Down the Fence

So, I am on the phone today talking to a friend about my excitement for this summer and the opportunity to make more runs down the fence. To my surprise, he said "what do you mean down the fence".

I found a couple of youtube clips that show the class. I really like the videos because the announcer does a great job of describing what is happening.

This first video is a great run against a fast cow.

This second video shows a fairly good run against a slower (easier) cow. I also like it because we can talk about how this run might be judged if this were a DallyPost class. See if you can discover where the horse should be given credit and where he should loose some points. Click here to print a score card and give it a go. Post your judging questions below.

Here is how I would have judged this horse.

Boxing: -2. I dinged this horse for several reasons. Head position was high, he was often working on a pretty tight rein and most of all, the horse did not stop straight, but always button hooked toward the cow. This move toward the cow causes it to squirt out at high speed in the opposite direction. Hence we see the horse making long and unimpressive runs from fence to fence. The horse also kind of charged through the turn in the beginning of the fence run. On the up side, this horse really watches a cow.

First turn: +2. This horse really stepped up and showed a lot of courage in this turn.

Second turn: +1. This was also a good turn but the cow is getting lazy which makes this maneuver pretty easy.

First circle: -1. This was a fairly good circle but the horse never did really get to the head of the cow and take control. Also, the rider never did fully close the circle

Second circle: +1. This was a much nicer circle. The horse got into position and really drove the cow through the turn.

The horse was ridden two handed throughout so no one hand bonus will apply.

Final score: 71.

Notice: You must be logged in to leave a comment.