Training Tips

Control Your Turn Coming to a Jump - February 15, 2011

Being able to control you turn coming to a jump is so important for your horse's training and education.

Firstly, you need to establish that you can leg yield your horse on the flat in both directions. Establish a correct inside leg to outside rein, then add one jump. Once you are able to do this, jump one jump to another jump on a turn. Once you are able to do this correctly, you can have three jumps formed like an S, so you work both directions.

Having Your Horse in Front of Your Leg - November 15, 2010

Nothing is more important in your horse's training and education than for him to learn to stay in front of your leg at all times. This is a feeling where your horse is "taking you". You need to expect this in all facets of your riding, flatwork, jumping and cross country schooling. Getting your horse to learn and understand this is the key to having a successful, confident event horse.

Emma's Tips for Clipping - November 4, 2010

It is that time of year again, clipping time!

Here are a few of my tips to get the most out of clipping your horse. The first thing I do is bathe the horse, I use EZall Shampoo. Then I spray them with Ezall Show n Go Spray or anything that makes their coat soft. Once they are dry make sure you have plenty of time, no point being in a rush, you won't do a good job and if the horse starts to act up you might need to make some adjustments. I like to use body clippers that are lightweight - Lister is what I use. This time of year if the horses are not competing I will leave their legs and face. Before we go south I clip them once more and do the whole horse. The Andis clippers are good for legs and heads. After I am done I rub them down with Witch Hazel, this serves two purposes, you can see your missed spots and it is good for their skin. At this point I either bathe them again or just leave them.

Most importantly keep them rugged up and warm, you don't want to have to repeat this process again for a while.

Happy Clipping!

Moving Up - January 11, 2010

One question I am frequently asked is how do you know when it's time to move up to the next level?

First, and most important is that you and your horse are doing the cross country at your current level very easily. Schooling the next level and understanding the cross country questions is also necessary.

Ideally, the other two phases should be the same. Doing them easily and schooling the next height and movements so that when you do move up you are not completely out of your comfort zone.

The Flying Change - December 15, 2009

The Flying change is important nearly at all levels. I don't think it's really ever too early to start changes. If you watch horses in a field they do flying changes on their own naturally.

An exercise I use a lot to start changes is to put a pole on the ground. Start by trotting over the pole. Then canter over the pole and try to shorten your horse's canter stride length as you get closer to the pole. The pole will help keep your canter collected. Then add a slight turn as you are cantering the pole to encourage the other lead. A little extra leg on the outside of your horse will help bring through the new lead. Doing this exercise will help your horse understand the command of the flying change.

Jumping Off a Turn - November 30, 2009

Jumping off of a turn is a big part of our sport now - on the cross country phase as well as the show jumping phase of competition. Practicing this is important for us as riders and also for the training of our horses.

A simple exercise to develop this skill follows:

Set up two verticle jumps on a turn. Put them 20 yards apart (the turn can be up to 90 degrees - the sharper the turn, the more advanced the exercise.) Work on jumping the two verticles and staying out wide between the two jumps, yielding away from your inside leg to help this. You should be able to get 5 strides between each verticle. Aim to get "square" to each verticle. This will instill patience on the turn for the rider and also teach you to ride your turn from your leg. Your horse will understand not to "fall in" on his turns and learn to turn from the inside leg to the outside rein.

Seeing a Distance - November 7, 2009

There is a lot of emphasis put into "seeing your distance" when jumping. Having your horse take off for the jump at a "deep" (or close) distance is important for good, safe and confident jumping.

The best way to improve this in your jumping is to work on your horse’s canter. He needs to be "in front of your leg" or have the feeling of taking you forward, but not in a running away canter. If you can produce this feel in whatever jump approach you need i.e. a forward approach or a coffin canter approach, your eye or ability to see your distance will get better.

An exercise that you can easily do at home to improve your eye is to practice lengthening and shortening your horse’s canter without any jumps.

Once you are comfortable with this, put some poles on the ground six to ten strides apart. Practice adding strides by shortening your horse’s stride and lengthening your horse’s stride by cutting out a stride between the poles. These exercises will help improve your horse’s adjustability and your judgment to the jumps.