the.com/hurdle

means An obstacle you must clear, physically or figuratively, before you can call something finished.

from Hurdle traces back to Old English 'hyrdel,' meaning a portable wattled frame — think woven sticks lashed together, originally used as a movable fence or gate for penning livestock. The racing sense came later, once people started literally setting these woven frames up as obstacles to leap over on a track. The metaphorical 'hurdle' — a problem to get past — is a straightforward extension of that image, still carrying the shape of the old wicker fence inside it.