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Gymnastic Clinics.

Rhythm, Balance, Adjustability and Rideability create harmony between horse and rider

I’d rather have my leg on, than my hand on when coming into a jump. You can never have too much flatwork schooling, especially lateral work, which increases the engagement and suppleness of the 'engine', thus creating more useable power. When jumping the ultimate achievement is gaining self-carriage, after all, we are aiming for dressage off of the ground. Every time we are riding our horses we are adding to its education or taking its education away. Yes, even a simple hack around a paddock can add to the horse's education. Does the horse listen to your body, sitting up slows it down, yet it's still obedient to your hand and leg? I never want to be the nagging rider, where I am constantly asking the same thing, and getting no results -  no one likes to be nagged, so why do we think horses enjoy it? Was it confident and swinging through its back? The horse must be using itself correctly, which will bring power, balance, and relaxation so that a horse can use its body to bascule properly over a fence. 

The rider's job is to get the correct pace out in the open and once that’s established, maintain it all the way into a fence. If we can effortlessly keep a rhythm both horse and rider have an actual chance of finding the stride to the fence. We must teach the horse that it has eyes and it doesn't need to be micromanaged and overprotected to find its take-off spot. I would always prefer a rhythm into a fence, or if we have to alter, then a forward stride will create a better shape over a fence, than a holding or shortening stride. These 'backward' strides into a fence create a number of issues, not limited to jumping over the shoulder, a flat jump that doesn't allow the hind end to 'let go' over a fence, all these things end up dropping rails in competitions. 

One of the easiest exercises to achieve that is to practise it over a single pole on the ground. The horse shouldn’t rush, you don’t need to ‘see a stride’. Simply keep working on the rhythm and quality of the canter. Once this is established and as confidence grows you should be able to canter over a line of 6 poles on the ground, ranging from 2.7-3.3m apart depending on your horse's stride length, collection ability and balance. 

Happy schooling.

Step two  - Like always you are trying to create the rhythm out in the open, and then you bring this rhythm to the 'poles'. Having previously practised all the poles on the ground, these same poles maintain the rhythm as you approach the fence. As you will see in the video I didn't have access to 'soft' poles at the time, so I took the take-off and landing pole away. Thus keeping is safer for the horse should it make a mistake. The horse canters down the line in a relaxed fashion and pops the oxer easily - as demonstrated by Emma and Astro.

SAFETY TIPS

  • when using placing poles for take-off and landing use soft poles. If the horse makes a mistake there is less chance of injury. 

  •  I tend to use single rails up to 1.20m, if they make a mistake there are fewer poles to injure the horse with. 

Once you have the basic principles in place, you can become quite creative in regards to your lines, depending on what you are trying to achieve. I've come across more horses that become strong to a fence and increase the length of stride as they go down a line of fences. I frequently build exercises where the bounces aren't just at the start, eg bounce  / stride / bounce / stride / oxer  / 2 stride / bounce. This type of line increases the rhythm at the start of the line, keeping the horse in a shorter bouncier tempo, we then ask it to let its body go over an oxer - which creates a stretch, then gives it a little bit of room with the two strides, it needs to re-shorten the stride back up to bounce the last part of the line. It's a challenging line, and depending on the experience of the horse/rider as to what distances are between each fence, and at what height. 

The other thing that I will use depending on the number of stands/poles available is adding a roll back. 

Eg, bounce / stride to upright / bounce / 2 stride to oxer / roll back / upright / bending 3 or 4 stride and you are back  to the  upright bounce / one stride / bounce (see pic below)

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Bold horses may need added poles to help back them off, like the inverted V heading into an upright or an oxer. These create a slightly claustrophobic feel and back the horses up getting them to snap their forelegs up and they tend to jump higher and rounder, making the highest part of the bascule over the middle of the fence instead of beyond the middle. They also assist in bringing straightness to a horse. I wouldn't use these on an inexperienced horse, or one who is timid by nature. 

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A simple double bounce, from trot with guide poles on the start and finish to help encourage straightness.

You can add skinnies, angles and a multitude of other aspects to a line to keep it fresh, challenging and rewarding, whilst always following the simple rules. 

  • distances must be achievable for the horse/rider.

  • to build confidence start with the poles on the ground, adding one or two jumps at a time.

  • depending on the distances, you can approach at trot or canter.

  • whatever the pace you want to come in, back sure it is established out in the open before you ride towards any jump/exercise.

  • once you are in a line, there is very little time to 'correct' the horse, try and trust that the poles will help to correct the horse without you pulling on its mouth. Reins should keep the horse straight, and legs helps to maintain rhythm and impulsion. Otherwise, leave them alone and let them use themselves, you must stay in balance with them, and not throw your upper body too far forward, making it harder for the horse to get its shoulders up for the next fence. 

  • please reward your horse for the efforts, if it makes a mistake try it again and see if it learnt from the mistake. Praise them frequently and enthusiastically when they have tried hard for you. 

  • don't just keep riding them down the lines for fun, it takes mental and physical effort on the horse, and we don't want to create a sour horse.

Below is a creative line. In actual reality, it's a simple line, as it's a bounce, one stride to an upright. If it was all made out of show jumps I'm sure that you would all happily pop through. However what if we gave it a twise? Skinny, made up of a barrel with wings, bound distance to an arrowhead, one stride to another barrel with wings. The video is of Sian and Arnie demonstrating the line.

 

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Alternatively, should you wish to make contact about me running a clinic in your area, please email me

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