Fair Hill
Comment here on your past experiences with the Fair Hill Horse Trials. See the first post for a "how-to" of evaluations, and comment away.
posted by AKK @ 3:06 PM
1 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"!
1 Comments:
Training Level
Terrain: 3
Jumps: 3
Time/distance: 3
Dressage:
There are 4 dressage rings. One large sand/rubber ring that holds three rings and a seperate sand ring that holds the fourth ring. There is one warmup near the three rings that tends to be rather hard and dusty and usually overcrowded. Because of this, I tend to stick to the grass fields by the trailering. (this is where the fourth ring warms up so it is a lot less conjested.) Make sure you ask the ring stuart what the judges are using to start the test. One ring is a bell, one is a whistle, and one is a car horn. With three rings right next to each other its a bit confusing. None the less, there is plenty of room between the rings and the footing is excellent. If you get the fourth "upper" ring, it is quite secluded and nice to ride in.
XC:
XC tends to be long and hilly. It is held in a large field and almost always follows the same pattern (they change fences, but it will follow the same loop.) Training is known to be quite a difficult course, but it is my "home course" so Im a bit biased. There is a bank complex that is rather early into the course (usually fence three or four) where you either jump a rather large bench, few strides down a small bank, or the other way around. The training bank is wedged inbetween two trees so you need to be accurate. It is also quite a big light/dark questions, so keep your leg on. The bank itself is rather small, though.
The next big training question is the "slide" It rides really well but tends to catch a few riders off gaurd. The "slide" is a man-made mound that you canter up as rather steep hill over a small-ish coop then two strides down the other side of the hill and bank off. If you dont keep your leg on, some horses will stop at the coop when they realize there is a hill after. But for the most part, it is a fun jump. I guess next would be the double stairs up. After the slide you loop around the outer edge of a large field and then make a gentle turn to two steps. The steps are fairly narrow (easy run-outs) and a bit on the tall side. If you canter up to them in a bouncy yet forward canter, most horses just go right up! Next is the water. Fair Hill never has a bank into the water. Instead you usually jump over a boat house right on the edge (about 2 strides from the water) canter across the water and up a rather large bank out. Then it is onto the last complex, the coffin. The coffin can be a bit daunting for a new rider/horse at training. You canter down a fairly steep and long hill to a large, probably close to max wood 1/2 round the continue down the hill 2 strides over a large, rivited ditch, the canter back up the hill. Most horses dont have problems. But it is a rather large complex. Then after that there is usually one or two "simple" dog-house/coop/log type fences, then onto home.
Time is usually easy to make, lots of open galloping. More of a big course than a technical one, just those three combinations with lots of plain tables inbetween.
Stadium:
stadium is usually on the easier side. The courses are well built (nice fences) but they are very spread out. It is typically held on small hill sloping towards the warm up. Some horses pull rails in the last combination towards the warm up if they get a bit running, but in general there are very few rails. Time is usually easy to make in stadium.
**Make sure to bring a bike or extra car. XC is FAR from the trailer parking (a good 15-20 minute hack/walk) and the sec. stand is usually a good walk from the trailers as well.
** REAL bathrooms that are CLEAN, though quite a hike from trailers.
Post a Comment
<< Home