Course Designer Moves to End Use of Measuring Tapes

OCALA, FLORIDA—Inspired by Mark Zuckerberg and Meta’s recent decision to remove third-party fact-checking from Facebook and Instagram, Level 4 Course Designer Greg Guthrie is pushing to eliminate “the tedium of measuring” on course builds.

Guthrie recently announced that he plans to do away with the universally relied upon tools of his trade, including measuring tapes and wheels. “Trust me,” said the notoriously laconic Guthrie. “That’s all you really need to do.”

While Guthrie refused to go into how he ‘makes the jump-course-design-sausage,’ so to speak, he reluctantly explained that he finds the standard methods of course designing to be “too constraining.”

According to Guthrie’s vision for the future, five-star course design will become more about “feeling the numbers” and less about “actually knowing them.”

Measuring distances has long been considered a virtue of course design, where a clear path ensures that riders don’t need to zigzag from one jump to another. A precisely measured line in the jump-off often ensures a class winner for the rider who dares the leave-out stride, while an improperly measured distance can have—well—much the opposite effect.

“It’s really my prerogative,” Guthrie said, noting that the use of new, experimental measurement tools such as psychic mediums, crystals, and divining rods were not off the table.

A representative for the international show jumping governing body said that while they found Guthrie’s declaration surprising, there was nothing, technically, in the rule book preventing him from designing courses based on his “feelings.”

“Mr. Guthrie has been a highly respected member of the equestrian community for more than four decades, designing courses for World Cup Finals, continental championships, and even the Olympic Games,” the governing body’s representative said.

“While we as a regulating body do not, at this point, plan to adjust our training modules or course design curriculum based on Mr. Guthrie’s new methodology, we will be closely following the outcomes of his designs in 2025—both good and bad.”

When asked if the representative worried that this suggested a lack of basic oversight, and that some of these “outcomes” could be potentially disasterous for horses, riders, and the sport at large, the representative cleared his throat.

“Let me be clear: The international regulating body does not believe in rawdogging jump course design.

“That said, changing times call for changing measures, no pun intended. In the spirit of flexibility, we fully support Mr. Guthrie’s evolving professional process; where he leads, we will follow.

“In other words,” said the representative, “we’re just going to see how this goes.”

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