Customizing your jump courses is a great way to encourage people to visit your horse show. Knowing they can come to a venue with quality jumps, with unique styles and design, will make your show stand out. Some horse show directors may worry that colorful jumps or different styles, such as horse jump walls may discourage exhibitors and keep them away, but nothing could be further from the truth.
People generally compete their horse to see how well they are doing, as a social activity, and for the competition pictures. Having custom jumps at your facility meets all of these requirements. Sure, they know they and their horse can canter around the basic post and rails course at their home barn. Can they handle the oxer and planks at the show venue? Are the comfortable cantering down to the horse jump walls set across the diagonal? There is only one way to find out.
As long as your course is inviting, your exhibitors will have a good experience. Professional, custom fences create an inviting look that encourages horses to move down the line and jump. Other things you can do to create an inviting course is to ensure the footing is in excellent shape, and the distances are measured correctly. If you are in an area with few opportunities for riders to school over strange fences, you may want to open the ring for schooling at certain times of the day. being able to hop over a few lines without the pressure of a show environment can boost confidence.
The not to be overlooked benefit of custom horse show jumps is their appearance. While it makes for a great day of enjoyment for your exhibitors, what they will really enjoy are the pictures, either professional or taken by friends of them and their horses over the quality fences. These memories will stay with them, encouraging them to return to your venue, and undoubtedly be shared on social media, boosting your reputation as a fun and quality venue.
