Since the other thread’s responses got deleted i thought it would be interesting to start another one. The last thread on this was awesome. So what do you think is safer? Is there instance in which cross country is safer? What would you rather compete in? Would you ever consider doing a high level of cross country or showjumping?
I would rather do showjumping.
Why? I’m a weeny. :yes:
I could probably be coaxed into doing baby XC if I were on a horse I trusted…but I’d much rather jump around a GP course.
Put me in the same boat as Supershorty. My ballsy alter ego secretly wants to try XC, but I feel like I would be peeing myself even cantering up to a 3’ solid obstacle. Those table jumps are the scariest looking to me. And the corner things.
First, for the personal:
XC crushes show jumping in my head. There is no adrenaline in jumping (or at least not enough for me) I don’t care how big the fences get in the ring, galloping down to a 6’ steeplechase fence when your head is screaming to pull but all you do is kick on is a rush! I’ve done both (AO Jumpers in the 1980s and 2-star/Advanced eventing in the past 4 years).
Front side is 4’ with 9 foot ditch, 6’ landing (brush was over my head).
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=31653297621&set=a.31651657621.39228.624807621&type=3&theater
The brush on the table you see is 5’ (came right to my chin). My horse never touched it.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151786358032622&set=vb.624807621&type=3&theater
Second, I will be happy to repost any lost information concerning speed, balance jumping capabilities, etc. base on studies done by me and my colleague (former Olympic rider/trainer) under the auspices of the USEA and USEF.
As a wussy hunter/eq princess turned fox hunter and eventer, I vote XC for pure enjoyment. It can be done, and it’s such a blast!
I will admit that SJ is probably safer from a fence stand point. Having said that, I’ve seen a rotational fall in the hunter ring, of all places. Accidents are accidents.
Neither. 
I like hunters and eq because I liked to be judged on how well I did based on a standard and I don’t mind that the judging is subjective.
I know that there is an element of being judged to a standard in SJ and XC because if you can’t get around clean, you aren’t meeting it, but it’s not enough for me.
I have done both eventing and show jumping, and currently compete only in show jumping. When I was still in Pony Club I competed at training level regularly. When it came time to move up to prelim because my horse and I were getting bored at training, I began noticing rotational falls in the prelim levels and higher.
It was then that I decided to make the switch to show jumping, where if you make a mistake, the rails can fall or snap and a rotational fall can hopefully be avoided. Although I have witnessed a handful of rotational falls in show jumping, it is nothing compared to the falls I saw in eventing.
Although I sometimes miss the rush of galloping cross country, I plan to stick in the jumper ring and gallop on the trails instead.
I’ve done both (though I have done much more in show jumping) and far prefer Show Jumping to Eventing. Personally for me, its not a “fear factor”- the upper level cross country jumps are less intimidating to me than some of the big show jumping courses in Europe. Its more of the safety hazard. Cross country is a very “rough and tumble” type sport. It’s loads of fun but just not near worth the risk (to me). We get a lot of people who ask why my barn doesn’t event since we compete in hunter/jumpers and dressage. It just comes down to the safety factor. Plus I enjoy the precision and power of a show jumper. FEI level Show jumpers and FEI level eventers are usually very different rides under saddle.
Now with that being said, we still school over cross country jumps for fun and enjoy a good gallop in the field. I just don’t care to jump higher than 3’-3’6" on a cross country course. I had one rotational fall in show jumping and would not want to try that in a cross country field!
Why do you keep posting this?
[QUOTE=RAyers;7151082]
First, for the personal:
XC crushes show jumping in my head. There is no adrenaline in jumping (or at least not enough for me) I don’t care how big the fences get in the ring, galloping down to a 6’ steeplechase fence when your head is screaming to pull but all you do is kick on is a rush! I’ve done both (AO Jumpers in the 1980s and 2-star/Advanced eventing in the past 4 years).
Front side is 4’ with 9 foot ditch, 6’ landing (brush was over my head).
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=31653297621&set=a.31651657621.39228.624807621&type=3&theater
The brush on the table you see is 5’ (came right to my chin). My horse never touched it.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151786358032622&set=vb.624807621&type=3&theater
Second, I will be happy to repost any lost information concerning speed, balance jumping capabilities, etc. base on studies done by me and my colleague (former Olympic rider/trainer) under the auspices of the USEA and USEF.[/QUOTE]
My horse wants to do exactly what you guys to in that video…but his mommy is too much of a chicken to do it. Once he’s got more miles on him I’m going to try some of the weenie XC fences, maybe someday I’ll be brave enough to do those giant ones…!
In the first thread all the responses got deleted while Coth was experiencing difficulties. If you don’t like the thread, you don’t have to read it or comment. Its not being forced upon you. sheesh
[QUOTE=DeucesWild11;7151707]
Why do you keep posting this?[/QUOTE]
In the first thread all the responses got deleted while Coth was experiencing difficulties. If you don’t like the thread, you don’t have to read it or comment. Its not being forced upon you. sheesh
[QUOTE=hntrjmprpro45;7151693]
I’ve done both (though I have done much more in show jumping) and far prefer Show Jumping to Eventing. Personally for me, its not a “fear factor”- the upper level cross country jumps are less intimidating to me than some of the big show jumping courses in Europe. Its more of the safety hazard. Cross country is a very “rough and tumble” type sport. It’s loads of fun but just not near worth the risk (to me). We get a lot of people who ask why my barn doesn’t event since we compete in hunter/jumpers and dressage. It just comes down to the safety factor. Plus I enjoy the precision and power of a show jumper. FEI level Show jumpers and FEI level eventers are usually very different rides under saddle.
Now with that being said, we still school over cross country jumps for fun and enjoy a good gallop in the field. I just don’t care to jump higher than 3’-3’6" on a cross country course. I had one rotational fall in show jumping and would not want to try that in a cross country field![/QUOTE]
Basically sums up how I feel too. I enjoy the precision in show jumping (science nerd here) and do not think I could be successful in the upper level eventing due to that. And I like to be competitive. I wouldn’t be happy doing lower level eventing versus the upper level show jumping.
When attending the course walk this year with Jimmy Wofford at Rolex he said “eventers tend to be a lot less precise then show jumpers”. I know precision is a key element and those cross country questions can be VERY technical, but I think I would get to hung up on over riding the technicality of the course and interfere in my horse’s efforts. Obviously I could probably work to overcome this, but I am just now beginning to stop overthinking in the jumpers and I am not sure I could tone the overthinking down farther enough to give a solid, bold, and trusting ride cross country over anything past Training.
I personally get a rush out of the technicality + speed of the jump-offs in the upper level jumper classes. I get that “speed” is part of the cross country course, but turning a stride in front of a 1.50m vertical to get across the timers 0.04 seconds faster than my competition is what does it for me.
As far as what’s safer? I don’t feel all that “safe” when I’m walking a GP course and can’t touch either side of an oxer that’s above eye level. And I DEFINITELY wouldn’t feel safe on MANY of the cross country fences at the upper levels. So I have a tough time defining which I would feel is safer at the top levels since my gut really says “Neither.” But there is a perceived safety that I feel in the show jumping ring knowing that I can cause the poles to rain down at will :lol: Having said that, I have had a rotational fall at an oxer in a not-particularly -large (4’) jumper class. But I never would have put that horse over a cross country course at the heights we did in show jumping, so I guess I have to give a vote towards show jumping being safer…generally speaking.
[QUOTE=amandaevans;7150957]
Since the other thread’s responses got deleted i thought it would be interesting to start another one. The last thread on this was awesome. So what do you think is safer? Is there instance in which cross country is safer? What would you rather compete in? Would you ever consider doing a high level of cross country or showjumping?[/QUOTE]
To try to bring this back the original great discussion we had going, I think that safety is really a function of rider/horse capability and training, rather than whether it is XC or stadium. While the speeds and solidness of the fences on XC make the line finer between success and failure, the same can be said of the fence heights and tightness in stadium.
Regretfully, no real accident data is retained for h/j incidents that would allow for an objective comparison. Instead we are left with personal experiences and anecdotal knowledge.
To say one would be more safe than another, one would also have to account for the appropriate ride to the fences. A ride that gets around a GP jumper course is more dangerous on even low level XC courses and vice versa.
Apologies for being blunt amandaevans, but what is the point of this discussion? SJ and XC are two very different forms of competition, with different variables. Apples to oranges. Again, accidents are accidents, and perhaps the variables in XC make it more dangerous, but ANY riding is dangerous. I knew a woman who went out for a quiet trail ride and didn’t come back. I’ve seen folks air lifted from a Hunter ring. Just curious what the reasoning behind the thread is.
Having done both at a not-very-impressive level, I think they are both about as safe as you make them. I’ve seen nasty falls in both.
There seems to be a perception that XC is about galloping around the fences, and that’s about it. Not true. Watch the international level riders, the really good ones (William Fox Pitt, Andrew Nicholson etc), and you’ll see that they are extraordinarily precise and accurate riders. It’s not a hunter ride, but damn right you’d better be getting the perfect distance to a solid, square tabletop at ~4’. I think that 99% of the falls I’ve seen in both SJ and XC at my (very amateur) level were caused by either rider error (usually a horrible distance), or a horse who hangs his front legs.
Statistics-wise, SJ is probably slightly safer, due to slower pace and movable rails. But there’s plenty of ways to mess yourself up in both. I prefer SJ, as the way I ride is better suited to it, but riding a good, solid, dependable horse around a XC course is just so much fun.
[QUOTE=Outfoxed;7154613]
Apologies for being blunt amandaevans, but what is the point of this discussion? SJ and XC are two very different forms of competition, with different variables. Apples to oranges. Again, accidents are accidents, and perhaps the variables in XC make it more dangerous, but ANY riding is dangerous. I knew a woman who went out for a quiet trail ride and didn’t come back. I’ve seen folks air lifted from a Hunter ring. Just curious what the reasoning behind the thread is.[/QUOTE]
I think people’s opinions are interesting and it was an interesting thread before. If you don’t like it you don’t have to respond to it. MY GOODNESS
I asked a simple question which was not in anyway inflamatory or insulting. It was the same curiosity that has inspired you to ask the original question in the first place. Thank you for overreacting.
[QUOTE=Outfoxed;7154854]
I asked a simple question which was not in anyway inflamatory or insulting. It was the same curiosity that has inspired you to ask the original question in the first place. Thank you for overreacting.[/QUOTE]
Sorry that its hard to interpret people’s emotions/feelings through the internet
