How do you count strides between fences in a jumper course?

Counting strides between fences during the course walk is the most important technical skill of course analysis, allowing the rider to arrive at related fences knowing exactly how many strides the distance requires and at what pace the horse needs to be moving to produce that number of strides comfortably. The standard method uses the human walking step as a measurement unit: most adult riders' natural walking step is approximately two and a half feet, so three walking steps approximate one horse stride of approximately seven and a half feet — a rough but useful conversion that allows the rider to count horse strides from walking steps during the course walk. Starting from the landing point of the first fence — approximately six to nine feet beyond the fence on the landing side — the rider walks to the takeoff point of the second fence, which is approximately six to nine feet from the base of the second fence on the approach side. Every three normal walking steps equals approximately one canter stride in this approximation. A distance of approximately sixty feet from landing to takeoff, for example, converts to approximately eight horse strides in this calculation — though experienced riders adjust this raw count based on whether the distance feels long, normal, or short and whether their specific horse has a longer or shorter natural stride than average. The key refinement is distinguishing between the raw stride count and what the distance feels like: the same sixty-foot measurement that counts to eight normal strides may feel like a forward eight if the distance is slightly long, a quiet eight if it is slightly short, or a genuine eight if it is exactly measured. This qualitative assessment of whether the distance is set normal, long, or short is what directs the approach strategy, and it develops through experience walking and riding many distances at various heights and in various contexts.