What is “cross-country”?
One of the disciplines of “eventing” is the cross-country course, (the others being show-jumping, dressage and steeplechasing). It is, as the name suggests, a course of jumps and obstacles laid out across country. The Badminton horse trials are a televised example of this. The jumps are different to those you will encounter show-jumping: they are mostly rustic in nature (water troughs, logs, bales of straw, brush, flowers, banks, water) and the course will use the natural contours of the countryside, ie definitely not flat. The jumps will mainly be rigid, as the courses are permanent, which makes it a more unforgiving event. Penalties are awarded for refusals, circling (crossing your tracks) when presenting to a jump and taking jumps in the wrong order. Three refusals at a jump, or missing out a jump (wrong course) = elimination. The course is timed, but for safety reasons it is not now usually the case that the fastest time wins. Instead there will be an optimum time based on a “good
