Coffin
Also called the rails-ditch-rails, the coffin is a combination fence where the horse jumps a set of rails, moves one or several strides downhill to a ditch, then goes back uphill to another jump. In the past, coffins were more pronounced, with up and down banks leading to the ditch in the middle. However, today only the former type with the rails is seen. The coffin is intended to be jumped in a slow, impulsive canter (known to eventers as a "coffin canter" for that reason). This canter gives the horse the power and agility to negotiate the obstacle, and also allows him the time needed to assess what question is being asked, so that he may better complete the combination without problem. Approaching in a fast, flat gallop will cause miss striding and may entice a refusal from the horse. Going too fast may also result in a fall, if the horse cannot physically make a stride between the obstacles.
Read more about this topic: Horse Jumping Obstacles
Famous quotes containing the word coffin:
“Not a flower, not a flower sweet
On my black coffin let there be strewn.
Not a friend, not a friend greet
My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown.
A thousand thousand sighs to save,
Lay me, O, where
Sad true lover never find my grave,
To weep there.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“I would say it was the coffin of a midget
Or a square baby
Were there not such a din in it.”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)