Tip of the day Training

Exercise of the Day: Test forwardness and straightness.

Screen shot 2013-07-17 at 16.32.16This is an easy one to build at home, you don’t need loads of equipment or space!

The pink and white pole is the top of a simple upright, I built this one at just over 1m – the size isn’t really the issue here, you could have it smaller and the exercise would still work.

Once you’ve jumped it once or twice, you take a curving line to the skinny (which I built with extra wings for the first go), which is set on a forward 5 horse-strides distance from the upright.

This is good for horses who need to learn to accept input – having gone straight after the upright once, they won’t expect to be asked to curve to a fence.

It’s also beneficial for riders who hold and fiddle to skinnies, because the distance is deliberately set slightly wrong, it encourages forward riding… getting 6 strides in is not the aim.

It also checks that the rider can accurately ride a curving line, because if you jump the first one anywhere other than the middle, and let the horse drift one way or the other, the distance will be different.

 

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Kerry

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