Testing fences in cross-country

Press, 1 June 1978, Page 9

Testing fences in cross-country

The building of a crosscountry course up to the standard required for the New Zealand three-day trials involves a tremendous amount of many hours of voluntary labour, from the hard manual building work to the final painting and decorating with greenery. This year’s course has been well planned by Mr Alan Hampton (Ra'kaia), who can be proud of the well constructed, solid and testing fences, which he and his small band of workers have built. The cross-country starts

in the members’ car park, with the first fence being an oxer, then across the drive on to the racecourse proper. Fence No. 4, “the pedestrian crossing’’ is a new, solid spread fence, followed by a “Road Detour’’ into Kennels Park where the horses can move along over a brush double to fence No. 8, “the bounce.”

This interesting new fence will require the riders to check their horses back and decide on one of three alternative routes. Five fences further on, including two more

road doubles and last year’s “crab,” the riders strike the formidable

“Irish Bank,” which is always a crowd pleaser. This is followed by a rejuvenated “ski jump” with four rails joined together 1.50 m out from the bank into a drop landing.

After fence No. 16, the “sharks teeth,” the riders disappear behind trees, reappearing over a maximum height parallel bar, and then turn down the drive negotiating a wide table, the “Wills smokers’ companion” (a combination of three fences) and

“the boxer,” a solid ieversed oxer, out of the driveway. A sharp right

turn to the “scree garden and trellis,” is followed by a spread of rails fitted into dray wheels, a natural gorse with a good gallop to a new permanent fence.

Then comes a maximum drop into a slight slide, over a gully, and up a staircaes with each step being 1.15 m in height. After fence No. 26, an open ditch in front of post and rails, the intermediate and novice horses turn left over a straw-packed

triple bar spread to finish over a gorse with a wide ditch on the take-off. The advanced horses carry on after fence No. 26 to the “Elephant trap” of a maximum height of 1.20 m with a 2m spread, followed by the new look “Cat’s cradle,” where a choice of five alternative routes will pose a problem for tiring horses and riders.

A good gallop takes the

competitors to the rather awesome “Giant’s Grave,” where riders will need to ride on to clear the 3.30 m spread. The degree of severity lessons after this with fence No. 30 being a post and rails at the top of the gully. After another angled post and rail, followed by the “Atlantic Bowser,” old curved gates, the riders finish with the final two fences of the first class. The ski jump is shown in the picture above.