Judges Alex Jayne and Tammy Provost have set a flowing, classic hunter-type course for the 2008 Pessoa/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Final. Riders come into the ring and have to obey a generous dotted line—set about halfway down the ring—and circle to get to the first jump, set just past the in-gate on the short side of the ring.
They then canter out of the corner on a very short approach to a square oxer at fence 2, just two strides off the rail. Riders will have to have their horses out in front of their leg and forward from the very start. Set three long strides straight after fence 2 is a vertical, fence 3. Organization will be paramount here, as there are only four bending strides to the right before the combination at 4AB, set along the long side. Two white, square oxers set a long two strides apart, this combination requires a forward ride. Riders can also choose to do a tight four strides from fence 2 to 3 and then a tight five strides to 4A, a better option for a shorter-strided horse. But that might also make the long two strides in 4AB difficult to do smoothly.
Riders then canter around the short side of the ring and turn out of the corner to the natural coop that has been a staple of the Medal Finals courses, fence 5. It doesn’t have wings, but is framed by arrangements of trees and pumpkins and looks inviting.
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They then have to flow in a bending eight strides to the left side of a curved complex of split rail verticals. A quick roll-back around the end of the ring brings them to the other side of the split-rail line of fences, for fence 7. A left-hand bending line in five strides to a square white oxer at fence 8 follows. They can also ride that line in a direct four strides.
After the oxer, riders will have to organize immediately, as a combination of verticals, set in a tight one stride, follows off a bending four-stride left-hand line. Cantering around the end of the ring, they have another wide, square oxer out of the corner at fence 10. Then, a quick roll-back to the left to jump fence 11, a narrow wall with wings, completes the course. Riders will have to decide whether to go inside or outside fence 8 to get to the last fence. The inside turn will be more handy and impressive, but also tricky to do smoothly.
