Making horse jumps from 'banks and tree stumps'

Lindsay Carruthers with one of the many impressive jumps he has created which sit in his front paddock. Photo / Ella Stokes

Occasionally you might see the odd horse jump in a farm's front paddock, but not an extensive cross country course that is at home on one Middlemarch farm.

The front paddocks of Lindsay Carruthers Nethertown farm are dotted with all sorts of horse jumps, large and small.

The sheep and beef property was home to 2500 ewes and 100 beef cows which were part of his Nethertown Angus stud.

Mr Carruthers first got into building cross country jumps about 18 years ago when his daughter Rachel was riding.

At first he took over maintenance of the original Middlemarch cross country course, but eventually it was shifted to his property.

He said his favourite thing to do was create jumps from what was already naturally there, ''from logs, ditches, banks and tree stumps.''

The course was mainly used by the Strath Taieri Pony Club as well as other local riders.

Mr Carruthers grew up in Middlemarch and his farm had been in the family for over 100 years and received a Century Farm award in 2016.

He said it was ''home'' and he enjoyed being part of the community and was a member of both the Strath Taieri Collie Club and A&P show committee.

Mr Carruthers said a highlight was hosting Springston trophy, the New Zealand Pony Clubs Association South Island premier teams competition in 2014.

Although plenty of paddock space was taken up by jumps they were still grazed by stock and at this time of the year the cross country course closed for lambing.

Even though he's never really been a rider himself except for ''riding the odd mustering hack'' his love of jumps has also led him to other roles.

Mr Carruthers also spent time off the farm and was a technical delegate (TD) at events throughout the South Island.

A TD as Mr Carruthers explained was ''like a lawyer for the riders'' and it was his role to measure distances between fences, measure heights and make sure it was fair at events.

''I like getting out and doing it as it's something completely different and a different group of people from farming.''

Mr Carruthers said he had got a lot of enjoyment from both building his own jumps and courses as well as being involved with other events over the years.

''Every time I drive past the paddock I go mmm ... I wonder if I can do that.''

He said it wasn't just simply building jumps and putting them next to each other, there was also a large technical component.

''As the fences get bigger the speed gets faster so it has to be right ... I like to create courses that make riders ask questions, so they respect it.''

Mr Carruthers said he got a lot of satisfaction out of seeing people enjoy his creations.

''It's great to just see kids being kids and having fun ... and just because they haven't jumped something or it seems scary doesn't mean to say they can't do it.''

- Southern Rural Life