The first demo that I attended at Your Horse Live 2014 was Aussie eventer Paul Tapner. Paul brought his working pupil with him and two horses in the form of Pioneer Millie a chestnut mare who has been competing at 2* and will look to move to 3* next year. Pioneer Millie was described as a typical chestnut mare and Paul said he was the only one who got along with her and can jump her because otherwise she downs tools if not happy.
The second horse, which was ridden by Paul’s working pupil was Prince Mayo who Paul has had since August and was also competing at 2*. Mayo was described as easy, laid back and an exciting prospect for the future.
Paul’s demo was all about the balanced rider and in particular for jumping. Paul said that the rules between dressage, show jumping and cross country do not change and all your work is applicable to all three phases.
- Balance keeps you on the horse, you need it to stay on!
- Lateral imbalance is when you lean to the left or right and you need to stay straight.
- Your stirrups need to be even and you need to sit evenly.
- Even at 4* level riders go down the centre line in dressage and often sit one way rather than straight.
- A good position is not there to annoy people it has developed over time to be effective and give the horse the best chance to jump clear.
- How many people have taken the time to trot towards a camera without stirrups and assessed their position and whether they are sitting on one side or not? Simple to do and worthwhile.
Next is front to back balance. Paul Tapner trains so that the upper body angle is not an aid i.e when you lean forward the horse goes faster/when you lean back they slow down. The reason is a common sense one in that if you teach the horse to speed up by leaning forwards if you have an issue cross country and end up unbalanced then your horse will speed up. This could be the difference between staying in the plate or falling off.
On cross country the rider should be out of the saddle and have control of their upper body.
The concept of independent aids – you don’t want the lower leg platform to move so they must stay still whatever the upper body is doing.
Flopping back into the saddle is uncomfortable for the horse so Paul makes people work on their upper body angles (leaning forwards/backwards) and the horse should carry on without changing speed. The leg and hand tells the horse what speed is needed.
An exercise Paul demonstrated was touching his toes with the opposite hand. The lower leg should stay still and the rider should have the strength in their upper body to be able to do this exercise easily. A common mistake is that the lower leg comes up. This exercise also gets you practicing extremes in case you need it cross country.
Paul said the reason Andrew Nicholson was so sticky on cross country was that he had the upper body strength to pull himself out of trouble and stay balanced. Mere mortals need to practice this skill and build their core strength, hence the toe touching exercise!
One of Paul’s 4* students recently fell off at a simple fence. This student was about to go 4* but they practiced position so that the automatic safety position would kick in when in danger.
Paul said that he teaches the US system of two point and three point seat. The points refer to the points of security.
One leg is one point, both legs are two points and your seat is the third point.
With two point your bum is out of the saddle and your upper body should not change from coming out of the saddle. Paul is personally amazed when 4* riders cannot understand why horses don’t last the distance cross country because the rider is simply not efficient in their cross country position and thus saving the horses energy.
Paul demonstrated riding in two point round the arena in balance in walk, trot and canter and explained it was such an easy thing to practice and would consequently help the horse so much on cross country. It just needs practice and riders to make the effort.
Paul personally puts his stirrups up two holes from his showjumping length. ‘The rider must have bend in the ankle, hip and knee to act as shock absorbers. By standing up in the stirrups you get shock absorption.’
Riders at the lower levels bouncing around in the saddle while going cross country irritates Paul as its unnecessary. Bouncing around on the back affects the horses oxygen intake whereas by standing up the horse can breathe effectively underneath you. By riding with straight knees you have no shock absorption either which will also affect the horses oxygen intake.
In discussing body positions, Paul said that the defensive position as used by some top riders is uncomfortable for the horse though its safe for the rider.
Paul said that for him the perfect position approaching the fence was three point. In the air over the fence the upper body should not move but the rider should come out of the saddle and land out of the saddle so the rider’s legs act as shock absorbers.
Straightness in the horse over a fence is vital and Paul was very picky with his working pupil even over the smaller warm up fences about straightness that a lot of us would perhaps let go.
The demonstration showed the effects of different positions on the horse from defensive, to being too forwards. The effect on the 
horse was interesting as it made some unhappy, some it speeded up on landing and others became too quick in the air. In particular the swinging lower leg made the horse speed up in the air and the rider then struggled to land in balance because their lower leg was out of position. A simple thing that could affect jumping a clear round.
‘At all times the rider should have control of their body at a fence.’ Paul explained that riders should practice the different positions needed over a simple show jump. Such as jumping a fence before a drop, jumping uphill, jumping a brush fence etc.
Paul finished with explaining the different releases with the hand from long crest release (up by the horses ears), short crest release, where the hands stay low and normal release which is half way up the neck. Each was appropriate for different reasons. Paul finished with saying that the rider’s eyes should always be up as looking down will impinge on balance.
It is easy to see why Paul Tapner is one of the top pros in the country. There is a very keen eye for detail and I personally could see the influence of Jon Pitts within some of the work especially on body influence and building up core balance and fitness. It is that drive to always be one step ahead of the competition that will continue to make him a force on the eventing scene, and fitness in particular and practicing such basic skills can only make amateur riders better and help their horses.
