A rising star in international showjumping ranks, 24-year-old Joe Fernyhough competes and produces horses internationally and has been selected for the BS podium potential pathway
I’m currently competing at Oliva Nova in Spain and the differences between the course design here and at home are very apparent.
When I haven’t been abroad for a while, I find I need to walk a distance twice before I acclimatise to everything being two yards longer. It’s not that the distances are too long, it’s that the courses are designed to encourage forward riding.
Before coming to Spain, we took a lorryload of young horses to a local show. They have accommodating management and a great surface, but the courses weren’t really fit for purpose. Disjointed lines and backward distances were not the preparation I wanted for five- and six-year-olds approaching their first tour.
We seem to have accepted a culture where sometimes the only way to make the “measured distance” is to yank the horses back from the base of the fence. In contrast, courses abroad allow the horse extra room, encouraging less intervention from the rider’s hands. This allows horses to develop their own balance and self-adjust.
I have a particularly big-striding five-year-old out here, who’s very green but has huge potential. At home, I felt the rideability wasn’t good enough, as it was almost preferable to take a stride out than attempt a tight distance. Since being here, she’s jumped clear each day and the ride has consistently improved – not once have I felt the need to anchor her back to fit a stride in.
We have some great course-builders in the UK, who can rival the best in the world. But at local level/C2 weekday shows the standard is slipping too far.
I am not sure where the blame truly lies, whether it’s the training of our course-designers or if there’s less knowledge and horsemanship coming from the top down.
A potential eye-opener
To improve, a rider should immerse themselves in an environment of good riders at good shows, so should we apply this principle to our course-designing programmes? I think it would be an eye-opener if they had to visit Sentower in Belgium, or one of the Spanish tours, and observe where the standard sits.
We also need to rethink our top national level classes. Are they effective preparation for two-star grands prix and three-star Nations Cups?
This year’s national championship courses were a case in point. The international stairway series is the pinnacle of our national circuit, and a fair, up-to-height course was set. On paper this is a 1.50m jump-off class measured at 400mpm, so ideal for Di Lampard to scout for team selection.
But the course only included one related distance of any technicality – a vertical-to-oxer double, six strides, and a vertical double – which was responsible for the majority of faulters, myself included! The rest was level, seven- or eight-stride distances, which rode very nicely but could give you a false sense of what is expected in a two- or three-star grand prix.
“A shock for first-timers”
By comparison, the week one two-star grand prix in Oliva had nine related distances, and a much tighter time allowed. The fences were smaller than at the nationals, but far more technical. This is often a shock for people on their first trip abroad, who find each fence is linked and a mistake at the first can add up to 12 faults by the end.
We need to reassess what we are trying to achieve from our shows. C2 shows should be about educating young horses and area trials and stairways about preparing for two-star grands prix and above. There are a lot more tools at a course-builders’ disposal than just size.
● Are course-designers in Britain getting it right or wrong? Where have you experienced top-notch building? Let us know at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance for your letter to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine
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