There’s no use paying to enter a competition if your horse isn’t capable of jumping a course of fences smoothly and in control. So set yourself a course at home that will have the same sort of challenges you’re bound to find at a competition. The essentials are a double, a related distance and a dog-leg (see below). The placement of the fences and the distances between them will depend on the space available in your school, as well as your horse’s stride.
I’ve set a two-stride double, a four-stride line and a four-stride dog-leg. If you aren’t confident to begin with, set the course out as poles, then raise them to jumps when you’re both happy over the poles. With a youngster, it’s important to keep the jumps small and make him really confident by making it easy for him to achieve a lovely clear round.
Get into the habit of making a plan before you set out on course. Before you enter the ring at a competition, you should have walked the course, and know where you’re going and what you’re doing. The same goes for at home - if you get into the habit of riding accurately at home, it won’t be a problem doing the same at a competition.
Start out tackling each aspect of the course on its own. Break the course down into bite-sized pieces, and master it by jumping each element correctly and with confidence. Then once you’ve mastered the double, dog-leg and the related distance individually, you can put it all together into a flowing course. My horse started out a little bit fresh so when I felt her getting stronger, I rode a circle before going to the next jump. I’m schooling - this isn’t a speed class - so I keep her a bit slower, more collected and, most importantly, I try to maintain the same rhythm around the entire course. I use the whole arena to make sure that I have several straight strides before each jump and I make smooth, sweeping turns.
I’ve set a two-stride double, a four-stride line and a four-stride dog-leg. If you aren’t confident to begin with, set the course out as poles, then raise them to jumps when you’re both happy over the poles. With a youngster, it’s important to keep the jumps small and make him really confident by making it easy for him to achieve a lovely clear round.
Get into the habit of making a plan before you set out on course. Before you enter the ring at a competition, you should have walked the course, and know where you’re going and what you’re doing. The same goes for at home - if you get into the habit of riding accurately at home, it won’t be a problem doing the same at a competition.
Start out tackling each aspect of the course on its own. Break the course down into bite-sized pieces, and master it by jumping each element correctly and with confidence. Then once you’ve mastered the double, dog-leg and the related distance individually, you can put it all together into a flowing course. My horse started out a little bit fresh so when I felt her getting stronger, I rode a circle before going to the next jump. I’m schooling - this isn’t a speed class - so I keep her a bit slower, more collected and, most importantly, I try to maintain the same rhythm around the entire course. I use the whole arena to make sure that I have several straight strides before each jump and I make smooth, sweeping turns.