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THE BRANDON SUN • WINTER FAIR • 2026
2026 • WINTER FAIR • THE BRANDON SUN
The course will include a variety of different colours of jumps as well as different types of fill. Some jumps will just be holes. Some might have what we call planks, and some will have boxes that are just on the ground. And all of those things can cause a distraction for the horse and will cause them to look down and possibly affect the way they jump and maybe create falls,” she says. “I can make the line more difficult or easier based on how close or how far apart I put the jumps. And I can affect that by making that time allowed shorter so they’d have to go faster.” Time limits are based on course design. Each course will have roughly 10 to 12 numbered jumps. “Courses in general jump best from a good forward bal- anced gallop, which can be difficult to create and maintain in the smaller arena. Turning naturally slows a horse down, and in a smaller arena, there’s a lot more turns. The riders need to be aware of it and really focus on maintaining that good rhythm throughout the whole course,” she says. “Outdoors, you generally have more room and the turns are bigger and wider so it’s much easier outdoors to maintain a gallop and keep the horses jumping from a good rhythm.” Courses are measured by length in meters and time is based on 350 meters per minute from start to finish. The RMWF course will take about 65 to 75 seconds to ride. The organizers will determine the type of competition for each evening and Ferguson builds her design on that basis with variations each night.
“We are also guided by Equine Canada and the FDI (Fédération Équestre Internationale). The prize money will gradually increase throughout the week which also means the courses will be slightly more difficult as the week goes on,” she says. The competitors will also get more comfortable in the ring over the week Ferguson says. This allows her to build to the increasingly difficult ranking level of the compe- tition. Competitors will often do three or four classes through the week, choosing classes based on their experi- ence and training “We’ll get a general idea which riders will be more expe- rienced, which ones will be less experienced and just how difficult we can build it so everybody can have a positive experience,” she says. That positive experience for all the riders is a measure of success for the course designer. Ferguson says she loves to see more confidence and improved performance in the competitors as the week goes on. “At every competition, the rider should be learning something. If they have a jump go down, they’re going to practice to learn what caused that, such as losing their gallop through the turn,” says Jennifer Ferguson. “That’s why we do it. Yes, we’re setting a competition, but we are also, in essence, continuing each horse and rider’s training.”
Winter Fair volunteers make changes to the jumping course. Hugo Girouard photo
Jennifer Ferguson, show jump designer for the 2026 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. Supplied
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