Coffins

There’s a reason why coffins were given such an ominous name. They’re scary—to both horses and riders! Successfully navigating the three elements of a coffin—an obstacle followed closely by a ditch and then another obstacle—is a test of bravery and rideability. That’s partly because of the optical illusion it poses. As you and your horse approach a coffin, the A element blocks your view of the ditch (the B element). Depending on the terrain and distance between the elements, the ditch doesn’t come into your horse’s view until the last minute. This can surprise him and take his attention off the task at hand: safely jumping A. Run-outs, refusals, awkward jumps and falls at A often result.

Even if you manage to get over A safely, your horse’s disrupted rhythm, balance and/or line make it that much harder to jump the ditch successfully. That’s why most jumping faults occur at either A or B. The odd run-out or stop might occur at C as a consequence of these rhythm, balance and line disruptions or an organization problem (like a dropped rein, for example, resulting from a horse overjumping), but they’re not as common.

At the lower levels, appropriate questions on well-designed courses involve only half coffins—a ditch either followed by or preceded by a single, inviting obstacle, like a log, multiple strides away, so there’s more time to think and reorganize between elements—set on flat ground. As you move up the levels, the ditches