deconstructing the course walk: N @ Plantation

I can't really tell if these course walk posts are interesting to readers when there isn't an accompanying story about actually riding the course. I mean, it's basically just a collection of jumps that are impossible to judge in size and style from photographs.

gps tracking by Altitude Profile app. all fence locations added manually by me in MS Paint and are therefore approximate haha. all the little zigs and zags on the otherwise smooth line are instances where i scooted out of the way of horses on course. the gps is that precise!

With no context or association to real events, it's all just conjecture anyway, right? And I mean, if you've seen one coop you've seen them all.

course meta data, and the app does actually do meters instead of miles!

But.... Well. My blog, my rules haha. And I'm interested in course walking for a few reasons. Mostly, I just enjoy it, plain and simple.

elevation profile

More concretely, tho, I feel like I learn something more about cross country just by walking new courses. And I've also really come to appreciate having a photo archive on this blog of jumps from different local venues. It's quite handy!

comparing plantation's N (left) to fair hill's T (right). plantation actually has a bigger overall change in elevation, but fewer very steep climbs - you can see in the map that the track kinda has built in switchbacks instead of going straight up and down like fair hill did

So anyway. This past weekend I signed up to volunteer at Plantation's USEA recognized horse trial (more on that later). And I had a bit of a hidden agenda with choosing this particular venue at this particular time.

simple start

At some point later this season, I'd like to bring Charlie to a starter trial here. But.... The last time I walked a course here was June two years ago, walking the BN course with Brita.

sizable fence after a long run with an inviting profile

At that particular point, I had taken Isabel novice the previous fall, then broken my leg, dropped to BN, and then run into all that trouble ultimately leading to the end of Izzy's and my competitive partnership.

maybe the biggest fence on course. definitely maximum in all dimensions - esp width

And during that June course walk with Brita, the BN looked freakishly challenging to me, and N basically impossible.

sma, esp when taken from right side

So I wanted to revisit this course. Wanted to get a better grip on my expectations. Was the course really that stiff? Or was my perception a product of extremely low morale at that point?

it's .... just a slope. later in the season that little log to the right will be on course, jumping down the slope instead

After walking the N course this weekend, I'm still not totally sure.

also small. but a bending line a-b combination (albeit very long line) i guess making it N

This early season course was set soft. I'm pretty sure some of the BN jumps were actually intro, and some of the N jumps were actually BN. As far as I can tell, they probably ramp up the technicality with each successive event, culminating in their hardest courses in the fall. This was the first event of the season for many riders, so it makes sense to start easier.

also also small

However I remember some of these jumps from last time (notably, the steeplechase style brush at 11) as being part of what worried me. And now? That jump doesn't look bad.

nice log oxer. we have almost an identical fence at home

Although I also remember N having a jump reeeeally close to the water last time that freaked me out given my history with Izzy. This time there was no jump. Next time tho, who's to say?

straight forward feeder

Basically, by my estimates just about half of the jumps or flagged obstacles on this course would not look out of place on a BN course. Some of them are positioned such that they have N technicality, sure. It's a soft course tho.

down bank looks bigger than it is

Some notables from the course: no jumps near water, and no ditch. Two AB combinations, one bending and one with serious terrain. A couple big jumps early on course, lots of terrain, and a down bank, with a fair amount of room early on to get galloping. Horses looked tired at the finish.

it's the left side. not big.

My general impression tho? It looked totally doable. As in, actually I'm pretty sure Charlie has the tools to get through a course like this right now.

nice roll top

Obviously tho it would still be challenging haha. Jumping on extreme terrain isn't something we've done a lot of, tho schooling drop landings has been a non issue and Charlie did a neat little roller coaster just fine on one of his earliest xc outings. Down banks also need work. Oh, and brakes. Ya know. Small things haha.

this fence scared the bejesus out of me two years ago. looks great now.

But walking this course went a long way toward reassuring me about my impressions of the venue from two years ago. So hopefully if my beloved Ding King agrees to it, we'll be back here at some point in the next few months.

roller coaster - drop landing from the A element

Walking this course was also helpful to me from a quantitative perspective too. Specifically: using the Altitude Profile app to collect data on the course topography and distances.

then steep incline to a small B element

I've sorta known academically from reading past course maps that most of what I've ridden over the past few years in terms of cross country at starter trials has averaged between 1.5-2km. But I have very little sense of what that really means in practice, or what it means to add an extra 500m to a run.

reasonable red table. looks funny through the CVSimulator app!

Charlie's only just now getting back to work after resting from his latest splint injury, so I haven't had a chance to use the app for our conditioning work yet. But I'm really eager to. I'd really like to learn more about the distances we cover, and the relative speed in which we do so.

another good sized feeder, should ride fine

As mentioned previously, I'd like to learn more about riding for speed (as in, can I ride for a 300 vs 350 vs 400 mpm canter?). That's not totally necessary for starter trials tho, since we're not timed, but I'm still interested.

entrance to the water couldn't be simpler

But I'm thinking this app might help be an intermediary in that process. As in, I'd like to use it to measure the actual true distances and changes in elevation of the loops and hills I commonly use during conditioning. Then begin tracking how much time I'm really spending on the work.

small bench

Because again, as is always true for me, the more familiar I can be with a task or activity, the less overwhelming or intimidating it can seem to me. If I can be really good about tracking conditioning and whatnot at home, then when I walk a course like this and collect that meta data on it, I'll be able to easily tell right away if it's got bigger hills than we've done, or if it's longer than usual for us. Theoretically, at least, haha.

small house

Or ya know. Who knows what will happen. Maybe this was all just an academic excuse for taking a scenic walk across a beautiful hillside in Pennsylvania dotted with horses and xc fences. But maybe, just maybe, one day there will be more of a story to go along with this walk ;)