There’s a very good reason the water jump attracts photographers and spectators like bees to honey. But a proper dunking is every rider’s worst nightmare — even if for showjumpers it’s in little more than a few inches of (bright blue) water.
From Hickstead to Hamburg via Aachen and Spruce Meadows, we have the utmost respect for any rider brave enough to tackle some of the world’s toughest watery obstacles, but we couldn’t resist having a little snigger at some of these spectacular water jump fails
1. Say Cheese!
© Spruce Meadows Media/Mike Sturk
Kelly Soleau-Millar of USA suffers a spectacular unscheduled dismount from the 12-year-old Cacharel in the grand prix at Meadows on the Green, Spruce Meadows. With a cheeky pose for the camera, as if to say ‘Did you get it?’, it’s almost as if the mare planned it…
2. No please, after you
Peiter VI very kindly lets his rider James Hughes take the first dip in the Hickstead Lido, otherwise known as the middle element of the Devil’s Dyke, in the 2014 Hickstead Derby.
3. What do you mean this is cheating?
In 1989, German rider Hauke Luther makes clearing the vast open water in the renowned Hamburg Derby slightly more achievable by taking off well into its crystalline depths… Nobody will notice, right?
4. Fancy a dip?
Not really, says Julie Andrews, but has little choice when Ayrton IV suddenly thinks twice about tackling the famous 15ft-wide Hickstead water. The resulting splash is inevitable…
5. Where’s Big Star when you need him?
Even the equestrian greats get it wrong occasionally, so we can forgive a 12-year-old Nick Skelton and his pony Prince Tarquin for not quite clearing the full expanse of this open water in the junior championships at Hickstead in 1970.
6. Making waves
It’s not just the open water that can cause problems, sometimes the Liverpool water trays are simply far too frightening for our equine friends — Ramiro Quintana’s Appy Cara certainly thought so at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
7. ‘No no no…!’
Sissi Van Schuttershof makes her feelings known about being expected to clear an obviously piranha-infested water tray to Dutchman Jur Vrieling in Aachen in 2011.
8. Splashdown!
Gregory Wathelet (BEL) and Desteny Van Het Dennehof end up surfing back to shore during the Nations Cup in Aachen in 2013.
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