Monday, July 18, 2011

I see... cross-country fences!

I have a confession to make... I see cross-country fences everywhere. When I'm driving, I look at people's gates and fencelines and I imagine how it would be to jump it. Well, assuming the road wasn't there and all. How would I approach? What's the landing like? And most importantly, where's the next fence? This sort of speculation is particularly fun in northern Virginia where everyone has stone walls for fencelines and there are coops built into the fencelines for hunting, but it does work down here in Texas too.

There are actually a number of potential jumps that I see every day when I go ride, and I gotta tell you, there are times when I am ooooh-sooo-tempted.

So you'd have to take the ironwork off this fence (I'm sure the owner wouldn't mind!), but then you could plant shrubs in the planters and how cool would that be? I'd jump it in a second with those minor modifications, lol!

This little gem is at the end of my street. If you took those rocks and moved them more under the fence to make a better ground line, you'd be all set. (Note: this neighbor owns horses, so she might not mind hoofprints in her yard. The problem, of course, is the road right in front of the fence. Bummer! Maybe I can get her to move the fence? Haha...)

I LOVE this fence - about 3 ft, solid, with a ditch on the road side. I think it's doable if you went for one of the interior Vs. Then you have to gallop around that house to the right in the picture...

... because on the other side of their yard they have there's a continuation! However, I'd be worried about that ditch on the landing - you'd have to remember to really sit back! Still... I wonder if they'd notice a few hoofprints?

And this one... this one I've actually jumped. It's in the arena where we usually ride. I do the side on the right where it's about 2 feet high, but someday I'll get up the nerve to do it where it's bigger. Or maybe hop up, turn 90 degrees, and hop down. Oh yeah baby!

Do YOU see cross-country fences everywhere you look?

5 comments:

  1. I see golf courses and open fields and think "what a waste of galloping space!" and proceed to imagine how to set up a nice equestrian facility within that space. I also see clubhouses or garden sheds or the garages with the three or four big barn doors and think, "those would make lovely stables." Mostly I hear music and think how somebody would ride different gaits and movements to it. Sad, really.

    As for cross-country fences... I guess I'm not an eventer at heart :( But when I see a log lying down or an old wooden telephone pole, I get an itchin' to set it up for jumping!

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  2. I see jumps and galloping lanes EVERYWHERE. Glad I'm not alone.

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  3. There's nine acres for sale about half a mile from my house, and do I ever fantasize about that! I'm with you on the golf courses, Dressager. I used to ride in Hope Ranch, and the sacredness of the greens really annoyed me. Of course, we had the beach, and awesome trails, and all private, so we weren't too badly off.

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  4. Oooh, golf courses, those are the BEST. Actually, the 1984 Olympic Games were held at Santa Anita Ranch in California, and they took a golf course and turned it into an XC course. There was a fantastic water jump where they jumped up two WATERFALLS. Sooo cool. I checked to see if there's any videos on YouTube, but alas - only showjumping. I still have the VHS tape of the Games, though (showing my age much?)

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  5. Fab post and fab pics :-) Yep, me too, and the only time I visited Virginia I could hardly contain myself! Over here the Cotswolds and Northumberland have the same effect(!)

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