{"id":1816,"date":"2017-06-13T10:08:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T09:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/chef-de-piste\/"},"modified":"2021-07-02T14:02:22","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T13:02:22","slug":"chef-de-piste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/chef-de-piste\/","title":{"rendered":"How does the course designer adapt the difficulty level of a course?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>&#8220;<\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yikes! That course is brutal. The course designer really cut loose today. He must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed and decided to take it out on us. This is going to be a disaster.&#8221; Have you ever looked a course and thought about saying your final goodbyes to your family and friends? I sure have! It&#8217;s all the course designer&#8217;s fault. Today, we going to look at the method behind the madness when it comes to course design. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The course designer is like the producer for the entire show. He or she plots out the course, chooses how much time riders are given to complete it, and decides which poles to use. Most importantly, the course designer is the person in charge of making sure the difficulty of the course matches the skill level of the riders. In sum, he or she is responsible for the show running smoothly. A course that is too difficult could ruin the confidence of less experienced horses or riders. On the other hand, if it&#8217;s too easy, the show isn&#8217;t exciting to watch. So, how do course designers make sure the jumps are just hard enough? Well, there are a wide variety of strategies. Some are obvious, such as the height of the fences, the number of jumps and lines, and the time limit, but others are much subtler. We\u2019ll take a look at the latter today\u2019s article.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Table des mati&egrave;res<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#Number-of-strides\">Number of strides<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Fence-design\">Fence design<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Bending-lines\">Bending lines<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Training-exercises\">Training exercises<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Number-of-strides\"><b>Number of strides<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Depending on your level, you&#8217;ve probably already had to deal with impossible questions like &#8220;Should I do that in six strides or seven?&#8221; But have you ever wondered why the course designer decided to place the two fences at that distance in the first place?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To answer that question, let&#8217;s separate distance into two categories. The red line indicates takeoff and landing, while the blue line shows the number of strides.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_611\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-611\" style=\"width: 593px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-611 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/ZONES-e1497344587457.png\" alt=\"stride number\" width=\"593\" height=\"131\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/ZONES-e1497344587457.png 593w, https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/ZONES-e1497344587457-300x66.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 593px) 100vw, 593px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-611\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Number of strides between two jumps. Illustration: Equisense<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the blue area, the course designer takes into account several factors, starting with the average length of a canter stride (12 feet). However, that distance can vary widely depending on the horse&#8217;s body shape and movement as well as a number of other factors. The course designer will also take into account:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quality of the footing\u2014the stride will be shorter in deep footing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incline\u2014along the backside of a hill, the horse&#8217;s stride will be longer than it was going up<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Position of the gate\u2014in any line that heads home, the stride length will tend to be longer<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fence number\u2014stride length increases throughout the course<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The number of strides must also take into account takeoff and landing distances, which also vary! They primarily depend on the height and width of the fence, but are also influenced by the horse&#8217;s speed at the approach. That&#8217;s why we slow down when we&#8217;re heading into a shorter line. If we look at fence height, raising a vertical from three feet to five feet increases the width of the takeoff and landing distance by nearly three feet.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For a three-foot fence, the takeoff distance is around five feet away from the base of the jump, and the landing distance extends 5.7 feet past that point for a total distance of around 10.5 feet.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For a five-foot fence, the takeoff distance is six feet, and the landing distance is 7.2 for a total distance of 13 feet.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The course designer will take all these factors into consideration when setting up lines and distances. He or she might make the course more difficult by adding distances that require a bigger stride or, on the contrary, the course designer might opt for normal distances. Dealing with these challenges takes training. In the rest of the article, we&#8217;ll take a look at some simple exercises you can use to get ready for your next show.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Fence-design\"><b>Fence design<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The design of the jumps also determines the difficulty of the course. For example, the width of the front of the jump is important since a horse might find it easier to swerve to the side if the fence is angled. Jump fillers and liverpools might worry the horse, causing it to shorten its stride and change the rider&#8217;s plan (especially if there&#8217;s a set number of strides after the jump).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The course designer might also alter the color of the jumps. H<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">orses don&#8217;t see colors in the same way as humans. Broadly speaking, our eyes contain three types of light receptors\u2014one that sees blue light, another that detects red light, and a third for green light. In other words, we have trichromatic color vision. We see a range of colors due to changes in the quantity of light received by each type of receptor. Horses, however, only have two types of receptors, or dichromatic vision, since they lack the ability to see red light. Their color perception is completely different than ours. Horses see the world in pastel shades of brown, yellow, blue, and gray. In humans, this type of vision is called color blindness. Here&#8217;s more or less what a horse sees: <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_612\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-612\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-612 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Capture-d&rsquo;&eacute;cran-2017-06-13-&agrave;-09.51.59-300x140.png\" alt=\"Vision horse\" width=\"300\" height=\"140\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-612\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Equine color vision. Source: Equine Vision<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Horses have a hard time distinguishing colors. A study on fence color found that green and yellow jumps incurred the most faults. Because yellow is a mix of green and red light, the horse can&#8217;t tell the difference between the two colors and mistakes the fence for the ground, which is either green if the course is grass, or yellow if it&#8217;s on sand.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Bending-lines\">Bending lines<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bending lines also increase a course&#8217;s difficulty level. The horse&#8217;s spine doesn&#8217;t allow for a lot of lateral flexibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_609\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-609\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-609\" src=\"http:\/\/equisenseblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/bendgr10-300x220.gif\" alt=\"flexibility of the equine back\" width=\"400\" height=\"294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/bendgr10-300x220.gif 300w, https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/bendgr10-368x270.gif 368w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-609\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flexibility of the equine back. Adapted from <i>Mysteries of the Back<\/i> (Clayton).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The diagram shows the findings of Hilary Clayton&#8217;s studies on the maximum degree of flexibility between each vertebra. We see that while the angle is practically 90\u00b0 between the skull and the first vertebra, the area beneath the saddle can only move between 5\u00b0 and 10\u00b0 to either side. In a hunter or jumper course, the horse cannot curve its spine enough to follow the bending line. Instead, it will lean to the side, making it difficult to maintain speed and engagement. The course designer might make the course harder by adding tighter bending lines or by shortening the time limit to force you to take harder turns.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Training-exercises\">Training exercises<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong><em>Exercise #1: Required stride lengths with ground poles<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to getting ready to deal with the various stride lengths the mean course designer will give you, there&#8217;s nothing better than training at home over ground poles or small jumps. Macha got in on the fun with an exercise on stride length that you can find <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/equisenseApp\/posts\/1979319275649098?utm_source=BLOG&amp;utm_medium=Post&amp;utm_campaign=Parcourschef_EN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macha put out two ground poles placed 20 meters apart, then cantered through with 4, 5, 6, 7, or even 8 strides. You can make it even tougher by switching between four and seven strides (or seven and four) to give you even greater control over your canter strides.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1111\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1111\" style=\"width: 347px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1111\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Parcourschef_EN.jpg\" alt=\"Stride length\" width=\"347\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Parcourschef_EN.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Parcourschef_EN-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Parcourschef_EN-270x270.jpg 270w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 347px) 100vw, 347px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1111\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adjusting stride length over ground poles &#8211; Equisense illustration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em>Exercise #2: Cloverleaf<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This exercise is perfect for practicing tighter curves. You&#8217;ll jump a pattern of four ground poles or four small jumps with a smaller and smaller circle between each obstacle. (Exercise from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">101 exercices de sauts d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">obstacle<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Belin).<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_756\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-756\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-756\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Tr&egrave;fle@2x-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"cloverleafe exercise over ground poles\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-756\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cloverleaf &#8211; Equisense illustration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em>Exercise #3: Slicing the jump<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Slicing your fence can be useful when the course designer decides to make a super-fast course! Start with a straight approach, then slowly start to slice the fence, as shown in the diagram below. Cones can help you stay straight even though you&#8217;re jumping at an angle. Try to always have two or three straight strides between the end of your bend and the base of the jump. <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_757\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-757\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-757 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Saut-de-biais@2x-e1506092664620-300x220.jpg\" alt=\"Slicing the jump\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Saut-de-biais@2x-e1506092664620-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Saut-de-biais@2x-e1506092664620-369x270.jpg 369w, https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Saut-de-biais@2x-e1506092664620.jpg 589w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-757\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slicing the jump &#8211; Equisense illustration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now you have everything you need to understand your course and sail through any traps the course designer decides to set in your path. Time to saddle up!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Alice Martinez,\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<b>R&amp;D Director at Equisense<\/b><\/p>\n<h6>Bibliography<\/h6>\n<h6>A. Stachurska, M. Pi\u0119ta, and E. Nesteruk, \u201cWhich obstacles are most problematic for jumping horses?,\u201d <em>Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.<\/em>, vol. 77, no. 3, pp. 197\u2013207, Jun. 2002.<\/h6>\n<h6>P. E. Miller and C. J. Murphy, \u201cEquine Vision,\u201d in <em>Equine Ophthalmology<\/em>, Second Edi., Elsevier, 2011, pp. 397\u2013433.<\/h6>\n<h6>Hilary Clayton 1999 (February) <i>The Mysteries of the Back<\/i>, Dressage Today, p. 28.<\/h6>\n<h6>Linda L. Allen, Diana R. Dennis \u00ab 101 exercices de saut d\u2019obstacle \u00bb, Belin, Paris, 2015<\/h6>\n<h6>F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Fran\u00e7aise d&#8217;Equitation, &#8220;Chef de piste CSO&#8221;, <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">training PowerPoint available at the following web address<\/span>:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cheval-iledefrance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/CHEFS-DE-PISTE-CSO-formation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">http:\/\/www.cheval-iledefrance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/CHEFS-DE-PISTE-CSO-formation.pdf<\/a><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Yikes! That course is brutal. The course designer really cut loose today. He must have&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/chef-de-piste\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2545,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[6179],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[753,888,886,859,892,890,882,887,864,855,885,856,854,884,866,893,883,889,891,756],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2545"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1816"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29699,"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816\/revisions\/29699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1816"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.equisense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}