Ocala
Comment here on your experiences with Ocala HT, for my lucky friends going to FL this winter!
posted by AKK @ 12:56 PM
5 comments
Horse Trials Info - ratings, feedback, and more!
This is a forum to find out about and give evaluations of USEA horse trials and events -- define what really IS "average, for horses with some experience at this level"!
5 Comments:
Terrain: 1 (Very flat)
Jumps:
Preliminary: 2-seemed fairly difficult for early in the season, but did not cause much trouble.
Novice: 2-caused more trouble than I expected or I would've said 1. Seemed like a very straightforward novice course.
Beginner Novice: 2-1st fence close to start box and away from home, very easy ditch, splash-through water towards end of course.
Other:
Footing in dressage/showjumping arena is fantastic!
Very little lighting in stabling area.
A few minor organizational kinks to be worked out.
Stables lacking in enough lighting, water. XC my coach felt like fence 3 on novice was a difficult question to ask so early in the season/course. Everything needs to be a bit closer.
GREAT food at competitor's party.
More descriptions from COTHers...
Prelim:
Terrain is very flat. Footing on xc is excellent (and best footing I've ever ridden on for dressage and showjumping). Preliminary course was great to ride.
Fence 1 was a fairly big picture frame gallop fence away from home pretty close to the start box. Fence 2 was a big rolltop gallop fence. Fence 3 was a big oxer gallop fence. These 3 fences did what the first few fences should do...got you into a rhythm. Fences 4a and b were 2 big tables set on a longish 5, shortish 6 bending line to the left. It looked like they rode best in a flowing 5, which is what I did. Fence 5 was a right turn to a ditch and brush in the corner of the field sort of into the woods to fence 6, a narrow log-too many strides between for me to worry about it (I think I got 7). Fence 8 was an uphill upright table type fence without much of a groundline (there was some hay in front of it). Fence 9 was a gallop fence with a big honey pot in the middle that rode like a triple bar. Fences 10a and b were part of the "Pletcher Dunes"-kind of like a hollow-up a mound to a log with a drop, down the hill, then right turn, up a hill to another log. This rode really well. Fences 11 a,b,c were a vertical fence right turn to a table 1 stride to a narrower table. This caught a couple of people I believe. If you showjumped the vertical and then flowed forward through the turn to the tables, it rode well. Fence 12 was a trakhener with a generous groundline. Again, I think this caught a couple, but trakheners always do. I angled it (on my very brave horse) to save a little time. Then fences 13 a and b were a log on a mound 4 strides to a skinny stump. I thought this looked like the hardest part of the course. The people that came strong up the hill got to the stump in a very tight 4 strides. I rode quietly up the mound (again, knowing my horse is super brave) so the 4 rode better. Fence 14 was a straightforward brush fence. Fence 15 was a right turn to another simple brush fence (only 2-3 strides off the turn). The only problem with this brush fence was when people came around the turn too fast without enough outside rein and ran past it on the outside. Fence 16 was a log in the water. They took out the next part because of sun glare, but it was an up bank 1 stride to a log pile. Fences 18 a, b, and c was the "Ring of Power"...Log, 1 stride to a down bank, 3 strides to a chevron fence. If the chevron fence had been a skinny single chevron it might have caught a few, but it was very generous being 2 chevrons in width. Fence 19 was a maximum table to fence 20, the citrus stand table which is bright orange and sort of a lot to look at, but not for a prelim. horse. I may have the numbers wrong, but that was basically it. I thought for early in the season, it was very fair
Training
Jumps:2/3-some bigger, solid fences and combinations.
Time:2, really flat terrain @ 420 mpm
XC had a lot of well built, solid jumps and questions that could be angled to get a better line. There was a half coffin with a left turn directly after, a trakehner that rode well, and a few related questions. The water was a rolltop, 4 strides to the water, a bank up and 2 strides to a vertical.
Showjumping was quite influential, the course seemed to have been wheeled tightly and there were lots of time penalties in addition to rails. There was a liverpool for T and P but it didn't seem to cause many problems. No triple, but 2 doubles (vert. one stride oxer & oxer 2 strides vert.), and the jumps were placed pretty close together within the large ring.
Winter II Prelim report
After seeing the Prelim course at the first Winter event, this course was a lot different in comparison.
It was basically run backward from how the first one ran, the first 2 fences were the same (picture frame and rolltop), but then you jumped max table going down into the Ring of Power, jumping up the bank, one stride to a log. The table caused a lot of stops and big E's because the horses were distracted by what lay past it, and it was a really big fence that early in the course! There was a log on top of a hill, right hand turn to a goose with a huge neck (but you jumped it's body), left turn to the water. They had a really vertical fence set right at the edge of the water that had to be ridden really aggressively(Ralph called it an "old school" jump), 4 strides in the water to a log, then a skinny option after you came out. The skinny was probably as narrow as is allowed. There were 2 straightforward narrow brush fences, both coming off turns, a Red Coca-Cola rolltop, then the Farmyard combination. It was a narrow house that had to be jumped at an extreme angle, 3 strides to a big ramped table, 3 strides to a jump the fence out. There was an airy log going down into the dunes, then another log at the top of a mound that rode like a drop fence because the ground really fell away behind it. Next was a simple vetical, then the Seminole corner combination. It was a house in the woods hat had to be angled to get a good line to a skinny log (with a bag of grain laying on one side to make it even skinnier!) in a bending 4 strides or so, then 4 or 5 more strides to angle a coop out. Next were some big offset tables with 3 strides in between, then a nice galloping oxer, followed by the big orange fruit stand.
Terrain: 1, really flat besides the dunes
Jumps: 3.5 lots of combinations and technical questions, few galloping fences
Distance: 3, people had trouble making the time because they had to set up for all the combinations.
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