Few people outside of showjumping have ever heard of a footing expert, yet competitions will succeed or fail on the basis of the “footing” – which refers to the ground in front of an obstacle. If a footing is too hard, a horse’s bones will begin hurting. If a footing is too soft, the horse’s tendons will being screaming. Even worse, soft footing may cause the horse to slip before the jump. And if the footing is “dead,” the competition will suffer for the worst. In fact, riders have been known to boycott a competition because of inadequate footing.