What is an in-and-out combination fence?

An in-and-out combination fence is a jumper or hunter course element consisting of two or three fences set within one or two strides of each other — typically sixty to seventy-two feet for a one-stride and ninety-six to one hundred eight feet for a two-stride — that must be jumped as a single unit without the horse stopping between the elements. Combinations are among the most technically demanding elements in jumping courses because they require the horse to land from one fence and immediately prepare to jump the next with very little time for adjustment, testing the horse's adjustability, balance, and the rider's ability to ride the combination correctly from start to finish without any mid-combination correction opportunity. A one-stride combination — two fences with one canter stride between them — requires that the horse land from the first element balanced and forward enough to jump the second element off a single stride, with no opportunity to add or remove a stride once the horse is in the combination. A two-stride combination provides slightly more adjustment opportunity but still requires careful approach pace and accurate riding through the first element to produce the correct takeoff at the second. Combinations are typically given letter designations in the course numbering — a combination might be fence 7A, 7B, and 7C — and refusals at any element of the combination are scored as refusals at that specific element. The approach to a combination requires the same care as the approach to any individual fence, but the consequences of a poor approach are amplified because the error compounds through the combination rather than ending at a single fence. Riders with horses that are careful about getting into combinations — that tend to back off the first element — must be particularly forward on the approach, while riders with horses that rush must establish a controlled pace before entering.