If it is a BE affiliated competition classes will be set at 80cm, 90cm and one metre. At some unaffiliated competitions you might have a 70cm class, and you can go up to BE novice height, which is 1.10m.
At Bicton Arena we use a selection of our portable cross country fences. We’ll use a corner, a couple of skinny type questions, a couple of straight forward fences like a roll top and brush, and a couple of off-set fences, like angled houses which need to be ridden on a line. We will also simulate a coffin.
Depending how you are judging it, some venues will time the whole round and the fastest time will win. At Bicton we don’t necessarily think this promotes good riding skills so we will have an optimum time based on 375mpm.
If you have a fence down or a refusal its 4 penalties, a second refusal is 8 penalties. Some cross country fences might have a knock down element, such as our simulated coffin so potentially you can get knock down penalties in the cross country section. Our winner will be the person going clear closest to the optimum time thus encouraging people to ride with balance and in a good rhythm.
What to wear
Wear cross country colours, a BETA level 3 body protector and a crash cap to PAS015 standard. Tack up your horse in what you would plan to ride across country, bearing in mind horses don’t tend to get as strong and excitable in an arena, so you may find you can do arena eventing in a snaffle, where as on grass you might need more brakes.
Style classes
If I was judging as a style competition I would want to see a clear difference in the rhythm between showjumping and cross country, and although we don’t have the style element, I think competitors should use it as a schooling opportunity where the principles of good training come in. You would aim to show jump at 325mpm and cross country at 375mpm.
Walking the course
Check where the start and finish are. Most of the time you will finish the showjumping and follow a continuous path to the start of the cross country element. Your time will start when you start the cross country section.
Walk the showjumping first and think about your lines, and be aware of the fact that your horse might be more spooky due to not being used to seeing cross fences in a showjumping arena. Invariably, we will dress our cross country fences, which will add to the spook factor!
Normally, with the cross country section, there will be something to test your accuracy such as offset angles or skinnies so take your time and think about how you will ride your lines and how that will flow to the next fence.
Think about where you can move on a little bit more, if you need to make up some time. Check where the finish is and make sure you ride through it! Watch a few competitors – at least three or four.
See how the course is riding.
Warming up
Give yourself enough time to warm up which is very much down to your horse. I would expect there to be a cross fence in the warm up.
If you’ve watched a few competitors and you’re happy, there is no need to get to the arena until you are called down. What you don’t want to do is have your horse stood around for too long and go off the boil.
