I had a friend ask me how I ride my corners as they get bigger because they can be so wide in the middle! This is a funny sketch I made her on paint 🤣
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This is a 2/3* corner that I jumped as a 3 fence ABC combination up a slope Free Riding, it doesn't look as big in this photo but it really was.
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Large corners are very tricky because you have to dissect the corner & make your own ground line in your mind…. If you jump these large corners by riding them perpendicular to the front wall of the corner the width becomes too extreme and you will end up landing in the middle of the jump! Not all corners are filled in with timber and landing in these can result in rotational falls and all around injury & disaster….. not to mention lost confidence.
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You must be able to hold your horse perfectly straight as you would over a narrow fence, essentially lining the jump up on an angle.
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This fence often scares riders & horses because of the technicality involved combined the width…. and the desire for the horse to want to duck out to the side on the last stride is very high!
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There are many different designs of corners- but here is a sketch on how I personally jump this one.
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1. I create an imaginary line in my mind (see yellow line A) from the point of the corner to the middle of the base. This gives me the ground line I need to ride perpendicular to.
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2. I measure the aprox height of the jump and place my imaginary ground line this far away from the fence. This is my ideal point of take off to make sure we are not getting to close or too far from the fence resulting in a possible accident.
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3. I pick the safest place on the fence to jump and this is the line I ride on my horse (see green line).
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If you get too close to the flag you run the risk of the horse ducking out or not having enough room…. if you get too close to the middle you run the risk of your horse landing in the middle of the jump due to the width.
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The reason I love Free Riding cross country is that it tests my accuracy and training of my horse to the extreme.
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In this particular photo my right lower leg has slid back due to me holding it slightly further back and on him then normal to keep him from drifting to the right. The force of the jump pushed it back even further and I was not quick enough to stop it. The next time I went through I fixed this.

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I recorded this on video but have not edited yet…. I need to drink more coffee & get it done! haha
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Cross country- it's my happy place!
Do you have any photos of you jumping corners? Please share! 😀

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