A bounce, also called a no-stride, is a fence combination sometimes found on the cross-country course of eventing. It is also very commonly used in grid-work or gymnastics. It consists of two fences placed close together so the horse can not take a full stride between them, but not so close that the horse would jump both fences at once. The horse "bounces" between the two jumps, landing with his hind legs before immediately taking off with his front legs. The distance between the two usually is 7-8 feet for small ponies, 9 feet for large ponies or small horses, and 9.5 to 11 feet for horses. A bounce (or several can be used in a row for more advanced horses) teaches the horse good balance, to push off with his hind end, and to fold his front end well. It can also be used to slow down a speedy horse, as a horse can not go flying over a bounce (he will knock a rail) as he could with a single jump.
Read more about this topic: Horse Jumping Obstacles
Famous quotes containing the word bounce:
“You are the food,
you are the tooth, you are the husband,
light, light, sieving through the screen
whereon I bounce my big body at you
like shoes after a wedding car.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Part of the responsibility of being a parent is to arrange situations in children’s lives so they are able to meet crises with a reasonable chance of coping successfully with them.... Parents who believe children are unharmed by crises and will simply bounce back in time seriously misunderstand children.”
—Donald C. Medeiros (20th century)
“Trade and commerce, if they were not made of India-rubber, would never manage to bounce over the obstacles which legislators are continually putting in their way; and, if one were to judge these men wholly by the effects of their actions and not partly by their intentions, they would deserve to be classed and punished with those mischievous persons who put obstructions on the railroads.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)