Equestrian
Schooling fences, constructed with the new plastic birch and dressed with spruce, are provided at major training centres prior to the December and Grand National meeting
built from upright timber post frames, with birch in the apron and then the distinctive Sitka spruce, which is hand felled and cut.
“If the horse hit the fence, the timber posts were unforgiving, so we looked for a more horse-friendly material. It needed to be something that would also offer longevity.” Fence manufacturer Easyfix came up with the idea of a plastic base, filled with upright plastic birch, into which the spruce could be slotted. “They still have the 14” high wooden toe board and, when dressed, look identical to the original fences. They weren’t suitable for the open ditches, such as the 5ft 2in Chair fence, so these are made of natural
Plastic birch sits under the famous spruce in the majority of the fences, designed to be more forgiving should a horse hit the fence
birch dressed with spruce,” says Andrew. Two Easyfix fences were successfully trialed at Aintree’s December 2012 meeting, and the Jockey Club also arranged for schooling fences to be provided at four training venues - the Curragh, Lambourn, Malton and at trainer David Pipe’s yard in Devon. Mark then travels to each venue to dress the fences with spruce before the December and April Aintree meetings.
The impact of horses landing over the fences and the consequent divot filling meant that some of the landings had become uneven so, over the past couple of years, this has been addressed by cutting and filling, and adding rootzone peat and Naturvigor.
“Unfortunately, we started this in the wettest summer on record,” says Mark, “and we were getting worried that the new turf would not establish in time for the new season. Terrain Aeration remedied the problem by airblasting and filling the holes with seaweed and, finally, the turf took hold and the roots got down.”
Another innovation is the use of speed sensor tags, fitted to every horse that runs in a televised race during the Grand National meeting, that allow the analysis of where horses go fastest on the course. Initial results show greatest speed away from the start, as expected, and, more unexpectedly, towards the Melling Road on the final circuit.
MAJOR SYNERGY
Standard features
• Compatible with Kubota F Series, John Deere 1400/1500 Series II and Shibaura power units
• Adjustable castor wheels follow the contours of the terrain
• Adjustable rear-roller for matching desired cutting height
• Gear driven driveline • Constructed from Optim™ high-strength steel
Major Equipment Ltd MajjorMa or Equiipm ajo uip pment Ltd Tel: 01524 850501 WW Tel:l 0152 524 85050 24 850501
WWW.W.MAJOR-EQUIPMENT.T.COM 50501
WWW.MAJOR-EQ IPMEN AJOR-E UIPMEN
JOR-EQUIPMENT.COM FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014 PC 113
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