Jan Byyny studies the coffin combination at 9ABC.
I walked the Advanced/CIC3* cross-country course this afternoon at The Fork with Jan Byyny, Kate Samuels and Caitlin Calder. Kate is riding Nyls Du Terroir in the Advanced, Caitlin is riding Jolliyat in the CIC3*, and Jan is riding Syd Kent and Inmidair in the CIC3*. Only a little over an inch of rain fell on Thursday, but it was enough water to leave the ground feeling quite sticky and spongy. There are large divots in the course left from the lower levels running cross country today. But Jan thought the footing should be dried out quite well by tomorrow when the Advanced and CIC3* divisions run, and Clayton Fredericks echoed the same sentiment when I spoke to him late this afternoon.
Kate Samuels walked the Advanced course using MyCourseWalk.com and Google Earth, so you can follow along virtually here. The USEA also posted a fantastic course walk, which you can see here. Jan Byyny emphasized that this is a very good course designed by Tremaine Cooper; it’s not necessarily a big course, she said, but it will be an excellent prep event for the horses running at Rolex in a few weeks. The first three fences on course are straight forward and built on a hill, which Jan said will be good to take a bit out of the horses and settle them for the rest of the course. For 4A and B, the first combination on course, Jan said to tone it down a bit and put the horses together for the bending corner. “I’m not much of a counter on course, because it always seems like there should be one more stride than there is,” Jan said. But when we counted, the inside track to 4A and B rode in seven strides.
There’s a downhill run to fence 5, and then quite a large ditch to start out the 6A and B combination. “You want the ditch to help you, so land and settle,” Jan said. “Then put your eye at the top of the bank, and help them keep the power to support them for the B element.” Fence 7 is a straight forward table, which leads into fence 8, where Jan said riders will want to put their horses on their feet and use the turn following the fence for balance for the coffin combination at fence 9ABC. “I love the new coffin,” Jan said. “The way (Tremaine) built it makes it a great exercise.” Riders need to be sure to get an uphill canter and sit down so they can put their leg on coming into the combination, Jan said.
Fence 13 on the CIC3* course — and fence 14 on the Advanced course — has a huge angled ditch it front of it. Jan said riders need to approach the fence at a slight angle, and to gallop in like they would approach a triple bar in show jumping. That balanced canter is key to a successful approach to the fence, she said. While the jump is quite intimidating in person, Jan pointed out that it mercifully has a ground line in the form of a short brush in front of it, which certainly helps. Fence 15A and B make up a bounce into the water complex, where the spectator tent is set up. With the weather expected to be beautiful again tomorrow, there should be plenty of people on hand to watch this combination.
There’s a long gallop at this point on the course over several straight forward fences, with the next question coming at 20 A and B. “You’ll want to stay a bit behind them here in case they are spooky,” Jan said. “Keep it a bit forward after the first jump and think about supporting the horse” for the second element. Another long gallop follows this combination, and Jan pointed out that The Fork has excellent grounds for long runs like these. That just about takes us to the end of the course. Be sure to follow along on Kate Samuels’ virtual course walk and tune in tomorrow for live updates and full coverage from the Advanced and CIC3* cross country here at The Fork. Many thanks to Kate for all the great photos of the fences and to Jan for providing excellent commentary on the course. Go eventing.
