Hold Onto Your Butts, You’re Now in Jurassic Park: Previewing Ian Stark’s Beefed-Up Maryland CCI5* Track

A look at the layout of this year’s Maryland CCI5* track.

THE ESSENTIALS

Length: 6555m

Optimum time: 11:30

Fences: 29

Speed: 570mpm

“Last year, with hindsight,” I must have been insane,” laughs MARS Maryland 5 Star course designer Ian Stark, who has delivered us a new-look, considerably tougher track for this year’s renewal. “It was my first five-star, and a greenfield site that had never been used. I didn’t know how the terrain would affect the horses, so I probably backed off more than I’d have liked. Some horses finished full of running and others were really, really tired, so I hope riders learned about the terrain and have their horses fit enough.”

One of the major changes that Ian has made is relocating the start and finish, which are now located in the centre of the course.

“That was the most important thing for me this year, and I think it gives the course a better flow,” he says. “It avoids them finishing up the hill from the bottom of the middle field almost right up to the main arena, which was a fair climb at the end of the course, and some of the horses finished really toiling at the end. So for me, this gives it a better flow, and also allows me to maintain the five-star standard all the way through. I felt from the bottom of the hill last year in that middle field, I had to back off — so it was a three-and-a-half to four-star on the way home. There were still technical difficulties, but I felt I couldn’t give five-star dimensions and big spreads, because horses would be getting weary.”

There’s plenty to see on the course — not least, a menagerie of inexplicable dinosaurs and one robust longhorn in situ on the track. But if you’re hoping this might be a nod to some sort of diplodocus discovery at Fair Hill, we’re sorry to report that their presence is just the result of Ian being, well, a bit weird.

“I kept driving past the dinosaurs at the garden centre down the road when we were going to Mario’s for lunch, and I said to [course builders] Tyson and Barney, ‘I want them on the course!’,” says Ian. “So they went in and chatted the guy up, and he delivered them for me, which was incredibly kind of him – they’ve got nothing to do with the course, but I love them, and they give people something to look at!”

Anyway, Ian, we like your style. And so, friends, we recommend giving yourself a bit of easy listening while you walk the course with us.

Fence 1.

The course begins on a patch of flat ground over a wide, welcoming table, but from the word go, riders will need to be on the ball: the galloping lane from 1 to 2 and thereafter runs parallel to the warm-up arena, which will be a tough test for horses who are prone to napping and want to stick with their pals.

“The start is on the top of the hill, so it’s a bit flat,” says Ian. “The first fence is off a bend, and I deliberately put it there because if anyone gets too sneaky and tries to cut around that corner, they could easily have 20 penalties by running out of the first fence. I’m kind of hoping that they’re on the case but they’re not getting too excited at the start.”

Fence 2.

There’s not a huge amount of space between fence 1 and 2, which makes it feel like a related distance — and it’s a downhill approach to the second fence, which is a relatively narrow trakehner. That’s a classic rider frightener fence, so it’ll encourage an attacking ride from the get-go — no bad thing when there’s plenty of major questions to come.

“To me it’s just an inviting, kick-on fence,” says the man who proved he has some of the biggest cajones in the sport when navigating the tearaway Murphy Himself around the world’s biggest courses. “I had planned to have it in the warm-up area, but when I walked down from the start, it was in the way, so it became fence two! So there was nothing really great in the imagination, and some of the riders were a bit concerned that there’s a ditch at fence two.”

This is the first sign on course that Ian has really stepped up the intensity — but it’s also a useful way to ensure that competitors are taking the job seriously in the first minute.

Fence 3.

From fence two, they move on to a classic five-star run-and-jump fence, which has a friendly rolled profile and a brush on top, and will encourage an attacking rhythm and a confidence-building bit of airtime.

“This is going to give them a real big feel – it’s a lovely fence that’ll get them way up in the air and running away on the landing,” says Ian. “They’ll be fairly travelling down the hill and around the corner to the first water.”

Fence 4A, with 4B visible on the other side.

The first chance to get their feet wet comes up quickly, and involves two skinny birds that are reminiscent of Luhmühlen’s famous Danger Tit, which was situated in the water at the 2019 European Championships and caused plenty of problems. These birds, though, are both on dry land, as Luhmühlen’s has been since 2019, and so shouldn’t be as influential — but they’re accuracy questions that do demand respect.

“It’s a friendly-ish first water but the birds are not to be ignored,” says Ian. “You need to take your time and jump them straight on and accurately. If you try for an angle you could easily leave a leg and get tipped out the side door. They’re not difficult, but they do need to concentrate.”

This first water also means that horses can land on the dry and then carry on into the water, rather than being expected to jump straight in — so done well, they’ll boost horses’ confidence and let riders fine-tune all those canter gears they’ll need further on in the track.

Fence 5.

When you get to the fence 5, a wide, brush-topped table, you get your first taste of the ‘no thanks’ — this thing is seriously big. Of course, if you have a touch of insanity running through your veins, you might feel a bit differently.

“What I would give to have a horse here to just gallop up to this on – it’ll give a great feel,” muses Ian, a man who’s made a fine art out of having admirable insanity in the bloodstream.

If someone has an unlikely mishap here, though, there’ll be no harm done: “It’s perfect ground — it’s like walking on a carpet! It’s amazing. Even if you fall off, it’s quite cushioned,” says Ian, startlingly unreassuringly. “But it’ll be great to just wing up to that and get a real good feel before you head to the arena.”

Team EN, thinking about the ‘real good feel’ this fence will give.

Fence 6.

New to the Maryland track this year is a tour through the main arena, which gives a continental feel to proceedings and allows spectators to pause from shopping to fill the grandstands – so expect a wall of sound and some serious atmosphere as they enter through the left-hand side gate.

Ian was keen to include this loop, but as he explains, not everyone was initially on board with his vision: “It’s the first time in the arena and it took a bit of persuading to get them to let me change the course around, and then a little bit more persuading to get them to let me go in one gate and out the other,” he laughs. “They said, ‘can you not get them in and out though the same gate?’, but I’m a pretty bloody-minded Scotsman, so I had to stand my ground! But they’re always very generous and incredibly nice to me here.”

The first of the three elements in the arena is a rolltop at six, which will give horses the chance to get up in the air without a mentally taxing question as they adjust to the fishbowl effect of being surrounded by enthusiastic fans.

Fence 7ab.

Pretty quickly, though, they’ll need to land and adjust, because as they turn to fence 7a — an enormous brush box — they’ll be gazing right into the hospitality stand, and they certainly won’t have time to peruse the open bar through the windows.

“When you approach the big brush box you’re looking straight into the grandstand, and some horses won’t notice the people, but others will be backed off,” he says. “A few of the riders have said that they’re thinking of sticking to the left of this fence and jumping a bit left to right over the first, which will get them to the second in three strides. What I’ve said to them is that the bogey here is this: you may plan the three strides, but if a horse is backed off and lands a bit steep, it may not be there. They’re going to have to be able to react to however the horses jump the first element, but I don’t anticipate problems.”

After that, it’s “a good winging out” of the corner of the arena and back down the galloping lanes in the direction they’ve just come from, and Ian hopes that they’ll take the opportunity to really travel — because the next combination they’ll meet will ask them to be really positive in their canter.

Fence 8ab.

Fence 8ab features a pair of bum-clenchingly big tables on an offset left-handed line, which is set on a long two-stride distance. The point here? To balance at speed, and have power, pace, and positivity on side — classic cross-country riding, in a nutshell.

“There’s two big strides there, so if anyone gets a bit showjumping minded, they’ll struggle for the two, so they need to be travelling – then they’re quite inviting,” says Ian.

Fence 9.

If they’ve ticked the boxes Ian wants them to at those tables, they’ll hit the ground running and be able to catch a couple of seconds on the clock as they travel down to fence 9, which is the first time we’re seeing MIMclips safety devices on the course. This time, they’re the classic red ones, which aren’t as easily activated as the yellow variety we’ll spot later on, and although there’s a pretty straight shot down from 8b to 9, there’s a little bit of a set-up turn to get straight to this, which will help riders get their horses back on their hocks to make a neat job of it.

“They have to jump in carefully, because of the clips, but I don’t foresee any problems here,” says Ian.

Fence 10a, with the direct b element just visible and the direct c, a narrow brush box, beyond it.

Taking the time to jump that oxer with care, and reassess how well they can get their horses sitting on their hind ends, will serve them well when they reach 10abc, which Ian tells us is the first major question on the course. It’s also a spot that offers a few options for those who don’t think they’ll make a tidy job of the direct route, which features a skinny box on top of a step mound, a downhill five-stride run to the middle of three brushes over a ditch, and then a three-stride line to a skinny brush box.

Fence 10bc — the direct route is the left-handed of the two brushes featured here, with the direct c visible behind.

“There’s a long route, and I’ve put a whole load of trees and pumpkins out to stop people mixing them up but they could still do whatever they want there,” says Ian, who has individually lettered each element, which means a mix-and-match approach wouldn’t result in a technical elimination.

Fence 11abc.

Once they’ve successfully negotiated that serious elevation change and accuracy question, it’s time for water number two — and this time, they nearly do have to jump into the drink. Or, at the very least, it’ll look that way to the horses, who’ll take a leap of faith over the first boat.

“The first boat is supposed to be on dry – it’s being worked on,” says Ian, who scaled back the dimensions of this fence after realising that maximising the size made it an almost unjumpably tough question.

“It’s a big jump in, with a big spread and a big drop. That was last year’s three-star fence in the water, and I tried putting a five-star fence there, but suddenly the course went from a five-star to a ten-star. Even I didn’t have a big enough pair of you-know-whats to do that! I’m expecting a big jump in over the A element, four strides to the boat in the middle, and then three to the lighthouse out at C. There’s an alternative B element if they scramble on the way in, but I don’t really anticipate them using it.”

Fence 12.

Would it be a five-star without a ditch and brush you could park a sedan in? We think not — and Ian agrees. We’re pretty sure the riders will be delighted to know that the brush side of fence 12, though, is significantly lower than it was just a few days ago.

“The other day it was 25cm higher than it is now, and it was a bit like trying to have a conversation with William Fox-Pitt — I was just looking straight up at it!” laughs Ian.

This’ll be an ‘easy’ run-and-jump fence, but for Ian, it was nearly the site of his own grisly demise.

“I’m completely superstitious,” he explains. “The first CCI4*-L I designed was at Bramham, and I found a four-leaf clover [while I was designing it]. Everywhere you go, except California, obviously, you can find clover in the grass, so I have to find a four-leaf clover. I was hunting for one while the boys were cutting the brush down, and after I found it, I got there and I said to them, ‘it’s too small — you’ll need to make it bigger!’ I think they thought about hitting me with their chainsaws!”

Though this is a ‘gimme’ fence, if such a thing exists in top-level eventing, the approach adds an interesting element here.

“The straight line has a rollercoaster approach ,which could muck up your distance — but if you come on an angle it’s a flatter approach. It’ll be interesting to see which riders have been paying attention there.”

A live view of Ian in the riders’ tent, watching to see which line they pick.

Fence 13.

There’s not an awful lot of time to think before they get to fence 13, and honestly, that’s probably for the best. This ramped rolltop, which has a downhill landing and a real ‘into space’ feel, is visually one of the most imposing single fences we’ve ever laid eyes on — but remarkably, Ian says, “it looks enormous, but it doesn’t even measure maximum height for a 5*!”

Fence 13.

Let’s take another look at this chunky thang, with EN’s Sally for scale. For context, she’s 5’5, and we’re all clenching our bums.

Fence 13.

And once more, for good measure, from the landing side. Thank you, but no.

Ian Stark, rn.

There’s an opportunity to catch up on the clock a bit after that absolute monster at 13, with a beautiful gallop stretch that’ll see them hit their six-minute mark — just over the halfway point — midway along it. What a nice opportunity to catch a glimpse of the fall foliage, maybe.

Fence 14.

After that galloping stretch, Ian has placed a capacious open oxer with MIMclips off a turn, which is a useful opportunity to get the horses back before the coffin complex, and should be used wisely.

“It’s just there to set them up for the coffin – I expect them to jump that and then get the coffin canter, which I’m always gone on about; that short, bouncy canter.”

Fence 15ABC.

That coffin canter, unsurprisingly, is the key element to jumping a coffin, which they get at 15abc. The direct route here makes savvy use of sharp terrain, with a MIMclipped rail on a slight downhill to the ditch at b, which is followed by a sharp uphill to a small log at c, which replaces last year’s brush.

“If they don’t set them up, they’ll be flying through there and probably dislodge the MIM at the coffin rail,” says Ian. “But the fact that they’re going downhill will mean that the horses are propping, so I’m expecting them to be really good there.”

If they do get a funny jump over the ditch, they can reroute around the mound to another log on the flatter ground, which will cost them valuable seconds on the clock.

The feeling of riding the coffin, encapsulated.

Fence 16AB.

There’s another short run to the next combination, a pair of colossal tables on a positive three strides to a left-handed brush corner four strides away at 16abc. Here, there’s an alternative option for the brush corner on the right hand side, but it’s only intended to be used after a run-out, as the line isn’t as clear if they try to tackle this directly from the second of the tables.

“There is a right option but for me, it’s only there for if they have a runout at the direct corner. I think they’d struggle to jump and turn right, because it’s sort of uphill and speed would take over, so they probably wouldn’t get there if you did it as a line. Tyson, who built these fences for me, has been having sleepless nights over the tables, because he thinks they’re huge – but I think it’s great! I love big fences like that down a hill, and what I really want to do is stand on the landing side of the second table just to get a photograph of the expression on the riders’ faces, because normally they’ll go with their mouths wide open and their eyes popping!”

Ian Stark, once again.

Fence 17.

After that, there’s a proper galloping stretch to get that rhythm going again and give those gutsy horses a big pat, before a single fence at 17 that somehow looks — dare we say it? — quite small.

“It’s maximum height and spread for the level, but it looks like a training fence, and the reason for it is it’s so wide,” says Ian. “Next year I’m planning to take a chainsaw to it and make it two fences, and then it’ll look taller and be a double.”

Fence 18ab.

The uninfluential gates of last year make a return, this time without a floral groundline.

“They’re very upright timber chase fences, but the ground is rising up to these fences, and I don’t think they need the groundline, so I’ve removed the plant pots and got approval from the ground jury and the technical delegate,” says Ian, before adding, reflectively: “Maybe I’ve been a bit mean!”

Fence 19.

Fence 19 is another single fence, which is a galloping jump that’ll still require plenty of respect, because this sucker is big.

Fence 20.

Then, it’s a left-handed turn to another water, though this time, they won’t need to actually enter the pond at all. The direct route here is two imposing ditch corners at 20 and 21, though there’s a pair of owl holes on a longer line if riders want to mix and match.

“The corners are pretty huge, and we’ve got seven truckloads of water going in there. What I wanted was all the dirt under the corner to be covered by water – I don’t think I’m very popular with the boys, having to find all that water,” says Ian. “Then there’s the option of the owl holes, and Doug Payne said to me, ‘thank God we don’t have to jump them’ – he’s so tall he thinks he’ll decapitate himself on them!”

Fence 21.

This leads onto one of the flattest bits of the course: “the flat bit of ground here lets the horses recover before the big water,” says Ian.

Fence 22. 

On their way to that big water, they’ve got another single fence to jump, which will just add a bit of confidence and fun to the equation before another mentally challenging task.

Fence 23AB, with 24ABC visible on the left-hand side.

And what a task it is! The main water complex has been turned around this year, and the famous crab jump in has been moved out from the bank, which will require a wider jump in — and this time, they land on a dry ramp before cantering into the water, swinging a left, jumping a bank up to a log on a bounce distance at 24AB and then finding a seriously accurate line to a steeply angled brush at 24C. What makes the crab at 23AB so imposing is that you can’t see it until the last couple of strides: the approach up to this water is a steep, short hill, and two strides out, its terrifying face appears with the noise and distraction of the VIP tent behind it on the other side of the water.

“The approach means they can’t see what they’re jumping until they run up that ramp, and then they have two strides to assess it,” says Ian. “It’s a big drop and then they’re looking into the MARS sponsors tent, so there’s a lot to see. It’s at nine and a half minutes, so it’s late for a big water – but I hope that having a lot to look at will sharpen them up again. I put a ramp in the water because it was way over a maximum drop, and it doesn’t worry me that they’ll land on the dry.”

Fence 24ab.

The line from the hanging log at 24B to 24C is a tight three, and it’s a wide-open door for horses to run out to the right if the riders aren’t on it — but the long route through this water is so long that those who are in close contention will need to take the risk if they want to stay at the business end of the leaderboard. And with just over 12 penalties separating the entire leaderboard? That’s an opportunity for just about everyone.

“They’re not going to win prizes if they go the long way, but hopefully at this stage on the course if horses are getting a little fatigued, then their riders can think and go the long way and help get their horses home.”

Fence 25.

Ian’s given them a downhill run from the water, which helps tired horses bowl along without taxing them too much. There’s some set-up to be done for fence 25, which is a pseudo-Vicarage Vee, but he’s made the approach totally obvious: a line of trees puts horses right where they need to be, which is on the small, straight bit of revetting on the ditch lip.

“This was a corner last year, and I’ve taken the back rail off because I feel like this is four fences from home, and the corner was too big a question this late on course,” says Ian, who has fitted the fence with sensitive yellow MIMclips. “I’ve used trees to put the horses on the line – they’ve got to stay straight, but I’ve taken a lot of the guesswork out. It’s up to them to get the right striding, but the line is there. I do think we’ll get the odd run-out, but if we do, there’s a long route over a trakehner for them.”

Fence 26ab.

The final combination on the course is the striking rollercoaster combination at 26ABCD, and this year, the first element has been pushed closer to the big drop at the B element. Then there’s a pair of houses at 26d and 27 on a pretty stiff angle, which gives riders a choice in terms of their line.

“I’m hoping that they’ll jump off on the right side as they’re approaching the drop and turn to the first one ,and then turn in the air to the second one,” says Ian. “If they try and go on a straighter line [between the houses] I think it’s quite a big ask, but people have to decide what their horses are capable of and what they see in their own eye and from their own point of view.”

The view from 26c to 26d. 

Here’s another look at that line from the drop, which Ian hopes to see riders jump on the right hand side so they can get a direct shot to the first of the houses.

Fence 27.

And, for good measure, a look at the houses from the landing side, again using a #SallyForScale. They’re not the biggest fences on course by a long stretch, but this is still enough of a question — but once again, there’s a slower, less intense route for those who just want to nurse their horses home.

Fence 28.

There’s a big old table to jump at the penultimate question, but this single fence is on a downhill, which Ian hopes will give horses some engine back as they coast down.

“It’s not maximum spread and it’s got a lovely 45 degree front on it, and it’s downhill a bit on the approach so that if they are getting a bit tired, they can get a bit of energy back on the downhill,” says Ian. “Then the riders can ride the fence before they come back into the middle field.”

Fence 29.

Once they’ve made it back into the middle field, they’ll see every rider’s favourite fence: the final one.

“It’s a very bright, cheerful last fence, because I want the horses to see it and pay attention,” says Ian. “Finishing in the middle field means they then go on to the quiet back corner for the vet box, and then they can just walk back through the trees to the stables.”

Honestly, that’s the only bit we’d be happy to volunteer ourselves for.

As it turns out, Ian was the T-rex all along.

CCI5* cross-country kicks off from 2 p.m. Eastern time (7 p.m. BST/11.00 a.m. Pacific). You can check out what the competitors themselves think of the course here — and keep it locked on EN for all the news, views, and updates you need. Go Eventing!

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