'It’s Not Just Logs in a Field' - Helen West

️Simon and Jenny sit down with brilliant course designer Helen West for a fascinating chat about life behind the scenes of cross-country course design.

From working in a traditionally male-dominated world to the reality that designing a course is a bit more complicated than just sticking a few logs in a field, Helen shares what really goes into building tracks that challenge riders while keeping horses safe.

We also talk about the fence involved in the tragic fall that claimed the life of rider Georgie Campbell — and Helen explains the thinking behind fence design and whether there was anything wrong with that particular obstacle.

Simon reflects on the risks in the sport and how understanding them shouldn’t take away from people’s enjoyment of eventing.

If you’re heading out eventing this season, this episode is packed full of advice — plus some of Helen’s course-walking pet peeves

And of course, we also find out how Helen and Jenny became friends… over a couple of piña coladas!

Watch the whole shut up and ride tour here on vimeo vimeo.com/ondemand/suartour26

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SHUT UP AND RIDE

Chapters

• (00:00:00) - Shut Up And Ride
• (00:01:41) - Helen West on Eventing Podcast
• (00:02:36) - Helen's first ever dressage
• (00:07:19) - Tom Felton on His Double Clear at Burley
• (00:09:03) - Lucinda Green on her Badminton
• (00:15:12) - "Mentorship is important in our riding career"
• (00:18:22) - Helen West on Becoming a Courses Designer
• (00:23:52) - The job that nearly killed me
• (00:28:32) - Riding at a High Level
• (00:30:48) - riding eventing
• (00:31:09) - Course Designers
• (00:36:37) - on the design process
• (00:38:46) - Katie Jones on the FEI
• (00:42:34) - Simon Greave at the Olympics
• (00:46:59) - The Georgie Campbell Crash
• (00:52:47) - Does Frangible Fences Encourage Dangerous Riding?
• (00:59:43) - Simon on Georgie's Passing
• (01:04:22) - When You Ran Your Husband On The Phone Too Much
• (01:05:00) - I hate walking the course
• (01:07:58) - Gut Feelings on the Horse
• (01:12:20) - Walking the distances in show jumping
• (01:13:40) - Bicton Horse Trials 2020
• (01:15:39) - The Shetland Pony Grand National
• (01:17:35) - Simon and Helen on Course Design
• (01:21:14) - Anger In The Elevator
• (01:23:00) - Badminton Horse Trials
• (01:26:45) - Helen's first ever race