OK guys. This is your chance. Post links to pictures of your all time favorite cross country fence decor/decorated fence. (Cross country please)
If you can’t post a link that’s ok describe it then.
I am looking for ideas and seeing what fences look like in other parts of the country because I don’t travel much out of my own area any more and would like to see what is going on other places!
(If you have an unfavorite, yes, post it too, but tell us why you don’t like it.)
I’ll start, here’s one:
I went to an event in Wyoming called Moon Rock; doesn’t look like they run a recognized HT any more, but the year I went they were recognized and did a T3D (which I got eliminated at :().
Their jumps were stunning. The wife of the husband/wife organizing couple is an artist, and the jumps were beautifully carved with horse motifs and some of them had decorative ceramic tiles on them. Wish I could find pictures, but I didn’t take any of the individual jumps, and I don’t see any online.
I did, however, take an album of pictures I called “Things You Do Not Want To Fall Off Onto at Moon Rock” which included various cacti, snakes, lizards, etc.
A couple I liked http://public.fotki.com/scubed/cross-country-jumps/
Also, google Maui Jim . I thought a lot of their fences were really fun, but always horse friendly - my search https://www.google.com/search?q=maui+jim+CIC&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Ij4TVNP4FtLjyATugIKYBw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=643#tbm=isch&q=maui+jim+Advanced+horse+trial
Thanks, those are a help!
Does anyone remember the carved huntsman fence at MCTA - with the red coat and bridle draped over it, hunt cap and fox…I cannot find my picture of this fence anywhere…
Love this jump at Colorado. I know it’s been there since 2008. I call it the antler jump.
(If the link doesn’t work, I will fix it when I get home; my work doesn’t allow me to access the blow it’s on but I found it through Google image searching ‘Colorado Horse Park antler jump’)
I forgot about this that I love at Cobblestone. There are lots of others in the galleries on that website http://www.jeffkibbie.com/Equi-Sport_Services/Photo_Gallery/Pages/Cobblestone_Farm_2010.html#0
Also check Triangle Wrider here : http://etbjump.com/photo_gallery
and some interesting ones here: http://www.dertminijumps.com/courses.html
I like this for a lower level fence (not so useful for big Fair Hill) http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/92/e1/ce/92e1ce7f2297b1f33671165591aecfd0.jpg
[QUOTE=Divine Comedy;7758042]
Love this jump at Colorado. I know it’s been there since 2008. I call it the antler jump.
(If the link doesn’t work, I will fix it when I get home; my work doesn’t allow me to access the blow it’s on but I found it through Google image searching ‘Colorado Horse Park antler jump’)[/QUOTE]
Link doesn’t work, but I remember the fence - my son did Young Riders that year and I thought it was quite clever and appropriate for the terrain and venue.
Pegmom scroll down, the link is to something that has other stuff on it…I did see it and I love it! very cool! Something else I liked was that grass fan on the bench jump, awesome.
Pegmom-- do you have some you really like at CHp?
I love our new “bothys” They are small cabins with chimneys on one side. We used them this spring at the CIC and they will be part of the new scottish village complex for next March. I also really like the new cordwood fences we got this spring - very well built and quite attractive.
Even the plainest simplest fence can look like a million dollars if you have the right stuff on it - I have learned so much from our lower level course designer. You have seen her decorating work at Jersey Fresh and Plantation as well.
Aspen Farms in the Pacific NW always has awesome looking jumps. This is one of my favorite: The Pirate Ship (the drop gets bigger the further down the ship you go).
http://mydandylonglegs.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/aspenhorsetrials_46.jpg
I also like one I saw recently, somewhere, that looks like the tile holder for scrabble, complete with tile scrabble letters that spell out the word “breathe”
[QUOTE=pegasusmom;7758565]
I also like one I saw recently, somewhere, that looks like the tile holder for scrabble, complete with tile scrabble letters that spell out the word “breathe”[/QUOTE]
Nice of the course designer - anyone else would get the rider docked for illegal coaching!
These are all from Greenwood Farm
The top on the left side of this barn is a separate piece. It is often set in the middle, and flagged to make just one half of the barn the jump.
https://www.facebook.com/NorthTexasEventingAssociation/photos/a.322380191227147.1073741833.265738166891350/322396557892177/?type=3&theater
you might have to click through a scroll these, they are all in one album:
wishing well - in spite of the round vertical front, rarely a problem here
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737944446276378&set=a.737944362943053.1073741840.100001824888891&type=3&theater
gate (if it doesn’t show, click a few times)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737944372943052&set=a.737944362943053.1073741840.100001824888891&type=3&permPage=1
just a hanging log, but you can have some fun with the garden
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737944502943039&set=a.737944362943053.1073741840.100001824888891&type=3&theater
Novice version of a Weldon’s, notice the log rolled out in front
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737944472943042&set=a.737944362943053.1073741840.100001824888891&type=3&theater
the decor is what makes this one fun, have to get a lot of silk/plastic grapevines on it!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737944556276367&set=a.737944362943053.1073741840.100001824888891&type=3&theater
fun jump, also a major steep drop on landing side into quarry
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737944546276368&set=a.737944362943053.1073741840.100001824888891&type=3&theater
fun details on common jumps …
Holly Hill, Louisiana - patriotic coop
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737950186275804&set=a.737949992942490.1073741841.100001824888891&type=3&theater
Holly Hill, Louisiana -
this hedge is built/positioned to merge with the greenery on either side, in this view - they are exiting a forest path
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737950242942465&set=a.737949992942490.1073741841.100001824888891&type=3&theater
Holly Hill, Louisiana -
hay bales & crows!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737950259609130&set=a.737949992942490.1073741841.100001824888891&type=3&theater
MeadowCreek
I like the varied textures on the front: log-brush-wood
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737951112942378&set=a.737949992942490.1073741841.100001824888891&type=3&theater
Texas Rose 2013
also varied texture (and notice the Easter eggs)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737951192942370&set=a.737949992942490.1073741841.100001824888891&type=3&theater
Texas Rose 2013
like this corner hedge
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737951309609025&set=a.737949992942490.1073741841.100001824888891&type=3&theater
Texas Rose 2013
look on the ends below the top - it’s a cabin porch, with little rustic furniture
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=737951326275690&set=a.737949992942490.1073741841.100001824888891&type=3&theater
[QUOTE=pegasusmom;7758565]
I also like one I saw recently, somewhere, that looks like the tile holder for scrabble, complete with tile scrabble letters that spell out the word “breathe”[/QUOTE]
That’s at Steepleview in Minnesota. According to their course walk photos, they have three levels of Scrabble jumps-“breathe” for beginner novice, “prevail” for novice, and “own it” for training.
there were two Rolex fences that I found most attractive. One, in the 1998 or 1999 rolex was a sawmill. I have no picture, but I remember it well.
Then there was the huge downed tree with the squirrel and acorn carved into it. It was used first at WEG and then again at Rolex the next year or the year after. All of the roots were still on one side. It’s in this slideshow. But at WEG, the large squirrel was missing. It’s #17 in the slideshow.
Yeah, that gate jumps terribly though. A lot of that has to do with its placement in the course and terrain, but having jumped that gate numerous times and watched others jump it numerous times, it is not a good fence.
John Williams really likes those gates and likes to put them at the end of courses. I’m never terribly impressed with how they ride.
I took a good look at the jumps that Mary (OandO) posted.
Divine, I also looked hard at the gate that jumps bad.
I think I know the reasons why it does not ride well. I am studying how horses judge take off, and what they actually see vs. what the rider sees and thinks about.
I would change a few things about that gate that would possibly make it a bit more horse friendly. First of all the horse sees it in a flat plane and not in the three dimensions that it is attempted to represent. The plaque or sign on the backside of it (you can see it through the top two slats) contributes to the confusion as do the too-large flags (they should be smaller in diameter to distract less). Flags should never be such a large portion of the obstacle that the horse assumes they are part of the fence. Flags need not be large and obtrusive, in fact, only the rider really needs them and then only with skinny’s, etc. I don’t decorate flags or drape things on them or hide them. They are of course required, but it is very hard to make red and white attractive!
Back to the gate: two ways to go here. Either make it a vertical - straight plane - or make it a softer rounder cross country “fly” style jump. There are a few things that make it sort of half of each and I suspect that’s why it jumps badly. By making it look more filled it confuses the horse. I think if you wanted it just a vertical, the ground line should be removed and just a thin strip of dark mulch laid across the ground along the entire face of the gate.(I would decorate the WHOLE fence not just the portion between the flags.) The plaque or sponsor sign on the backside that shows through the boards should be set where it doesn’t block the boards and make the gate look solid. The flags should be smaller and less a part of the jump. You would want air to be seen through it so the horse would know it’s a gate, upright, and landing on the other side is flat. You would want the rider to prepare for it like a vertical – adjusting downward to a “popping wheelies” canter. (Think of this - you are in a warmup arena with only one fence, a single pole vertical with no ground line set at 3 to 4 ft. How would you develop the canter for that jump? That kind of canter.)
Or the fill on the bottom could be increased and placed two-three feet out with a planter expanded and the outline softened on either side with shrubbery up to the top board. That would increase the parabola and force the horse to take off earlier and make a rounder, flatter effort, more in line with a longer flatter gallop stride.
That’s just my opinion and not sure if more educated and experienced would agree but if you can imagine what I am describing, what do you think?
I’ve taken the liberty of photoshopping the gate to what I think it might look like if I were told by the course designer to make it vertical.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=907905402570270&set=a.907900422570768.1073741838.100000524562748&type=3&theater
It’s a bit fuzzy but you see I’ve removed some things, put the white flag behind the dark edge of the gate and tried to make the left flag a bit lighter looking. I’ve removed all the stuff on the bottom and tried to put some “fake” mulch across the bottom. You will see that it now looks vertical and there is no question as you approach this you will ride it like a vertical. (Sorry but this is really fun. I’m using just Picasa to muck this up…wish I had photoshop!)
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