beforehand was how thick the grass was at the beginning of the course. When I walked it, my legs were on fire for the first four fences, then it let up a bit.

[tabula_rashah]

definitely!

[StormyDay]

I thought it was interesting the jumps in the arena so many problems. There were two retires there. I can’t imagine the horses are tired by then, so jump height? Crowd noise? I don’t know.

[Jealoushe]

David Doel said in the evening podcast something about the jumps came up quick and were big, backed the horses off more than they thought.

[Live_Wire]

I can only speak of the 3*, but the shadows made it really tough to read the line. I think results would have been drastically different had it been overcast.

[axl]

Thank you so much!

[StormyDay]

@Live_Wire

I can only speak of the 3*, but the shadows made it really tough to read the line. I think results would have been drastically different had it been overcast.

Interesting. I think it’s only ran on overcast days so far up until last weekend.

[Texarkana]

@StormyDay

I thought it was interesting the jumps in the arena so many problems. There were two retires there. I can’t imagine the horses are tired by then, so jump height? Crowd noise? I don’t know.

We got to walk in the arena and right up to them on the course walk. I was struck by how large they were. I don’t know the actual height but they seemed huge and you had to jump the line turning right the whole time.

I wasn’t ever in the arena Saturday but I can’t imagine there were that many people seated there. Much more of a crowd elsewhere on the course.

[Live_Wire]

I maintain I would rather run cross country on a rainy day

[StormyDay]

@Texarkana

@StormyDay

I thought it was interesting the jumps in the arena so many problems. There were two retires there. I can’t imagine the horses are tired by then, so jump height? Crowd noise? I don’t know.

We got to walk in the arena and right up to them on the course walk. I was struck by how large they were. I don’t know the actual height but they seemed huge and you had to jump the line turning right the whole time.

I wasn’t ever in the arena Saturday but I can’t imagine there were that many people seated there. Much more of a crowd elsewhere on the course.

They look big on camera too. Maybe just the brush but they still look big!
From the video footage it doesn’t look like a lot of people. But I remember last year the vendors were right behind it, including ones playing loud music. I was thinking maybe the sounds were echoing weirdly in there.

[phoenixrises]

I agree with this. The sun this year was something we hadn’t had to contend with thus far for this event. The first year was miserable damp and cold (and the heavens opened just as the event ended). Which sucked as a spectator but was probably ideal for running.

Last year was nice but there were clouds and the sun just wasn’t that intense. It “felt” 20 deg warmer than it was to me. On Sunday I finally got smart and brought an umbrella.

[Baybear]

A lot of people were in the tents watching the big screens

[Blugal]

@Amberley

There was a lot of brush on course, I definitely noticed that when walking it.

This is part “risk management” by the course designer.

Brush that goes high on the sides (like a scalloped fence, shoulder brush, etc.) provides a visual for the horse as to where they should takeoff and how high they should jump.

Max height of brush at 5* is 4’11 for the back of a spread, that’s a huge fence.

Big fences command respect and encourage riders to come with power. If they don’t, the horse may run out (it’s a huge jump) or if it jumps, it’s jumping higher than the solid part of the fence. Brushing through is safer.

[Mack_the_Knife]

Sat in on an interesting webinar from FEI last week? In which one of the segments addressed horse falls. The overall statistics presented indicated a downward trend (decrease) in the number of horse falls. This trend was attributed to several factors including increased use of brush fences, more frangibles (new frangible trakehner on the way)willingness of riders to retire when things were going well, willingness of officials to alter tracks due to conditions (as is happening with Pau right now) and to award penalties when needed (two DRs given at Maryland). I believe the webinar is available somewhere on the FEI website.

[Larksmom]

interesting. I just watched all the cross country at Pau this morning. There were two falls by Frenchmen and one from a German off camera. There might be more, but that is all I am aware of. One of the falls was at the last big fence. It was a giant oxer, and it was a frangible. he hit the back rail, and it was an almost slow motion fall, horse and rider went down. They cut away quickly so I don’t know how it turned out, but that was a giant jump at the end of a very muddy tiring track. They fixed it quickly and didn’t even have to stop the next horse. Another rider was jumping badly, and after awhile, it was clear the horse was very tired. I think they were about to pull him out when he retired.
The other one was at a jump in the water. It looked like a corner, but it was big and wide. the horse somersaulted over it, and they both fell.