Calculating Number of Strides in a Line

Jump courses are set with specific distances between the fences in the lines, and you are expected to get a certain number of strides within those lines.  In today's blog, we will discuss how to calculate the number of strides you should get in a line.

There are three pieces of information we need:

• Length of the line in feet
• Length of stride
• Length of landing and take-off

Length of the Line in Feet
You can find the length of the line in feet from the posted course diagram, or you can walk the line on foot.

Here is a posted course diagram showing the length of the lines:

The line between fences 2 and 3 is 72 feet and the line between fences 6 and 7 is 48 feet.

Length of Stride (12 Feet)

Most jump courses are set on a twelve foot stride, which means that each stride the horse takes should be 12 feet long.

drawing credit Cody Cheek

Length of Landing and Take-Off

We also have to take into account the length of the landing from the first jump and the takeoff point for the second jump. 

6 feet for landing + 6 feet for take-off = 12 feet

You can see in this diagram that the horse lands from the first jump in the line 6 feet away from the first jump, and takes off from the second jump in the line 6 feet in front of the second jump, 6 feet + 6 feet = 12 feet, which is the same as one stride (12 feet).

Now that we have the information we need, we can calculate the number of strides we should get in the lines.

Calculating the Horse Show Stride

The number of strides you should get is the length of the line in feet divided by the length of each stride and minus one for the landing and take-off.  

(Length of Line ÷ Length of Stride) - 1 = number of strides

Let's use the 48 foot line between fences 6 and 7 in the course diagram above as an example:

(48 ÷ 12) - 1

First, take the total length of the line and divide by 12:

48 ft ÷ 12 = 4 

Then subtract 1 to account for the landing/take-off:

4 - 1 = 3  

So a 48 foot line would be 3 strides.   

The diagram below may make it easier to visualize:

6 feet landing + 12 feet + 12 feet + 12 feet + 6 feet take-off = 48 feet = 3 strides

Using this formula, you can calculate the number of strides in a line.

1 Stride Line = 6 + 12 + 6 = 24 feet

2 Stride Line = 6 + 12 + 12 + 6 = 36 feet

3 Stride Line = 6 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 6 = 48 feet

4 Stride Line = 6 + 12 + 12 + 12+ 12 + 6 = 60 feet

5 Stride Line = 6 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 6 = 72 feet

6 Stride Line = 6 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 6 = 84 feet

This is known as the "Horse Show Stride," which is the number of strides you would expect to get if you were riding a relatively large horse (maybe 16 hands or taller) and jumping bigger fences (maybe 2'9" or 3' or higher).

Calculating the Add Stride

So what do you do if you are riding a shorter strided horse or jumping smaller jumps? Many horses that are used in IEA/IHSA competition don't have a big-enough stride to do the lines in the "horse show stride."  In that case, you may choose to do the "Add Stride."  

The add stride is exactly what it sounds like, you add one extra stride into each line.   

To calculate the add stride all you have to do is calculate the horse show stride then add one stride.  

If we go back to our 48 foot example:

48 Feet = 3 horse show strides

3 + 1 = 4

48 Feet = 4 add strides

So that's how you do it!  Or, you can just memorize the table below, lol.

In IEA/IHSA competition, you should work to get the appropriate striding for the horse you drew (horse show stride or add stride) and be consistent throughout your course.  For example, if you were jumping the course in the diagram at the beginning of this article and you got 5 strides in the first line you should get 3 strides in the last line (horse show stride).  Or if you got 6 strides in the first line you should get 4 strides in the last line (add stride).

If you enjoyed this article, please take a moment to like and share on facebook. Thanks!  --Amanda