The first three fences werenât too bad, but when Issie faced up to the fourth fence, a set of rails placed diagonally over a ditch known as âthe Bridgeâ, she felt her mouth go dry in horror. If she stood at the point where the horses would be taking off then she couldnât even see over the bridge to the other side. The jump was taller than her! And it wasnât just the height of the fence that was terrifying, it was the spread as well. At the point where the horses would take off, the bridge was over two metres wide. But it wasnât even the widest fence on the course. The biggest spread came towards the end of the course at fence 24, the Gamekeeperâs Brush. The brush had a ditch in front of it that the horses needed to clear, which made the total spread of the jump a massive 2.7 metres wide!
âItâs what they call a ârider frightenerâ,â Avery pointed out to her. âComet will clear that ditch easily â he wonât even notice that itâs there as long as you look up and focus on the brush ahead; thatâs the key. If you look down, then youâll go down.â
They had taken nearly two hours to reach fence 24. Avery liked to walk a course slowly the first time so that he could examine everything in detail, pacing out the number of strides between the elements and checking the terrain for any hidden problems that might arise.
Issie, meanwhile, had been just as busy checking out the other competitors. Since the course had only just been opened that morning it was swarming with riders. Issie watched as the famed Austrian eventer Gerhardt Muller and his trainer strolled from fence to fence, chatting gaily as they walked. Gerhardt was so lanky and tall he could virtually throw his legs over the fences himself. He seemed self-assured as he eyed up the stride into the Gamekeeperâs Brush and stepped out his line. Issie, on the other hand, couldnât even think about the striding â all she could think about was the size of that enormous ditch! It was big and deep enough to bury her and Comet if they mis-stepped and plunged into it.
Not that the Gamekeeperâs Brush was Issieâs only concern. She was also worried about the two water jumps. The first one, the Duck Marsh, had a giant wooden carved duck sitting in the middle of the water jump â the horses literally had to leap over the duckâs back.
âYouâll have to ride precisely at the duck,â Avery agreed. âItâs a narrow fence, but Comet is fine with narrow fences.â
âHeâs never jumped a duck before!â Issie pointed out.
Avery shook his head. âHeâs a horse, Issie. As far as heâs concerned, that jump is just another obstacle to be cleared. Comet doesnât know that heâs jumping over a duck.â
The giant duck wasnât the only strange animal on the course. Fences 17 and 18 had wooden carvings in the shape of gigantic squirrels sitting upright on their hindquarters with their brushy tails extending out behind them to act as hedges.
âRemember to aim for the dead centre of the squirrel tail,â Avery told her.
âNow thereâs a sentence I never thought Iâd hear,â Issie said, managing a feeble, nervous grin.
Many of the fences on the course had alternative routes for the riders to take. These alternatives were always longer and chewed up valuable seconds on the clock, which could lead to time faults, but they were also easier and safer options so the horses were more likely to go clear if they took the easy path. Many of the more experienced riders were choosing the longer, safer options â especially at tricky fences like the first squirrel jump, where riders were allowed to veer left and take another small fence that would set them up with a better line to the second squirrel.
Avery, however, dismissed the notion of the longer routes, saying that it would add too much