In today’s article we will touch on the subject of show jumping. I will show you a simple but very effective method for learning to ride courses. For both rider and horse. The whole process was developed and described in detail in his materials by Karl Cook, an American rider competing successfully in 5* Longines competitions. Here I will gather all this knowledge and pass it on in a nutshell, so that you can start applying it quickly.
Learning free and trouble-free riding over a pole.
We lay a pole in a conveniently situated place in the arena, or best of all 2, arranged symmetrically, so that the approaches both on the left and on the right rein look identical. It is very important that the training be even, we cannot neglect one of the sides.
We will ride the poles arranged in this way in both directions until the horse negotiates them in balance, without a change of pace and without loss of impulse and collection. If your horse slows down before it, speeds up, turns, or falls apart after negotiating the pole, then you should return again to the appropriate canter pace, set the horse on the aids and try again.
This is a very good exercise for learning to judge distance and to approach an obstacle calmly. In principle, after doing the warm-up you can start every training with it. Thanks to this you will check how your horse responds on a given day, and what you can expect once you start jumping. If you have a problem with the approach to a single pole, then on obstacles it will be even worse. That is why it is important not to move on to the next stages before mastering this well. In horse riding all difficult elements consist of many smaller, easier ones, but if we do not build solid foundations, everything will collapse on us.
How to count and control strides when riding lines and arcs of poles?
Once you have mastered the previous exercise, it is time to make everything a little harder. Let me remind you that our goal is riding courses.
They consist of:
- Single obstacles – We practised the approaches in Stage 1.
- Lines and arcs – We will train these now, in Stage 2.
- Combinations – Here gymnastic grids and jumping in a chute work best.
Of course combinations and connections of the above-mentioned elements appear, as well as various types of obstacles, but this is basically everything we will encounter on courses. It is worth having it mastered as well as possible.
All right, but let us get to specifics. The basic variant at this stage will be 2 poles set 20 metres apart. Arrange them in such a way as to have a free entry to, as well as exit from, the line. Both on the left and the right rein. If you have a problem with accurately measuring the distance in steps, use a tape measure; the key thing here is that this distance be appropriate, and not change during your training. If during the exercise the horse changes the position of the pole, then dismount and correct it.
The exercise itself consists of riding in a straight line through both poles. A standard-sized horse at a normal pace should do 6 strides in the middle. However, everything depends of course on the size of its stride. Try to approach with a normal, energetic pace on a collected horse. To begin with, focus on repeatably, time after time, doing the same number of strides. Make sure the horse keeps going evenly the whole time, without fighting the hand and without a change of pace.
Once you manage to master the ride at a normal pace well, then try to negotiate the line doing 1 stride more. You have to enter at a slightly slower pace, but while maintaining the appropriate energy so that the horse does not break into a trot at any moment. Each stride should simply be appropriately smaller so that in the middle, between the poles, 1 more fits in. Once this starts to work for you, then go back again to doing 5 strides, alternating with 6 strides. If you have a problem with this, practise persistently until you master this exercise. These are not jumps, so you can train this way, of course within reason, practically without limit. Remember also that you can always go back to Stage 1, that is riding over one pole.
In order to complicate this exercise further, try to do 4 strides. To this end you have to prepare an appropriately high riding pace before entering the line and maintain it in the middle.
After mastering riding the line in 4, 5, 6 strides, try to remember the appropriate pace and the feeling that accompanies it. On a course this will be crucial.
Now add another pole, no. 3. Set it also 20 metres further. You can finally start riding various combinations. E.g. 2×5 strides – 1×5, 1×6 strides – 1×5, 1×4 strides etc. Practise various possible options and watch the appropriate positioning and collection of the horse.
A further development of this stage will be setting up lines and arcs of various lengths. See how your horse works in the bend on an arc, in one direction and the other.
If you have mastered all these combinations, then it is high time to move on to stage 3, that is jumping.
Performing the appropriate number of strides in lines and arcs of obstacles.
Depending on your level of advancement, as well as your horse’s, simply set up small obstacles here, it is best to choose something in the range of 90-110 cm. We practise in the same way as on poles, in the previous stages. You should set up course distances, that is e.g. 22 metres in the most basic line for 5 strides with obstacles 1 metre high. The calculation here is fairly easy, we have 5 strides of 4 metres in the middle, and 1 metre each for the take-off and the landing. This is how it looks as standard in the optimal case.
And here you practise identically as on poles. Do 5 strides, then with a shorter canter 6 strides, return again to 5 strides, and at the end try to do 4 strides, increasing the pace and placing the take-off point a little further. Remember what your canter and pace looked like in each of these variants. It will come in handy at competitions.
Practise in this way at home all the possible combinations that you can encounter at competitions. Thanks to this, once you find yourself at them, after measuring the distance while walking the course you will remember how you practised the given combination at home. Now, depending on the type of competition and the obstacles set up, you will know at what pace to canter in order to achieve a particular number of strides. After all, you practised it at home.
After a competition it is good to analyse the mistakes made and practise the layouts causing difficulties at home, starting again from poles, and then small obstacles.
That would be all for today. I think this guide will certainly come in handy for you; the most important thing is simply to start applying it and train hard.
