What happens when you pair a world-class showjumper with a top-flight dressage horse? Martha Terry finds out as Jack Whitaker picks up the reins on Jagerbomb
The Whitakers have ice in their veins. They’ll gallop at a 7ft wall, jump-off for their country in front of a 50,000-strong crowd and shimmy down the Hickstead bank. But when it came to the coveted offer of riding on Olympic dressage bronze medallist and reigning World Cup Final winner Jagerbomb – arguably the sweetest, kindest horse in the world – Jack Whitaker admits he was “nervous, very nervous”.
He was given the opportunity to “have a sit” on Jagerbomb as part of a demo at Sheffield Equine Clinic’s opening day. Jack was doing a showjumping session, Becky Moody a dressage display.
When Becky finishes showing off “Bomb’s” moves, she calls over to Jack: “Let’s do this!”
“I didn’t know I was going to be riding him until just before,” says Jack. “He’s such a famous dressage horse, he’s just won the World Cup Finals and suddenly I’m stood next to him and he’s so big! So impressive.
“I was very nervous,” Jack adds. “You don’t get to ride that kind of horse every day and it’s a completely different way of riding and feeling to what I’m used to – so I just didn’t want to mess him up. Luckily, Becky is so laid-back – I couldn’t believe it.”
Jack Whitaker riding Jagerbomb: “It’s a really cool feeling”
Jack is legged up into Becky’s Childéric dressage saddle, a very different sitting position to his usual CWD jump saddle. This proves the least of his concerns.
“The saddle actually felt a lot comfier – it’s a lot bigger,” he says. “Apart from when you set off and you’re doing sitting trot and then everything’s uncomfortable!”
Jack’s day-to-day training involves plenty of sitting trot, but Bomb’s movement presents an unfamiliar challenge.
“We’d do a lot of riding without stirrups as it’s just good training for everything,” he says. “But when I tried to sit to Bomb’s trot and then his extended trot, it was like riding a different animal – he gave a completely different feeling. Even though I’m used to doing sitting trot, I was feeling it after one lap round.”
Once Jack has trotted through a few changes of rein and checked out Bomb’s extended trot – with a big smile – Becky suggests he try passage, a movement that would not feature in a showjumper’s regular vocabulary. Within five minutes of being legged up, Jack is performing a pretty impressive passage.
“That thing where you go up and down on the spot?” Jack laughs. “That was the easiest! Bomb just did it. I kept half-halting with my leg on and he trotted on the spot and it felt seriously cool. That’s not something my horses can do.
“It feels like you’re floating, but hopping and floating. You don’t move, but everything happens underneath you – it’s a really cool feeling.”
Jack checks out passage.
Becky is impressed, too.
“Cracking passage, brilliant, way better than I was riding him,” she laughs. “I love watching other people ride Bomb. It does make me really proud of him – he’s such a diamond, such a legend and it’s good for people to see that.
“All my girls hack him out at home and if I want someone to feel a change or passage, it’s Bomb they get on because he’s very good for people to learn on.
“I try not to be too precious about my horses, which some people would say is mad, but it’s good for them. And sometimes I learn things about what I need to make better. It tells me how good my training is. If other people can get on and it’s easy, that tells me I’m doing a good job. If they can’t get that easy feeling, that tells me there’s still a missing link in that horse’s education and I need to keep working on it.”
Jack Whitaker: “It’s a different kind of power”
Passage nailed, Becky tells Jack to “play with the canter”.
“This is where you really see the crossover,” she says. “In dressage, we want the same adjustability in our horses as a showjumper does. Yes, you’re in a slightly different frame and balance, but when training any horse, it comes back to transitions, adjustability and rideability.
“It doesn’t matter whether Jack’s shortening or lengthening the pace to come into a jump, or I’m shortening for a pirouette, you still need your horse on the aid and listening. That’s cool.”
Bomb looks to be having a lovely time cantering freely down the long side and Becky shouts out, “shorten your reins! No chance of you ever being done for rollkur!”
Jack “plays with the canter” on Jagerbomb.
Says Jack: “The canter actually didn’t feel very different to what I’m used to. We ride very powerful animals, but it’s a different kind of power.
“The dressage horses have to be so strong in their core and body to move and hold themselves in the way they do, whereas our horses are probably lighter and more agile to be able to turn so quickly on the spot – less pure muscle and power.”
Jack’s next challenge is to tackle flying changes. This would be his bread-and-butter as a showjumper, but Bomb’s mighty movement complicates matters. It takes a few goes until they click into place.
“The hardest thing was the flying changes,” Jack says. “I felt like an idiot not to be able to do a flying change on a horse who’s a total professional, known for his changes! I didn’t think that would feel so different. If it’s not actually a different language, maybe it’s a different accent.”
For Becky, this is important insight.
“Jack’s incredibly experienced and monumentally skilled at what he does – but he found the changes one way much easier than the other, so that made me think, ‘OK, I need to work more on that alignment and straightness,’ even if I can get them both ways,” she says.
“There’s obviously something there that made it harder for him. It’s a learning curve for me as well.”
True horsemanship
The session is short albeit sweet, with Jack needing to wrap up before his showjumping demo, leaving us wondering how much more Bomb could teach him.
It highlights true horsemanship – both on Becky’s part in training her world-class champion to perform with a totally new rider, and Jack’s soft hands and natural seat translating instantly to whatever discipline he turns to.
Will more dressage be on the cards?
“Probably should do, after that performance!” he jokes. “Though at home we are mainly doing flatwork training at home; we don’t jump much at all. But although you’d call it dressage, it’s not that kind of dressage – it’s ‘showjumping dressage’.
“Bomb felt like riding a completely different animal to what I’m used to,” he adds. “You can feel the muscle he has. Even when he first set off in walk, I could feel every movement – right from that first step from behind, the power was incredible. It was an amazing feeling and I’m very thankful I got to have a go.”
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