Also referred to as timber. These obstacles, about a metre high, are the first type of barrier over which most jumps horses race (from the age of three upwards). Hurdles are set in the ground at an angle and are made from bars of wood interspersed with birch or gorse. A horse may spend a season or two hurdling, before being stepped up to tackle the bigger, steeplechase fences (see below).

Good hurdlers who've been well taught (or schooled), attack the obstacle, skimming over it low and fast. A good example of this is Marcel, trained by Martin Pipe. Horses recruited from racing on the Flat often make good hurdlers, but don't assume they will also be successful when they make the transition to steeplechasing.

A contraction of the word steeplechase. These have stiffer, taller obstacles compared with hurdles and are usually made of tightly-packed birch comprising plain fences (about a metre and a half high), ditches and water jumps. The best type of chasers are the ones who can bend their back athletically as they clear the obstacle. There has been no finer steeplechasing exponent in recent times than the three-times Gold Cup hero Best Mate. The ground he makes up when he's airborne against his rivals is breathtaking.

The Cheltenham Festival features championship races for Novices, although people often fail to understand what makes these events different to other races. Basically, this season's Novice hurdlers are horses who didn't win a hurdle race in the previous season. A similar line of thinking applies to Novice chasers.

A jumps race without jumps! Bumpers have grown in status in recent years championship events occur at all the major jumps festivals. Basically, they're Flat races designed to give purpose-bred steeplechasers and hurdlers an introduction to racing. The winner of the Cheltenham Champion Bumper in 1998, Florida Pearl, never jumped a hurdle in public, but stepped up immediately to a successful steeplechasing career.