Course Design Considerations

I’m just sat watching the Olympic Showjumping, and we’re doing pretty well! Two riders left to go. It’s the nearest thing to agility in the Olympics and it’s interesting to see all the beautiful fences and the way the course is designed. I’d like to see more subtle course design like this in agility, although I know that we obviously don’t and can’t have quite the variety of fences and jumps. Still, there are plenty of judges out there who just don’t appreciate that they can use things like Walls and Brush fences, or even double jumps, and so they don’t crop up as often as I’d like. Personally I’d also love to see some filler elements (UKA use these, and I’ve seen Adams provide a kind of bone-shape on occasion) and maybe even some differences in the jump wings, even if it doesn’t add any extra challenge for the dogs it makes it more interesting for the handlers and spectators!

I love walking a course and finding something a little out of the ordinary for me and Kim to tackle! Michelle Ainsworth at Otley used a double jump in the middle of the 1-2 Agility course and it caused several problems due to the spacing and and the angle (Kim knocked the second bar, but I didn’t give her the right command. I usually use a “jump” command which indicates that the obstacle is bigger than normal, but I totally forgot!). One of our other judges at Otley (whose name I sadly can’t remember!) used a brush fence as part of a long line of jumps in the Combined 1-4 Agility and subsequent classes and it also caused a few problems, with handlers just assuming their dogs would take it and then the dogs were running out and getting refusals. A couple of years ago at Shrewsbury, when Kim was a Large, Jo Glynn set a fab Novice Agility course with a Wall and a Wishing Well, and it added a greater element of difficulty than throwing in a pull-thru would have done.

Ben Mayer has just come into the arena to jump the third round for GB, on a lovely big mare called Roulette. Absolutely fab round, but unfortunately just one fence down. Arg!

There’s a particularly interesting line in this Olympic Showjumping course of two big oxers followed by a narrow vertical plank fence. A lot of horses are getting the plank down because they’ve done these big extended jumps and then have to shorten up and collect. I wonder if dogs could be challenged by something similar? I’m thinking here of maybe a double jump followed by a stretch (long jump), and then a single bar into a tunnel? I’m sure a lot of dogs would get the single down unless they were handled and/or trained particularly well.

I think there are a lot of opportunities for creating a more subtley difficult course design rather than filling a course with pull-thrus and UYOA handling and I think judges don’t always appreciate that. I love course design but I don’t have the patience or attention span (or the thick skin required!) to be a judge. I’ve said before how much I admire and respect the people who do have the talent to judge, but I’m not one of them. I just wish some of them would think a bit more about their courses, or maybe even ask someone else to design them (someone who isn’t competing in their class, obviously!).

Aww, I guess my Showjumping viewing is coming to an end. The great John Whitaker has withdrawn Peppermill because he has a stiff back, which is a bit of a disappointment all round. That leaves us with 16 penalties and it’s only the top 8 teams to go through … fingers crossed we aren’t pushed off the list!

NB: Thanks to www.aprilmagic.co.uk, adamsagility.com, agilitynet.com and for the photos used here!