The course designer employs a highly specialized skill, one that has a significant influence on the quality of the competition. The goal is to arrange a course with just the right level of challenge, such that only six or eight competitors are able to negotiate the first round without fault. To accomplish this, the course designer will select the right combination of obstacles, and set the distance between them based on knowledge of a horse’s stride and speed. The designer also knows that horses rely on visual spatial cues to negotiate a course, and will strategically place flowers, shrubbery and boxed plants around each obstacle. From this description of the course designer’s craft, it is easy to see why no two showjumping courses are identical.