What is a chip and how do you avoid it?

A chip is an additional short stride inserted at the base of a fence — the horse adds an extra step very close to the fence after the last normal canter stride, producing a cramped, awkward takeoff that typically results in a flat, inelegant jump. Chips are among the most common jumping errors and one of the most penalized in hunter competition because they produce the visual opposite of the forward, comfortable distance that hunter judging rewards. The mechanics of a chip are simple: the horse arrives at the fence after its last canter stride and finds itself too close to the fence to take off normally from that stride, so rather than jumping from an awkwardly close position it inserts an additional tiny step that delays the actual takeoff by another beat. This produces the characteristic appearance of a short, cramped jump with the horse's front end lifting in a rushed or defensive arc rather than the flowing, forward hunter bascule. Chips typically occur because of one or more of three causes: the pace was too slow on the approach so that the canter strides did not cover enough ground to arrive at the fence on a forward distance; the rider pulled back in the last few strides — often called pulling to the base — in an attempt to correct a perceived long distance that actually shortened the approach too dramatically; or the horse backed off the fence in the final strides due to a loss of confidence. Avoiding chips requires maintaining consistent forward pace throughout the approach without backing off in the final strides, accepting whatever distance the correctly paced canter produces rather than attempting last-second adjustments, and developing the training and partnership that allows the horse to remain forward and confident to fences without the defensive backing-off that produces chips from the horse's side.