Last spring, Kip Rosenthal, my old friend and student who had asked me to co-judge with her at the USAEq Medal Finals (p.34), showed me the course she wanted to use for the finals. I took one look and told her it was “a stroke of genius.”

There were seven fences, all of which had to be ridden “off the rider’s eye.” There were no mechanically numbered lines. On paper, this course looked ridiculously simple. To execute it well in actual competition under pressure was a different matter.

On Saturday afternoon before the championship, Kip and I looked over Steve Stephens’ beautiful jump material. We used all short standards, deep cups, and natural-type obstacles found in the hunting field. Of course, the horses and riders were not used to this look, and that alone was to cause a very big problem.

Kip and I arrived at 5 a.m. to set the course. Craig Bergman and his trusty jump crew were right on the job. Since there were only seven individual fences to construct, we were set up a full 45 minutes before the riders and trainers were allowed to walk the course.

Fence 1, a 3’6″ brush box without wings, was situated on the quarter line, in the middle of the long side, directly opposite the judges’ stand. Fences 2 and 3 were next to fence 1, on the same line, so that riders had to basically ride a serpentine to jump them.

Fence 2 was a beautifully varnished, light brown chicken coop with a rail on the top. There were small trees alongside acting as a frame. The turn to this fence had an easy option turn’going inside the last fence, a triple bar of walls set on the diagonal. Everyone practiced this shortish turn.

Fence 3, alongside the rail on the far side of the ring, was a hogsback made out of three brown rails and straw bales. It was about 4’7″ wide, which beautifully prepared the horses for the upcoming oxer combination.

Fences 4A and 4B, directly across the ring, right under the judges’ box, were identical oxers. Each fence was comprised of six varnished split rails, 3’6″ high and 4′ wide.

Fence 5, after a right turn, was a narrow garden gate without wings, perpendicular to the first four fences and about 20 feet off the middle of the short side of the ring. The placement of the fence allowed the riders an option turn: They could either make a half-turn to the right or a half-turn in reverse to the left into the wall after jumping. Most turned left, although some turned right.

Fences 6A and 6B were the oxer combination in the other direction. Fences 7, 8 and 9 were the reverse direction of fences 3, 2 and 1. And fence 10 was the triple bar, set on the diagonal toward the out-gate. Craig designed this attractive fence out of three small stone walls and colorful flowers.

Every fence caused some problems, even the brush because it wasn’t framed with some sort of wing, unlike the jumps in every other equitation course you see today.

The two big problems, of course, were the double of oxers and the narrow garden gate. Mind you, the oxers were only 25’6″ apart. Each oxer was 3’6″ high and 4′ wide. In my experience with hunters, jumpers and equitation horses, I would not call this a huge scope test. In hindsight, though, I believe that the light on the varnished rails made the “look” of this combination much harder then we’d anticipated. Also, many people rode it badly. Why would you make a jump-off turn to this scopey combination with no impulsion and no distance? Believe me, many did just that!

It appeared to Kip and me that many riders were locked into counting to a certain number of strides between the combination and the garden gate, so there were many run-outs. For most, it was better to ride it on a very straight line as a fence by itself.

The two girls that we had on top after the morning round were each stylists whom we both liked. They both galloped to the first fence in a forward seat, just as you would do to such a fence across country. Both made beautiful, prompt turns to fences 2 and 3 and did it again going back on these fences as numbers 7, 8 and 9.

Maggie Jayne made especially “handy” turns, but both she and Tedra Bates used great judgment to the combination in both directions. They had enough pace (impulsion), gave themselves enough room, and found beautiful, accurate distances. They rode just strongly enough. So many riders either rode “chicken” to the in-and-out or over-rode, attacking it and knocking it down.

After this testing combination, both girls took their time, kept their horses between hand and leg, and jumped the garden gate without risking a run-out.

For the last fence, they stepped on the gas and, maintaining their beautiful style, demonstrated how to jump out of pace.

The rules require the judges to call back between 20 and 25 riders. We called back 22, those who had scores of 85 or higher. Maggie and Tedra were the only ones who broke 90. It surprised me. I thought we’d have more.

For the second round, we kept all the fences in place, except for reversing the triple bar. This course came up quicker, and more of the fences were related in the number of strides. It proved to be just right for the afternoon course, but there were lots of minor problems. Again, Maggie’s ride proved to be the best, and her score even improved a point.

And, of course, it’s mandatory to test at least the top four contestants. We called in our top four, asked them to work collectively on the flat and then to halt. Maggie Jayne had proven, not only to us, but also to anyone watching, that this was unquestionably her championship for the taking. Why risk her losing it with some complicated ride-off? That wouldn’t have been fair.

In hindsight, I’ll admit that parts of this course proved much harder than Kip or I had anticipated. But there is another side of the coin. Perhaps this class was a hard, much-needed wake-up call. I’ll guarantee that 20, 30 or even 40 years ago there wouldn’t have been as many problems as we saw this time.

Riding and jumping in this country today have become too soft, too mechanical, and too stereotyped. Teachers and trainers must give their riders the opportunity to practice courage, practice variety, practice judgment. If they only go from show to show to show, riders never have to address those factors.

Could some of these same weaknesses be affecting our Olympic-level show jumpers? Yes, probably.

Don’t forget, our great Olympic medalists (Bill Steinkraus, Frank Chapot, Mary Chapot, Joe Fargis, Conrad Homfeld and Leslie Howard) almost always came out of the Medal/Maclay ranks. The equitation division was always intended to make riders and horsemen, not robots. Let’s remember the intent and get back to that mission.