Preview the Morven Park Advanced Cross Country Course

Screenshot via Cross Country App.

Tremaine Cooper has put together a beautiful track for the Advanced competitors to tackle later this morning, and in gratitude to Cross Country App we’ve got a preview for you to check out ahead of the action. You can view the entire fence-by-fence course preview here. You can also check out the Intermediate course map here.

This year’s Advanced track will deviate from recent years’ courses that traveled on a loop through the Morven Park property. That loop has been extended to include some additional acreage for the 2020 course, likely a preview of what would have been part of the CCI4*L course that we will with any luck get to see in 2021. The start box this year has been relocated nearer to the barns and arena, releasing competitors out into fields that have not recently been used for this course.

From the look of it, riders will have ample opportunity to get a good gallop in; Sharon White yesterday commented that she’d use this run as fitness for Cooley On Show, who’s aimed at the CCI4*L at Tryon next month. With well-established turf and terrain, we’re sure to see plenty of riders getting in a good run this afternoon.

The Cedar Rails to Corner at 16. Photo via Cross Country App.

Natural terrain lends itself well to course design, and Tremaine has designed this course to flow with the lay of the land. Keep an eye out for key combinations such as the Taylor Harris Turning Question at 14 and the Cedar Rails to Corner at 16, which make use of sloping ground to test riders’ aids and accuracy.

The Advanced track consists of 25 numbered fences and 34 jumping efforts and will carry an optimum time of 7 minutes. You can catch up on yesterday’s dressage and show jumping action in anticipation of the cross country finale, which will get underway at 11 a.m. EST. We’ll be back this afternoon with a final wrap-up from Virginia.

Go Eventing.

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