Miss Mitch – Worse Ride Of The Month

[moehat]

so pleased to hear that she’s ok – John Morris in his Jumping Prospects book has been praising this mare for the past 2 seasons…nice to have a bit of good news!

[graysonscolumn]

A general point about water-jumps: they are built to much kinder specifications these days, to avoid the back injuries they often caused in the past. They are only 3 inches deep, so landing in the water is not necessarily a problem in itself – just like splashing through a puddle. But, for obvious reasons, it becomes a major issue if the horse catches the exit lip with its hind feet on the landing side.

Interesting. I know we’re talking about just three inches here, and I suppose there may be a slightly increased risk of seepage beyond the fence, but might there be a case for sloping the floor of the water jump – as one would expect to find in, say, the water jump of an athletics steeplechase nowadays, or the shallow end of a swimming pool – until such time as it reaches ground level again? I’d presume that would negate the "lip effect" yet further, although I admit it may not be an entirely satisfactory solution.

gc

Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.

[Leemac]

That sounds like a fair point Jeremy, I’ll have a closer look around when I have the opportunity, and report back on the construction. The fences on different tracks vary enormously, and I suspect the same is true of the water-jumps.

My perception is that there are fewer falls at water-jumps these days, and certainly fewer injuries, partly because of the change in specification, and also (obviously) because fewer courses have them to start with.

One notable exception in recent times was the fatal fall of Geos in a point-to-point at Tweseldown, but that is a natural brook rather than a man-made obstacle (it was a very interesting fence but would not have been allowed on a professional jump course). And for the current season I understand it has been rebuilt, with modifications to the take-off and landing sides.

[graysonscolumn]

Oooh, interesting, Lee – I’ll in turn have a look at the Tweseldown water jump if I get sent there this season.

(Further reading on Geos’ demise; http://thatracingblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/geos-very-sad-but-not-stick-to-beat.html)

gc

Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.

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