Flying changes are unavoidably cool. I can still remember attempting my first – getting a friend to film me on their pixelated flip phone, beaming a stupid grin at the camera as my little pony leapt into her change and promptly bombed off. We’ll ignore, for now, that she was two strides late behind.

But there’s no doubt they can feel like a mystery until you get that “aha” moment where it finally clicks. And because every horse is different, there’s no single foolproof way to teach them.

The good news is there’s nothing magic about them. A flying change is a natural movement – your horse already does them loose in the field – and with the right foundations, most horses can learn to do them to order (making you look suitably cool in the process).

Here’s what a flying change actually is, how to ride one, and how to start teaching your horse – without flinging your entire bodyweight to one side as I did.

What is a flying change?

A flying change is when your horse switches their leading leg in canter, in one smooth motion, without breaking to trot or walk in between.

A quick step back, in case it’s useful: in canter, your horse leads with one front leg – it reaches further forward than the other, and you’ll feel that shoulder come through underneath you. On a left lead, the left foreleg leads; on a right lead, the right. Which lead you’re on matters for balance, especially on turns and circles, where you normally want the inside leg leading – so on the right rein, going clockwise, you’ll be on the right lead most of the time, and on the left rein, the left.

Canter has a three-beat rhythm, and after the third beat there’s a brief moment of suspension – a split second where all four feet are off the ground, and your horse is, fleetingly, airborne. A flying change happens in that instant. Your horse rearranges their legs mid-air and lands on the opposite lead, so instead of leading with the left foreleg, they’re now leading with the right. Done well, there’s no stumble and no change of rhythm – just a clean skip from one lead to the other, as if your horse has hopped across in the air.

You’ll come across flying changes in pretty much every discipline:

• Dressage: they appear from advanced medium level upwards, ridden on straight lines and, higher up, in sequences down to one change every stride (tempi changes).
• Showjumping: essential for jumping a course smoothly. A horse that lands on the correct lead – or changes to it – can balance through turns and meet the next fence in rhythm, without losing time or scrambling.
• Eventing, showing, and general riding: anywhere you’re cantering, turning and needing your horse balanced, a change keeps things tidy and comfortable.

For a lower-level rider, it’s less about the wow factor – although that’s cool, too – and more about control. A horse that changes lead on request is one you can balance and steer through anything, whether that’s a jump-off turn, a dressage centre line, or just staying upright out hunting.

How to ride a flying change

Assuming your horse already knows how to change (see the next section for teaching it), here’s the sequence of aids. The key thing is that a change is prepared, not just thrown in – you set your horse up, then ask.

1. Establish a good canter first. Balanced, active and collected enough that you feel you could ride a few steps smaller at any moment. A flat, strung-out canter has nowhere to change from.

2. Prepare on the approach to the change. Sit tall, half-halt to gather and balance the canter, and make sure your horse is straight – not falling in or out through the shoulder.

3. Change your leg position. Say you’re on the left lead (left foreleg leading) and want to change to the right. Your left leg, which has been at the girth, moves back behind the girth, and your right leg comes to the girth. This new leg position tells your horse which lead you now want.

4. Change your weight and hips. As you swap your legs, allow your seat and hips to follow – so your weight shifts subtly to the new leading side. Keep it quiet; it’s just a rebalancing, not throwing yourself across the saddle.

5. Ask in that moment of suspension. Apply the new outside leg (the left, now behind the girth) with a clear but light aid, ideally timed to the moment your horse is about to spring into the next stride. That’s when your horse can swing their legs through to the new lead.

6. Keep riding forward. Ride positively out of the change on the new lead. The most common mistake is to ask and then freeze or pull back on the reins – we’ve all done it, but both stop your horse jumping through cleanly.

The rhythm to aim for is almost “prepare… now go!” A change asked for in one flat motion tends to come late or flat; a change that’s set up first has time to jump through the body.

How to teach a flying change

Before you teach the change itself, the foundations have to be solid – it’s not as exciting, but this is the most important part. Rushing to the change before these are in place is the single most common reason changes go wrong. Your horse should be able to:

• Pick up either canter lead promptly, from a clear aid, on a straight line.
• Ride balanced walk-to-canter and canter-to-walk transitions without falling onto the forehand. (“On the forehand” just means your horse is carrying too much weight on their front end, rather than pushing from behind. You’ll feel it as heaviness in your hands, your horse tipping downhill or leaning on the reins for balance. What you want instead is your horse staying light in front and stepping their hindlegs underneath themselves – think uphill, not downhill.)
• Hold a counter-canter (cantering on the “outside” or “wrong” lead) in balance. This teaches your horse to stay on the lead you’ve asked for rather than swapping whenever they fancy.

Once those are established, here’s a simple and reliable way to introduce the change:

1. Use a change of direction. Ride a shallow loop, a figure-of-eight, or come across the diagonal – anywhere your horse is naturally changing bend and direction, so a change of lead makes sense to them.

2. Establish a clean canter, then rebalance. As you approach the point where you’ll change direction, half-halt and collect the canter, so your horse is balanced and listening.

3. Ask as you cross the line. At the moment you change direction, change your leg and seat position and apply the new aid. Because your horse is already changing direction, switching lead feels logical.

4. Reward the attempt. Even a scrappy first change – or one that’s “late behind” (the front legs change but the hind legs lag a stride) – is worth rewarding. You’re building understanding first; the cleanliness comes with practice and strength.

5. Keep it occasional at first. Ask for one, make a fuss of your horse, and move on. Drilling changes over and over tends to make horses tense or anticipatory. A few good attempts in a session are plenty.

If your horse finds it genuinely confusing, some riders use a raised pole or cavaletti on the change line to encourage your horse to jump through and swap behind – but I’d say use it sparingly at first, and only if plain riding isn’t getting there.

Above all, don’t panic if the first attempts are messy. Late, flat or over-excited changes are completely normal early on. They clean up as your horse’s balance and confidence improve – which, as any good trainer will tell you, is really where the whole thing lives.

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In this exclusive article for H&H subscribers, top British showjumper Joe Stockdale demonstrates a simple exercise with poles that he uses to teach his horses the leg aid can mean stay straight, not just go faster

Does your horse have a tendency to drift right or left over a fence? It’s a common problem, particularly with inexperienced horses that are still working out how best to use their body.

Joe Stockdale is riding Millfield Counterfeit (Cooper) for this jumping exercise. Cooper is a 12-year-old by Cooper VD Heffinck who is competing up to 1.50m classes. While Joe is demonstrating this exercise on a relatively experienced horse, he describes it as especially useful for young horses in teaching them what the leg aids mean in terms of keeping straight.

The setup consists of three canter poles 3.2m apart to an upright. On the take-off and landing side of the fence are “tramline” poles, creating a channel through which the horse must travel. He starts with the tramlines set at about two human strides apart, making it a narrower channel depending on the rideability of the horse.

Joe uses lightweight square poles for the tramlines: “If he did happen to jump left or right and step on a pole, they stay flat, it stops them rolling, so it’s a lot safer than using a round pole, particularly on the landing side, where there’s a chance they might step on it.”

Showjumping training for straightness with Joe Stockdale

“This is a simple exercise, especially for a young horse, to teach them the aids to keep them straight,” says Joe. “They must take off and land without jumping to either side. Most horses tend to jump a little to one side, which doesn’t matter at this height, but once the jumps get big or wide it can be problematic.”

Joe starts with the planks at about 90cm high, popping through a few times so that the horse understands the exercise, before increasing the height. While Cooper stays straight through the set-up, he initially cuts the corner afterwards, so next time Joe asks for a couple of extra strides in a straight line before turning.

Both the canter poles and the tramlines serve a purpose in this exercise that encourages the horse to stay straight without rushing.

The role of the canter poles

“The canter poles are to help the rhythm, because I want to use the leg for support to keep the horse in the middle of the jump,” says Joe. “The poles prevent them from thinking that the leg only means go faster.

“The poles stop them opening the stride, so they learn I’m supporting them to keep straight – not asking them to open up.”

Joe adds: “The line of poles makes it hard to fail. If it was an isolated fence, with the tramlines, when I put my leg on to support his straightness, the temptation for the horse would be just to go faster. The canter poles contain them.”

The role of the tramlines

“First I jump it with the tramlines nice and wide, making sure he’s confident, then slowly bring in the channel so he has to be really disciplined to stay straight,” Joe says.

“Even though I have the tramlines to keep the horse straight visually, I’m giving instructions with my legs to back it up. The young horse will then learn what the aids mean. The answer’s there, I’m just showing him how to get there.”

Joe explains how his own position is paramount.

“I need to focus on my position, staying centred, tall and light. For straightness, the first thing that will make him go to one side is if I’m unbalanced, so my priority on the approach is to keep my body and head in the middle of the horse.”

The beauty of this exercise is in the mix of the two arrangements of poles.

“If I was to take this all away and put a load of right leg on to keep him from jumping right, that’s when he’d get quicker,” Joe explains. “But because we’ve got the canter poles and the tramlines, he’s naturally going to stay straight because he has to. On the approach to the tramline channel I’m going to give him the leg aid at the same time so he starts to associate my right leg with not jumping to the right, but staying straight instead.

“So it’s like I’m giving him the answer to the problem, and then showing the aid that I want to use.”

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We find out why having a plan in place is crucial, while top rider and British Showjumping accredited coach Joao Charlesworth shares his favourite exercises in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers

The best riders in the world never look like they are in a hurry, yet they are able to shave seconds off the clock. The key to being competitive in a jump-off is to focus on a positive rhythm, smooth lines and tight, balanced turns.

British five-star showjumper Jodie Hall-McAteer is well known for turning on the turbo and delivering killer turns when it really matters, but the former Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) leading rider explains that while technical skills win jump-offs, so too does a solid mental game. When it comes to training in how to ride a faster jump-off round, that’s a good place to start.

“Mindset is so important if you want to be competitive,” says Jodie. “If you’re not cantering into the ring with 100% belief and conviction of what you’re riding for then it likely won’t come off. You have to say to yourself, ‘this is what I want to do today’, and be prepared to push yourself out of your comfort zone. This positivity will filter through to your horse, too.”

Choosing the right time to try to be competitive is important.

“You’re not going to be competitive every time you go into the ring and nor should you try to be,” she continues. “But when you are in good form, feeling confident about how your horse is jumping and you have a well thought-out plan, that’s the time to go for it.”

Jodie adds that being more competitive doesn’t necessarily mean winning.

“It depends on you, your horse and how the competition pans out on the day,” she says. “You don’t need to go all out to win a class, but by upping your tempo and cutting a corner or two you can aim to be fifth, sixth, or just a little bit faster than you were the day before. If you ride like this regularly then it becomes second nature and gives you something to build on.”

If you decide that today is the day to win some money, having a game plan is crucial.

“You’ve got to have as good a plan for your jump-off as you do for your first round,” says Jodie.

“When the jump-off happens separately after the first round it’s tempting not to want to think about the jump-off until you get that far for fear of jinxing it – that’s how I used to feel – but you soon realise that having an idea of your jump-off strategy isn’t going to change anything and now I actually find it makes me ride with greater conviction.

“There’s nothing worse than being first or second in a jump-off when you haven’t had a chance to walk or think about a new line or where there’s an option of a route that you haven’t properly looked at.”

How to ride a faster jump-off round: 3 key elements

There are three key ingredients needed to be competitive in a jump-off: a forward, stronger tempo while still retaining accuracy, the ability to ride good turns and the adjustability to take strides out. All these skills should be honed at home.

“Smooth rounds win jump-offs and this relies on setting out in a good, positive rhythm so you’re not pushing and pulling,” says Jodie. “This starts with your flatwork. If you have fences set up in your arena at home, practise riding in and out of them and circling round them in a stronger canter,” she advises.

“This extra tempo can take a bit of getting used to, but the more you practise it the more natural it will feel. Remember to ride forward out of your turns and circles as this is important training for your turn-backs.”

Jodie has two basic rules for riding successful turns in the ring — both depend on looking early.

“You should stick to your line and go with the first stride you see,” she says. “I was always taught to look to the inside wing around the turn as it will help ensure you go on the first stride you see rather than waiting and hooking. Keep your outside leg on to keep the horse coming round the turn.”

Joao Charlesworth, who has coached numerous riders to win big classes, advises riders pick and choose places to make up time.

“There will usually be three or four places around a jump-off course where you can choose how tight a line you take or come inside a jump — you don’t have to do them all, especially if you are new to a level. Instead, choose one or two to attempt,” he says.

Which turns you attempt will depend on variables such as how well your horse turns left or right, or whereabouts in the course they come.

Exercises for training how to ride a faster jump-off round

Joao has two go-to exercises for helping riders master smooth and efficient turn-backs.

1. Half turn practice

“I build an upright and a square oxer on a two-stride distance [35ft] apart. Both fences should be able to be jumped both ways,” he says.

“Start with the upright, angling past the oxer to jump it. Make a half-turn back, bypassing the upright to jump the oxer on an angle.

“This is a fantastic exercise for practising the half-turns you will need in the arena,” he says. “Look up where you are going, keep the horse in an even, forward tempo and commit to your line off the turn. Keep repeating it until you are comfortable with the half-turns.”

2. Serpentine fences

Joao uses a serpentine of small upright fences placed on the centreline.

“The fences shouldn’t be big – 90cm maximum – but by riding the serpentine shape you are recreating the left and right half-turns you will get in a jump-off,” he says. “Think about your balance and tempo, and the smoothness around the turns. Always turn your head and look in the direction you want to travel.”

Should you cut strides out?

Another way to shave off valuable milliseconds is to take one less stride between two fences on a related distance — but this should be considered with the caveat that it might not necessarily suit every horse, or save time.

“With my shorter striding horses I would be cautious about taking strides out and pushing them out of their rhythm,” says Jodie.

Joao adds: “It’s also important to look at how the fences are situated because taking a stride out might not gain you anything if you have a tight turn after the second fence. In this case you would want a smaller, neater jump so that you have control on landing.”

It is generally safer to lose a stride on a curve or a dogleg because you have the option of riding an inside line.

“Make sure you look early, jump the first fence on the inside and ride positively on landing, keeping exactly to your line,” says Joao.

“You should always make up ground immediately on landing after the first fence to allow the last few strides before the second fence to be regular and balanced. If you are too slow to react you may be left chasing a stride in front of the second fence and this will inevitably cause a flat jump.”

• For more expert training advice from top riders and coaches, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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Like humans, most horses have a dominant side, but too much drifting left or right in the air can land you in trouble, especially when courses become more technical. Top showjumpers Trevor Breen and Jodie Hall McAteer discuss why it happens and what you should do about it in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers

There are several factors that will affect how you stop your horse drifting over a jump, and the key lesson is that even top-level showjumpers do it, so don’t lose heart. Drifting one way or the other in the air is a common error in showjumping training and competition and one that can have a multitude of causes.

“Straightness is really important in everything you do, but I’ve had plenty of very good horses that have either jumped left or right in the air. Some I’ve been able to correct, some I haven’t,” says reigning Horse of the Year Show leading rider Trevor Breen, who cites two of his top rides – one past and one present – as prime examples.

“I used to ride a very talented stallion called Classic who always jumped to the right as a young horse, but the more I worked with him the more I was able to iron out the drift and by the end of our partnership he was basically straight,” he says.

“By contrast, [current five-star ride] Highland President, has always drifted right in the ring and still does. The important thing for me is that I adapt my riding accordingly and that I’m very aware of where his drift might put me off my line and alter a distance, making it too long or short, or how it might affect a turn in a jump-off. That’s all part and parcel of my job as a rider.

“There are many good horses who have their own, unique styles, but the careful ones figure out a way of leaving the poles up,” he adds.

Nevertheless, it is important to know why a horse jumps to one side. There are generally three reasons:

1. Physical discomfort

If a horse suddenly starts drifting left or right, they might not be using themselves correctly because of pain. If you suspect something’s amiss you should always get them checked by a physio.

2. Natural one-sidedness

Most horses have a stronger and a weaker side. If, for example, your horse jumps to the left, it is probably because his right hindquarter is stronger and has more push. It’s your job to train him to become more even.

3. Rider influence

Without necessarily knowing it, the rider might be more dominant on one side than the other and this will affect the horse’s balance on take-off. If you lean just an inch to one side, almost all your weight will shift off-centre.

How to stop your horse drifting over a jump

Exercise 1 – canter poles

Teaching your horse to stay straight on a line should be ongoing within your daily training.

Top rider Jodie Hall McAteer regularly defaults to a very simple polework exercise to check her horse’s straightness.

1. Set out three or four canter poles in a straight line down your school two, three or four horse strides apart depending on the length of your arena.

2. In canter, practise cantering over each pole right in the middle. It sounds easy, but it’s much harder than it looks and you have to be very self-disciplined.

3. You need to get ready to correct your horse’s balance and straightness immediately with your aids (legs, seat and reins), which are light if he stays on track but become more pressurised if you feel him starting to drift. Simply cantering over a few poles on both reins tells you a lot about whether you and your horse are truly straight.

4. To ramp it up a notch, a variation on this exercise is to aim for a different point on the poles, for example on striped poles you could aim for the second coloured band from the left-hand side and keep exactly to this line over all the poles.

Exercise 2 – landing pole

To help a horse stay straight in the air, Trevor and Jodie advocate using a carefully positioned pole on the ground on landing to encourage the horse not to drift mid-air.

“If your horse jumps to the right, for example, I would put a pole on the floor at right angles to the fence, around halfway between the centre of the jump and the wing [pictured below], to encourage him to stay straight on landing,” says Trevor. “It is best to use a soft, foam training pole rather than a solid pole in case the horse accidentally lands on it.”

Jodie adds: “Don’t be tempted to over-correct a drift with your hand as you will likely lose the softness through the horse’s body. Instead, look up, ride to a point in the distance and let the pole do the work.”

The rider’s influence

If you are struggling with how to stop a horse drifting over a fence, don’t forget to analyse the influence from the saddle. A horse’s straightness when jumping can be directly impacted by the rider and staying straight and balanced in your own position – looking up through the horse’s ears is crucial.

“Most riders will carry some degree of asymmetry, but a lot don’t realise it,” says Jodie. “If you’re stronger down one side of your body than the other then you’re not going to be using your aids equally, which can cause the horse to jump to one side.

“There are often tell-tale signs that you have a dominant side — the leather on the inside of your boot may be worn on one leg more than the other, or your gloves may wear out at different rates, for example.

“If you can recognise your own positional faults – video analysis can be helpful with this – then you’re in a position to do something about it.”

It’s important to work on straightness out of the saddle as well as on board, and what works for one rider may not work for the next. Jodie is a big fan of reformer Pilates.

“It’s great for working on my weaknesses and for improving my symmetry, strength and balance, plus I really enjoy it, which is a bonus,” she says.

If it ain’t broke…

Jodie warns that while it’s vital to work the horse in a way that always promotes straightness, it’s important not to get too caught up in over correcting a horse that naturally jumps right or left, especially if he is experienced.

“Remember, if an older horse is jumping successfully at a good level, his way of going has already got him there,” she points out. “I’d be more likely to try and correct a young horse jumping to the side before it becomes an ingrained habit.”

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How does a top rider warm their horse up? What do they consider a good workout – and how do they wrap up? Joe Stockdale outlines his system for an everyday exercise session in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers

For all the trophies and laps of honour, every top rider’s success is rooted in the daily grind at home. Joe Stockdale outlines his everyday training routine, from the details of the warm-up through what he wants to achieve in a session, to rounding off with a relaxed pick of grass as a reward at the end.

“I have a checklist to tick off when I’m warming up,” says Joe. “Essentially to jump a course, all we need is to move forward, back, turn left and right.

“If I touch the horse with my leg, does he open up his stride? If I stay tall, think ‘slow’, does the horse come back without me having to pull hard on the reins? Through the turns, are they staying through to the outside rein both ways?

“Once I’ve got these four things, it’s just a case of warming up the body and getting the horse’s mind on the job, asking questions so they’re listening to me rather than worrying what might jump out of the bush. It also keeps me active, rather than going through the motions trotting circles.”

Joe tends to focus on a specific exercise for each horse he is riding. For example, he might work one horse through a set-up to improve their discipline and straightness, using canter poles and tramlines, while another horse may be put through their paces on accuracy, jumping single fences on angles and landing on different leads.

“A good session is when we’re both in sync and comfortable with what we’re doing, but it depends on the day – how they’re feeling and how I’m riding,” Joe explains.

“My job is to challenge the horse, but not ask questions they can’t answer – entertaining them but not overstepping the mark.

“Sometimes I can step up the challenge, other times less is more; I might ask something simpler, they get it right first time, I give them a pat and take them for a hack round the field.

“You have to do what’s best for the horse, not what you want to do, and always be in a good frame of mind yourself, relaxed and not trying to rush them. You wouldn’t expect a five-year-old to jump round a course with no mistakes in perfect balance.

“Marginal gains every day is what I’m aiming for; there’s no pressure and with horses you have to be patient.

“I don’t jump big at home,” he adds. “For instance, my stallion Ebanking [who competes up to 1.60m classes] might jump once in between shows over about 1.10m at home, and then I’ll hire a course at 1.30m. It’s just about keeping the muscles active, rather than the height.”

Joe Stockdale on the benefits of variety in training

Training on a variety of surfaces is one tool Joe believes helps prevent injuries.

“Not only is it boring for me to go round in circles in the school every day, but I’m thinking about the horses’ minds and bodies,” he says. “All those little ligaments that are to do with the foot rolling and moving in a different fashion, like they might do in a jump-off turn, benefit from working on different surfaces.

“I like to work in my grass field, where there is a bit of undulation; I have a dirt track around and up a hill so they can do a bit of hillwork and fitness, and a surfaced gallop as well as the arenas. So that’s four different surfaces to give the horses a nice variety during the week.

“Mentally, too, it keeps them fresh and happy to have a change of scenery every day. They really enjoy going up the hill, having a blow with a bit more speed. Lots of variety helps them in their everyday work.”

How Joe finishes a training session

Whatever type of exercise has been on the agenda, Joe has a routine to finish off.

“If I’ve worked them in the school, usually I’ll jog off for two minutes, to let them catch their breath, have a stretch and get their head down,” he says. “So they have a reward at the end of their work, and a relaxing jog.”

Once he’s finished in the school, Joe rides out to his jumping field, which is dotted with Derby-style fences. He likes his horses to put their heads down to have a pick at the grass, or lets them graze off the man-made bank.

“I like to come out to my field, especially if it’s not too wet, and hack around for a couple of laps, which also means they can have a nice snack of grass before they go back to the stable,” he says. “I like to them to have a little stretch and a graze as a reward for their work.”

Joe remembers the first time he brought Ebanking out here.

“He jumped on to the bank and then couldn’t work out how to get down!” Joe laughs. “I had to leave him there and go and get a lunge line, but he didn’t like me leading him off either, so I got back on and he eventually got it.”

Joe describes this routine as “short-term care” after low-key exercise at home. For those returning from competition, they have three sets of ice wraps to cool the legs repeatedly.

“It’s also about keeping an eye,” he emphasises. “As the horses are groomed every day, they get a full checkover top to bottom, making sure everything is as it should be, no lumps, bumps or swelling anywhere. We are covering all the bases as well as all our physio and veterinary side of things, it’s the everyday things that help them stay on the road and be as happy and comfortable as they can be.”

• Enjoyed reading this? For more expert training advice from top riders and coaches, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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Medal-winning showjumper Will Fletcher and accredited coach and grand prix rider Joao Charlesworth get to the root of the problem with water trays, while a successful amateur reveals how she has turned her mare’s phobia around in this exclusive feature for H&H subscribers

Teaching your horse to jump water trays is an essential part of showjumping training if you want to make any progress up the levels. From Hickstead’s infamous Devils Dyke to the seemingly innocuous rectangles of blue foam that lurk under coloured poles in newcomers classes up and down the country, so-called Liverpool fences come in all shapes and sizes and can cause even the most experienced horses to look twice.

This obstacle has always been found in working hunter and working hunter pony classes, but water trays can now also feature in British Eventing competitions from novice level and above since the updated 2026 eventing rules, which means learning how to jump a water tray is now just as important for eventers, too.

“Some horses are naturally more cautious than others,” points out capped Nations Cup senior team rider, Will Fletcher, who has produced many young horses through the levels. “The appearance of the tray – whether or not it contains water – and where it is sited, plus factors like the reflection if it’s a sunny day, can all have an influence and make it more or less inviting.”

Will points out that when a horse is tentative it’s a fine balance between training to instil confidence and not overthinking the issue and adding to the problem.

“Often, it’s not the horse that’s lost confidence but the rider,” he says. “If the rider has any doubt in their mind then the horse will pick up on it.”

Like anything, quiet exposure is the key to developing confidence and Will explains that horses should learn right from the beginning that water trays are not a big deal.

How to introduce your horse to water trays

“We introduce our young horses to them very early on, as soon as they start jumping their first courses, so that it becomes part of the routine,” he says.

For a more nervous horse, or one that has had an issue, Will recommends having a lead.

“If you follow really close behind a confident, experienced horse, it’ll give the more nervous one confidence,” he says, adding: “You don’t need to buy an expensive water tray, a tarpaulin safely held down will do the job fine, and you can start by making it very narrow.”

Top rider and coach Joao Charlesworth advocates working horses quietly around a water tray in an arena without asking them to actually jump it.

“The mistake people make with a young or nervous horse is to ask them to jump a water tray straight away,” he says. “Instead, you should work on the flat around it, incorporating it into your loops and circles by passing close by. Then, when you eventually ask the horse to jump it, it won’t come as a big surprise.”

How to teach your horse to jump water trays

1. Take the influence of the rider away and lunge or lead your horse over a small water tray, using a lead horse if necessary. Seeing your horse popping the obstacle will give you confidence and, similarly, it will reassure him through not having the rider hanging on to the reins. Some riders like to loose-jump young horses over water trays to give them confidence.

Joao finds that the most inviting way to teach a horse to jump water trays initially is by placing it under a simple cross-pole.

“The cross-pole makes it a filled fence, which is more inviting to the horse and will naturally draw him to the middle,” he says. “Keep it easy and uncomplicated and build up slowly.”

2. Get back on with a neck strap, and ensure you have a correct and secure lower-leg position. Sit with your upper body slightly behind the vertical, as being in front of the movement makes it easier for your horse to stop.

Approach the water tray in trot. Do not allow your horse to rush, but keep him straight and in front of your leg. Remember to praise him, especially if he’s nervous.

3. Practise over lots of small water trays varying in colour and design, then gradually increase the degree of difficulty and approach in a bouncy, balanced canter.

“Repetition is the key, even with older horses,” says Joao. “One of my top rides, who is jumping in 1.50m grand prix classes, is naturally suspicious of water so I make a point of always schooling him over a water tray the day before a show.

“For older or more experienced horses I will often build a double of water trays with one stride in the middle and I will play around, quietly popping each element separately on an angle before putting it together.”

An amateur’s perspective

Amateur showjumper Fiona Osborne, who recently won the 1.10m amateur championship second round at Golden Cross and has competed up to 1.30m, has spent seven years scratching her head over her mare Fridaynight Du Vlist’s dislike of water trays.

“Friday’s generally very level-headed and we’ve jumped at a lot of championships together, but when she takes exception to a water tray she’ll stop so violently that I’ll hit the deck more often than not,” says Fiona, who believes the mare had a fright as a young horse that she’s not forgotten. “There is no point in being cross with her or getting frustrated as that would only fuel her anxiety.”

Over time, Fiona has laid strong foundations and has a system in place that means she can minimise the chances of a mistake.

“To begin with I spent a lot of time playing around at home over tiny, homemade water trays to gain Friday’s trust,” she reveals. “I started on the ground, on the lunge, letting her sniff the tray and make friends with it. I filled a sandpit with water and put it in her field and even bought a blue gym mat [like this one] which, once she was happy to be led over, I positioned in the door of her stable so that she had to walk in and out over it.”

Over time, this confidence filtered through to Friday’s ridden work and, eventually, to the ring.

“Another major turning point came when I started doing some arena eventing,” Fiona continues. “I took Friday cross-country schooling for a bit of fun and she loved it. I could feel her gaining confidence from walking and trotting over little ditches and natural obstacles. The more she did the bolder she became and now she’s used to seeing lots of different things under fences.”

While Fiona admits that she will never completely cure Friday’s apprehension, the duo rarely run into problems in the ring now.

“She can be spooky with trays that reflect the light, so I make sure I train at different times of the day, with the sun in different places, to get her used to this,” she says. “I also always jump her over a water tray at home to prepare the day before a competition.”

Fiona has worked on her own mindset as a rider, too.

“It’s easier said than done when you’ve had issues in the past,” she admits. “If there’s a spooky water tray in the course I have to consciously make sure I don’t over-ride it. Instead, I concentrate on keeping an even rhythm and staying positive, with my body slightly behind the movement.”

Will Fletcher’s tips for riding a water tray

• Sit deep in the saddle so you’re in a strong, secure position and don’t get ahead of the movement.
• Keep your eyes up – if you look down at the water tray this signals hesitation, so look up and beyond where you want to go.
• Ride forward but keep the rhythm – if you watch the top riders jump water or anything with a ditch or tray underneath it, they ride positively from their seat but, crucially, they keep the same even rhythm.
• Maintain a contact – an easy mistake to make is to ride forward but drop the contact, which signals to the horse that something is amiss. You need to support the horse down the rein until take off.
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Help your horse sharpen up his technique with the advice from European young rider gold medallist Will Fletcher and grand prix rider and accredited coach, Joao Charlesworth, in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers

Not all horses are born with the ability to tuck their knees right up, dropping their head into a perfect bascule. And while many showjumpers get along just fine in their own style, knowing how to improve a horse’s jumping technique will ultimately make you safer and more competitive in the ring.

“There are plenty of good horses who don’t tuck their front legs right up, but who are very, very successful,” says four-star grand prix winner Will Fletcher, who reels off several household names – past and present – whose forelimb techniques were less than copybook.

“Growing up I can remember watching a brilliant German stallion called Embassy, ridden by Hans-Dieter Dreher, who jumped with a very ‘open’ technique rather than folding quickly at the knee,” says Will. “He was so powerful and careful that it didn’t matter that he didn’t bring his front legs right up underneath him. He made it look easy.”

Even more famous was Milton, who had a habit of dangling his front legs and over-jumping, especially at the beginning of his career. His rider, John Whitaker, once said that his legs were “all over the place”.

There is no question that being snappy in front is a desirable trait in a top-notch jumper, but the good news is that there is plenty you can do in training to encourage a horse to bend his knees and sharpen his reflexes.

“If a horse can leave the fences up I don’t worry too much if he is a bit untidy, so long as he has the power and conscience to make up for it,” says Will.

Grand prix rider and top coach Joao Charlesworth agrees.

“Horses that don’t have a classic fold are mechanically slower to bring their forearms up and over the jump, but if they’re brave enough and you’ve built their heart up, they can still jump clear rounds,” he points out.

The role of conformation in jumping technique

There are many factors that influence a horse’s foreleg technique, with conformation being one of the most important.

“A horse who is straight through the shoulder will find it harder to bring his knees up than a horse with long, sloping shoulder,” points out Will, who explains that there is a big difference between a horse that hangs its forearm and one that dangles its legs below the knee.

“A dangly forearm is much more of a worry,” he says. “No amount of gridwork is going to fix that, but a young or inexperienced horse may jump with an open technique because he doesn’t yet have the strength to be neat in front. This often improves over time,” he adds.

Exercises to improve a horse’s jumping technique

Both Will and Joao agree that the focus on how to improve a horse’s jumping technique should revolve around building core strength, confidence and self-awareness. Here are some jumping exercises to try.

1. Add a groundline

“A horse that doesn’t snap up quickly needs to be given more time in front of the fence,” says Joao. “Using a good groundline can help with this as it will give him more time to fold his legs and bascule.

“If you get in too deep to a fence too often, you’re not giving the horse the opportunity to organise his legs and that’s when he might lose a bit of self-belief.”

Joao explains that at home he uses shorter distances in tandem with groundlines to encourage the horse to work harder and be quicker with his reactions.

“The groundlines will be pulled out a foot or so from the base of the fence to give him room to get his forearm up and over,” he says.

Joao uses this simple gymnastic exercise to help a horse use his shoulders and sharpen up his technique.

2. Introduce “V” rails

This groundline exercise can be built on by adding V-shaped guide rails.

“Set up a placing pole three yards away from a small upright (starting at no more than about 70cm) with a ground rail, followed three yards later by a slightly taller vertical with “V” guide rails to encourage the horse to stay in the middle of the fence and use his shoulders.

“Keep the fences small to start with and the “V” rails pulled apart so you don’t surprise the horse. Approach in a short, bouncy canter. Be prepared for a green horse to have a look, so keep your leg on and don’t get in front of the movement.

“When the horse is jumping through this set-up confidently you can add another upright seven yards after.

“For a more experienced horse you can play around with shortening the distance between the final two uprights. I find this exercise is great for building the horse’s confidence in his jump.”

3. Speed up reactions with bounces

Will Fletcher’s go-to exercise to help improve core strength and encourage quicker reactions is a very simple row of bounces.

“I do a lot of bounces with my horses at every stage of their career as it teaches them to be quick-thinking, athletic and to use their shoulders,” he says.

“I start with two bounces on a 12-foot distance and add in one more bounce at a time until there are four in a row.

“Approach in a quiet canter and ‘pop’ in over the first part, making sure you stay soft through your arms and follow the horse’s movement.

“It’s important not to overdo this sort of work. Bounces are hard work physically and mentally and doing them four or five times is enough.”

Tactics in the ring

Once you’re in the arena, you won’t have the benefit of a judiciously placed ground rail or a row of bounces to help you warm up.

“You need to think about giving your horse a little bit more room in front of the fences,” says Joao. “This isn’t an easy thing for an amateur to do, but you can start by making sure your canter has plenty of power so you’re not creeping into deep spots.

“You also need to consider how you ride related distances. For example, if you have a five-stride distance, you don’t want to be pushing down the distance and ending up with your fifth stride too close to the base of the second fence or you run the risk of your horse not getting his front end out of the way quickly enough. Instead, sit up as soon as you land and rebalance early, so you can then ride forward to the second fence without ending up too close and deep to it.

“Similarly, if you have a regular three- or four-stride distance it can be a good idea to treat it as if it were on the short side, so you’re giving the horse more room in front of the second fence. Sit up on landing and support the horse between your leg and hand, so you’re not too open and floating between the fences.”

Will adds: “You can help the horse by keeping your upper body up, especially in the last few strides before a fence, so you’re giving him time and space to bring his shoulders up without restricting him.”

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Are you an eventer looking to sharpen your showjumping skills so that clear rounds become your new norm? We speak to international event rider Jeanette Brakewell and accredited trainer Cameron Beer to discover how to improve both horse and rider’s reactions and make sure you leave the coloured poles in their cups

It’s easy for event riders to neglect training over coloured poles in favour of cross-country schooling practice. But whereas a little rub on a fixed fence or brushing through a hedge is part and parcel of efficient cross-country riding, most of us need to adjust our skills to learn how to stop a horse knocking down jumps when each one costs four penalties. We need to sharpen our showjumping reflexes (both horse and rider’s) so that our hard-won, speedy clear across country is not nullified by rails down.

The boldness of a natural cross-country horse doesn’t always translate to the jumping ring, where a careful bascule, pinpoint accuracy and a good jumping technique are required. This is tested to the utmost at a three-day event, with the showjumping phase on the final day, when the horse may jump flatter and feel a little more fatigued than normal after his efforts on the cross-country.

Of course, it all starts long before you even get into the competition arena. A good warm-up is crucial to securing those fault free rounds so make sure you use your time wisely, ensure your horse is listening to you and that you’re in the correct canter.

How to stop a horse knocking down jumps: warm-up exercises

1. “Shoulder-in is a good warm-up exercise to sharpen your reflexes for showjumping because you’re positioning the shoulders, so the horse has to work around your inside leg more,” says Jeanette Brakewell, who won individual silver at the 2002 World Equestrian Games.

“It’s important that the rider’s doing shoulder-in correctly. Put the horse on a nice angle and let them carry themselves on that line, don’t hold them there. If you apply too much pressure and hold the horse there, they tend to slow down and switch off.”

2. British Eventing UKCC level 3 accredited coach Cameron Beer suggests doing a warm-up exercise called 4-4-4 which works on changes of pace within the canter to help sharpen both horse and rider reflexes.

“Do four strides in collected canter, four in working canter, four in medium canter, then back to working, then back to collected,” he suggests. “If 4-4-4 is too much, start with 6-6-6 but not more than six because that defeats the point of the exercise.

“It’s a simple warm-up exercise but it’s helpful as it works the gears. Often riders have stayed in one gear forever and it takes them 10 strides to change to another gear. In this exercise you’ve only really got one stride to change it.”

Training quick reactions for the horse

Ensuring your horse responds to your aids in a timely manner is also important.

“As a rider, it’s important to be aware that you’re always training the horse to be reactive to your aids. That means using your aids with good timing and the correct amount of pressure,” says Jeanette.

“Some horses are naturally more reactive than others. For horses that aren’t reactive enough, it’s important to sensitise them. That doesn’t mean riding with loads of leg and loads of pressure. You want your horse going in a reactive, fresh way – not a dull, bored one.

“To get a better reaction from your leg, you don’t necessarily apply a stronger leg aid – you might use a quicker, sharper aid and then relax your leg. If the horse thinks, ‘Oh, you’re not telling me to keep going so I’ll slow down,’ you give them another quick reminder with your leg saying, ‘Come on, stay in front of me’.

“That should help activate the hindlegs so they can carry their own balance, rather than dropping onto the forehand and ignoring the leg.”

Building “A frames” on fences as well as using gridwork exercises can be a useful tool to hone accuracy, rhythm and confidence.

“The key to gridwork is to ride with good balance and enough energy, so the grid does the work in teaching the horse to use its body properly,” says Jeanette. “The distances are all set, so once you’re in you can focus on your position and your balance.”

Jeanette recommends adding ground poles or dressage boards (positioned wide enough for the horse to easily work out and go between) in front of the middle of the fence if you’re struggling with straightness.

Training quick reactions for the rider

Working to sharpen showjumping reflexes is not all about the horse. To test rider reactions, Cameron likes to change the profile of fences – although they don’t need to be big or difficult.

“I would use an ascending oxer, with the back rail three to five holes bigger than the front, and with a ground rail,” says Cameron. “I’ll do that off the turn, and then an unrelated related distance to a double of verticals on a short distance, or a bounce, or a plank with no ground rail.

“It’s about the rider having to come in brave to that ascending oxer – they can’t cheat and come in quiet – and then put the horse back to the correct gear for the different fence coming up next.

“Then mix in lots of blind turns and rollbacks. With the blind turns make sure you put a wing in to go around as that breaks up their eye. Then they come around that wing and suddenly pick a distance. You have to think about the canter quality, trust your eye and be more reactive rather than just counting canter strides.”

Cameron also believes in applying pressure to riders during training to mimic the competition environment, providing it’s a safe time in their stage of training to do so.

“Sometimes I will say, ‘We’ve warmed up. We’re going to jump the course once and I’d like you to jump a clear round’,” explains Cameron.

“That makes the rider feel a little more nervous, but it’s important to put the rider under pressure in that situation because then their reactions might feel a little blurrier, and they have to deal with that – which then puts them in that competitive mindset.

“If you train too safe with no pressure, then the rider may not have the right reaction when pressure’s put on – but that only comes when you know they’re comfortable with all the questions being asked, you have all the building blocks, and they have in their head what the priorities would be for them and their horse.”

From frustration to riding club champion

Following a frustrating spell in the showjumping phase for event rider Esther Bowness and her 13-year-old Irish grey mare Blackwater Grey Lady (Polly), straightness was a key part of their homework with trainer Catherine Vale.

“Catherine’s favourite phrase is ‘straightness is greatness’, because it doesn’t matter what angle you’re coming into the fence, you’ve got to be straight,” says Esther.

“Catherine gave me a few simple tips like keeping my body upright and tall, lowering my hands and riding straight and I found that my mare wasn’t fighting me into the fence, and she was much more relaxed over it.

“I was also told to balance the canter. I started leg-yielding Polly to make sure she’s listening and off my leg on both reins and then did a few teardrop shapes in canter to ensure we’ve got that uphill canter that you need for showjumping.

“Those tweaks were massive in terms of what they’ve achieved because I was thinking about them rather than micromanaging Polly into the fence. We’ve gone from knocking fences down to consistently jumping clear and we recently won the senior 80 showjumping competition at the British Riding Clubs National Championships.”

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Horse and rider training

Welcome to Horse & Hound’s training hub. Whether you are looking for techniques to improve your riding skills, insight from top trainers and riders on how to prepare your horse for a specific sport, or tips to help solve specific problems, you will find useful advice from experts to help.

Horse & Hound’s training exercise of the week

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• Riding techniques
• Rider fitness
• Rider mindset
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Execute smarter square halts with just four poles

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In the first of a two-part focus on gridwork, exclusively available to H&H subscribers, Gemma Stevens explains how she builds a horse’s confidence and concentration using a grid of six fences

“Gridwork is fun,” says Gemma Stevens, who competes internationally in both showjumping and eventing. “We do it twice a month in the winter – the horses tend to enjoy it.”

For this gridwork exercise, Gemma sets up wings down the centre of her arena with hexagonal poles on the ground. The final set-up will follow the diagram (below), so you want to have everything you need ready before you get on the horse – and you will need a helper on foot to adjust the fences as necessary.

Gemma warms up briskly in walk, trot and canter for about 10-15 minutes.

“I’m making sure I’ve got all my controls, that the horse is listening to me, and that she is limbered up and elastic,” Gemma explains asking the horse for a few flying changes.

The grid is set up to ride away from the stables, so horses aren’t encouraged to rush down the line. Gemma canters over the poles, which are all still on the ground, to familiarise her horse with the task in hand.

Gemma Stevens’ gridwork exercise with an experienced horse

The first horse Gemma rides is rising eight and competing in 1.30/1.35m classes. Gemma begins with a raised placing pole to a 2ft 6in upright, building up to bouncing over two more uprights at the same height.

“Now I’m going to build up the fences gradually according to the horse’s ability,” Gemma says. “This horse is experienced so I can build this up quite quickly.”

Each time the horse goes through the line nicely, another jump is added. Gemma has someone on the ground to raise the fences – “you always need a helper for gridwork” – and they add in one fence at a time. Gemma keeps moving, approaching the grid off both reins, with the fences being put up as she canters back round to the start, taking short breaks in line with the horse’s fitness.

After the double bounce, there’s a stride to an oxer, followed by another stride to another oxer, then two strides to an upright to finish – equalling six fences in total. Gemma has put guide poles in V-shapes on the ground in front of the three final fences, to encourage straightness.

“Grids help encourage the horse’s elasticity and footwork, but I find them really great for building confidence,” explains Gemma. “I never make it really difficult or overly demanding for them.”

Gemma incorporates oxers in the middle of this line to teach the horse to open up their jump, before closing it down again for the final vertical. The first time she tackles the oxers they are slightly ascending (the front rail slightly lower than the back one), but they are squared up (level front and back) next time round.

“This format makes the horses really elastic,” she says. “And I keep the striding in this grid on the short side because I want to encourage the horse to be bouncy – I’m working on the shape of their jump rather than pushing them for the distance.”

After they have jumped all six fences once, Gemma starts raising the height, one fence at a time. The oxers are now at about 3ft 6in and the final vertical at 3ft 9. Gemma is happy with the horse’s first attempt at this height so calls it a day there.

“The horse was super tidy and I’ve achieved what I wanted to,” she says. “I like to push them a bit the last time down the line, but I won’t jump more than two holes higher than they are jumping in competition. Then they finish the session feeling good about themselves.”

Adjustments for less experienced horses

The second horse Gemma Stevens rides for the same gridwork exercise is rising six, and has been competing in young horse showjumping classes up to 1.20m.

Gemma starts the jumping phase as with the more experienced horse, cantering through the grid with the poles on the ground and then building up over the 2ft 6in bounces. She repeats them a couple of times because the younger horse is keen, but green, before moving on to the oxer at about 3ft.

Gemma explains that this horse has a tendency to rush. While the older horse has V-poles as guides on the ground, this horse has them on the fences.

“It’s not to make her more careful, because she already is, but to help slow her down and encourage her to back off a bit,” says Gemma. “She used to go down a jumping line flat out, so I keep the distances short and I use the Vs to make her back off. I let the grid do its work to slow her down.

“If you have an onward bound horse, you can also add a canter pole or a plank on the ground between each fence, to give them something else to focus on,” she advises.

Troubleshooting

“The whole point of doing the gridwork is building confidence,” says Gemma Stevens. “If the horse does feel green, I’d pat them and come again or I’d take a fence out. Don’t hesitate to bring the height right down if they aren’t happy. If you haven’t got their trust, you’re always going to struggle.

“To take a horse back a step feels like a negative move at the time, but a few weeks later it will be worth it and you’ll be in a much better place.”

Pole choice for gridwork

Gemma uses hexagonal poles for grids, both on the ground and on the fences.

“I don’t like using a round pole on the ground because you don’t want anything that will roll,” she explains. “You can use ‘soft training pole’ on the ground or these hexagonal ones. The important thing is that it cannot roll or the horse can turn their fetlock or get the pole caught between their feet.”

Gemma doesn’t insist on ground lines.

“I don’t use ground lines on the bounce fences as I want them to learn to be careful in judging the fence without them,” she says. “I don’t necessarily use them on the oxers in grids either.”

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‘Aim to do this straightforward exercise to score 10 out of 10’: how Harry Meade uses polework to improve suppleness

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Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Showjumper Sarah Lewis, who competes up to two-star level after switching from three-star eventing, explains why some horses rush and shares a useful jumping exercise to help retrain horses that tend to do so, as well as tips to help tackle the issue at shows

It can be quite unnerving riding a horse that is inclined to rush his fences. It makes it difficult for the rider to judge a good distance to the fence, and can result in the horse getting quicker and quicker as their showjumping round progresses. So if you have a horse like this, don’t despair as there are some simple jumping exercises for horses that rush that can help resolve the problem.

Riders may instinctively want to take their leg off a horse that is very forward going and increase their rein pressure. In most cases this is the opposite of what the rider should do, because the more they pull, the more likely the horse is to rush. Horses often start to rush because they feel the rider isn’t encouraging them to have enough impulsion and so try to communicate to the rider that they would like a more positive approach in order to easily clear the fence. Horses like these are often very intelligent, so you have to come up with ways to keep their minds with their rider on the approach to the fence.

A useful jumping exercise for horses that rush

1. Start by encouraging the horse to accept the rider’s leg, and work on both horse and rider being comfortable with a consistently stronger rhythm in the canter. Riding counter canter loops in the school can be very helpful. Start with a 5m loop on the long side, then increase the depth of the loops. In order to keep the horse in counter canter the rider must support the horse with their inside leg, but without encouraging the horse to accelerate. This helps horse and rider learn that the leg doesn’t always mean go faster.

2. Next put up a cross pole with a placing pole on the ground 3.5m either side of the jump. The two poles, especially the pole after the fence, will encourage the horse to lower their head and neck to look at what the question is and work out where to put their feet. Establish a good canter before coming to the pole, cross pole, pole exercise. On the approach ride very square turns – not only the corner before the fence, but the previous corner too. The square turns help the rider control the pace without pulling at the horse. The rider needs to be looking at the fence before they turn the corner and focus on maintaining the rhythm, rather that looking for a set stride or distance.

3. If the horse rushes or is a little quick through the exercise, keep the horse straight on landing and ride a downward transition to halt. Once the horse is standing still, the rider should take a breath and praise the horse, then put their leg quietly on, and repeat. The partnership may need to practise this a few times, but should find that once the ability to ride a straight halt on landing is established, the horse will be ready to come back to the rider after a jump, allowing them to rebalance the canter before negotiating a turn to the next jump. This tends to be more effective than pulling the horse up on the approach or turning away when they rush.

4. As with any training exercise, it is important to know when to stop. Once the horse is listening and an improvement has been made, pat him, and move on to something else, or maybe take him for a little hack. It is important for both horse and rider to remain as calm as possible, but using this jumping exercise frequently can encourage the horse to listen more to their jockey.

5. Taking this training forward to a show, think carefully about how many practise jumps the horse really needs. Give the horse enough time and space to warm up but don’t jump more than is necessary. Once in the ring the rider should pick up a good, strong canter rhythm before approaching the start, ride a fairly short approach to the first fence, and use good quality turns around the course to help maintain the canter rhythm.

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Youth and experience combined to bring some great showjumping training tips to the audience for the Sunday (22 December) Lemieux masterclass at London International Horse Show as 2024 drew to a close.

John Ledingham, a three-time winner of the Hickstead Derby and frequent Nations Cup rider for Ireland who is now a top coach, led the session, with 17-year-old Tabitha Kyle – already a four-time team bronze medallist in children-on-horses and junior ranks for Britain – as the demo rider. Read on for some great advice from the pair’s session at ExCeL…

1. It may be a good idea to move into canter early in the session if a horse starts out tense. Tabitha’s ride Morginto (known as Gin) is a little on edge as he moves from the warm-up to the public arena.

“Let him go forward to canter nice and slowly, let him have a look around at all these people,” says John. “It’s nice to see a horse that’s alive and he’s curious as to what’s happening.

“It’s important as a coach to constantly be assessing the horse’s way of going. This horse started out fresh, aware and sharp but as he settles into his work, I’m quite happy with him.”

2. John likes to assess a horse’s conformation too.

He says: “We look at static conformation – the shape of the head, the neck, the position of the shoulder, the length of back, the position of the hindleg and what the model is like. This horse is pleasing to the eye, he’s in proportion, his neck fits his body.

“We also look at conformation in movement – you can have a very correct horse in static conformation, but then you find restrictions in the shoulder or the hindleg is behind or they lack quality in movement. But we don’t see any of those things with this horse.”

3. Riders and coaches should also explore the training scale in the warm-up phase before jumping.

“We’re always thinking about the training scale,” says John. “What is this horse’s rhythm like? We think about suppleness and relaxation – he looks like a very supple horse now that he has relaxed. And we consider acceptance of the contact – his transitions have been very nice.”

4. Balance is vital.

“We are looking for an understanding of the horse finding his own balance – the horse has to travel in balance and carry himself before he can carry the rider,” says John, who emphasises it’s important not to shorten the neck too much so the horse can use it for balance.

“The neck muscles are the first group of muscles to get tired – it’s important to give them a rest frequently, even if it’s just 15 seconds of stretch, then the horse is ready to work again and carry themselves.”

When Tabitha rides a transition to walk, John tells her to ask Gin to walk forward off the leg, establish balance in walk, vary the flexion, move him off the leg and then let him stretch, rather than just falling into walk and straight into a stretch.

5. Another of John’s showjumping training tips is that a horse might trot over 40 or 50 poles on the ground before he starts jumping, using various exercises.

“We are working on the horse’s proprioception – his awareness of where he puts his feet, how does he make that judgement? Additionally, we’re buliding engagement of the core, self-carriage and the horse finding his own balance. And there’s also a rotation of the spine in trot, so working over poles warms up the big long back muscles,” says John, who instructs Tabitha to ride in a light seat over the poles.

John says Tabitha “rides beautifully”, just encouraging her to put her foot more into the stirrup so it sits under the ball of her foot rather than her toes, a position point she’s already working on correcting.

6. Straightness is critical.

“Don’t have too much bend when riding a small circle,” advises John. “The most difficult horse to ride is a horse that’s not straight – a forward, straight, light horse is a beautiful horse to ride.”

7. It’s a constant dialogue.

“If you ride five times a week for an hour, that’s only 20 hours a month – that’s the only time the horse is being educated, learning from you,” says John. “It’s important from the minute you sit on the horse that there’s an ongoing discussion and education. The horse won’t be sitting in his stable reading a book on jumping or dressage or transitions in between!”

8. Make it easy initially.

John prefers to start an exercise on the horse’s softer side – left rein, in Gin’s case – and then progress to the trickier rein.

“This horse isn’t as straight on the right rein, he likes to cut in with his quarters,” says John. “He needs hours more dressage – dressage for jumpers, which is all about the training scale – suppleness, rhythm, acceptance of contact.”

9. Don’t just jump a fence and stop.

John says: “Find the balance in the trot or canter, move it towards medium and back to collected, let the horse carry himself – straight, forward, light. Then go to walk and establish walk, have your back loose. Ask yourself, is he tracking over? Is he still round and good in frame?

“When you’re happy, let him stretch. He’s not finished with self carriage and attention to detail until you say so. That attention to detail is vital in the grand prix ring over there.”

10. Use gears and flexion.

“It’s important to explore the power of the canter – moving between medium and collected, not just staying in working canter – so you always have the gears you need and transitions in the pace,” says John. “And every time you ride, teach the horse flexion and moving off the leg to relax them, then if a horse gets tense halfway through a round, you can use flexion to counteract that.”

11. Rider position and weight distribution matters.

John and Tabitha discuss the fact that if she leans an inch to one side, 100% of her weight goes there; if she leans forward too much, 100% of her weight goes forward. This point was also made in the Dickie Waygood masterclass earlier in the week in London.

“It’s so important where we sit and how strong the rider has to be in their core to hold that balance,” says John, as the pair wrap up their masterclass of showjumping training tips.

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news throughout major shows, for training tips and more, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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Here’s some great advice on how you can still practice some great jumping exercises, even if you don’t have access to lots of equipment, from five-star event rider Coral Hardman (née Keen)…

1. Serpentine jumping exercise

This jumping exercise is great for suppleness, straightness and to practice correctly bringing a horse’s shoulders around the turn. Set the four fences up down the centre line of the school and you can then jump it in both directions, making sure you have a square turn to each fence. This exercise highlights if a horse is not even on both reins and it is a good way of checking that you can landing on the correct lead.

2. Jumping exercises: the turnback

The turnback exercise is a great one for making sure the horse is listening and turning in a soft and supple way. It will highlight if your horse is falling in or out through the shoulders and checks that you have control on the landing. It is quite a difficult exercise, so for the less experienced horse and rider, start with poles on the ground and then progress from there when you are ready. If you want to make the exercise more challenging, you can make the roll backs even tighter.

3. Bending line exercise for jumpers

This exercise really makes you plan ahead and works on bending lines. Again, you can start with poles on the floor before raising to a fence. The overall idea is to encourage you as a rider to land and look where you are going, while not letting you horse fall in or out on the bending line.

4. Clock jumping exercise

Set your poles out on at least a 20m circle radius. At the start, focus on keeping the same rhythm over each of the four elements, making sure you have balance and control and that you can bring the horses outside shoulder around, so you are going over the middle of the fence. Once you have achieved this, you can progress to playing around with the adjustability, putting a different number of strides in between the obstacles. Jump and count your strides between the fences – you should be doing the same amount of strides between each fence (if built evenly). You can then progress to adding a stride between them and even building up to two extra strides. Then you can go to the opposite, crank it up and open the horse out in the frame and do less strides. This is quite an intense exercise for horses, so I would recommend giving them lots of breaks. It is also a fairly difficult exercise, so don’t expect to master it on your first attempt!

5. Jumping exercises using barrel

Version one — if you have a barrel or old drum, place this in the middle, either lying flat or stood up, depending on the height you want to jump. Then place the four wings out from it (you could use blocks if you don’t have a barrel). You ride straight over the pole on the take off and the landing, then ride a 10m circle away from the exercise before approaching the next fence. Then ride straight again, followed by another 10m circle. It really gets the horse supple and adjustable and listening to you when you are landing. It is really important to make sure the horse stays straight before circling away.

Version two — in addition to the above, you can also jumping across the middle of exercise over the barrel, you can go from any direction and the poles frame the barrel — so it is a good set up for practising skinny questions.

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news throughout London International and more, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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Jumping a great round is about much more than just clearing the fences. How you get from fence to fence is a key part of the round, and flying changes can enhance that. In this article from the H&H archives, H&H asked eventer-turned-trainer Tracey Dillon for her tips on teaching flying changes

Watch any top showjumper and you can’t fail to notice how smooth their rounds are; their horses landing effortlessly on the correct lead or doing a flying change as needed with ease.

Having your horse on the correct lead helps maintain a fluid, powerful yet balanced canter, which is essential when tackling bigger tracks. This is something which can be taught to most horses, says trainer and former international eventer Tracey Dillon.

“There are elements to jumping a good round which can be divided into ‘nice to have’ and ‘must have’ — and as the tracks get bigger, flying changes move from the first category to the second. Either that, or you need to be able to counter canter your horse effectively to maintain a good canter,” says Tracey, who used the latter when jumping a former racehorse right up to Foxhunter level, as the horse struggled to canter in balance on the left leg in the early stages of his new career.

“The quality of the horse’s canter is absolutely crucial; without power and forward movement, you’re not going to get the jump in the stride you need and it will be difficult to do a flying change.

“So any plan to teach your horse flying changes has to start with ensuring you have the power to take the horse through the energy and effort required to shift the balance of half a tonne of bodyweight from one leading leg to the other,” says Tracey.

In preparation for teaching flying changes, Tracey advises focussing on canter to walk, and walk to canter transitions, using a half pirouette to aid the transition back into canter.

“This gets the outside hind leg stretching, as well as getting the horse straight through himself to allow the balance to be level when changing leg,” she says.

Teaching changes for dressage

When training horses to do flying changes for dressage or other flatwork, Tracey advises using the same method, but focussing on teaching specific leg aids for left or right canter.

This ensures the horse is very clear, when the flying change aid is applied, which canter lead is required.

“Flying changes for jumping are about being fluid with the horse forward and in an uphill canter afterwards. It isn’t essential that the front and hind legs change at precisely the same time — after all, you’re not being marked on it — but for dressage the lead change itself needs to be precise.”

In this scenario, Tracey advises using the method above (canter/walk, walk/canter and half pirouette training) and getting the horse to the point where it can be ridden round the outside of the arena and complete eight to 10 walk to canter transitions onto the correct lead as requested by the rider.

“You have to be at the point where you can achieve this perfectly, on a straight line and in a balanced and fluid fashion, before moving on to ask for a flying change,” warns Tracey, who adds that if the horse still struggles to grasp what is being asked having got the stage above, a pole raised at one end can be used to aid the change.

“Poles are a common way of teaching lead changes for jumping, but can be useful here too.”

Teaching flying changes over a pole

When training jumping horses to do flying changes, raised poles are a good way of encouraging the horse to land on the correct leg or to change as required by the rider.

“Start with a couple of poles in the arena; one raised left to right, the other right to left. As you canter over the poles, open your hand and turn the horse in the desired direction to encourage him to change leg, first one way then the other.”

Skilled riders are able to influence the leg the horse lands on by subtle shifts in position while jumping the fence, but for less experienced riders or horses which repeatedly land on the same leg over a fence, a landing pole is a great way of getting lead changes, says Tracey.

“Using a small cross pole or upright of about 80cm, place a slightly-raised landing pole nine feet behind the fence. This encourages an elevated landing stride.

“A placing pole used at 90 degrees to the landing pole is another way to reinforcing the horse to land on the correct lead. Again, aim for that elevated landing stride and make sure you open your hand and turn the horse’s head to the side required to help him find the right way.”

Whatever the method used, Tracey emphasises the need to avoid disturbing the quality of the canter when asking for flying changes.

“A powerful, forward canter is what you’re looking for — don’t let achieving a flying change interrupt that. You can always use counter canter in the ring until you’ve perfected lead changes at home.”

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This weekend, why not have some fun, rope in some volunteers and get creative with our helpful inspiration for how to make your own jumps? While we would all love a course of professional showjumps, not everyone can afford a beautiful set to rival to the top show centres. You also may find yourself hours away from your nearest cross-country schooling venue.

“You don’t have to get too worried about making anything too professional,” says eventer Sharon Hunt. “It doesn’t have to look brilliant, as long as it’s safe and you can make it yourself!”

How to make your own jumps

1. Tyres

Robust, long-lasting and very attainable. Tyres can have multiple uses — from raising poles, to being cut in half and used as makeshift fillers. Contact local garages and scrap yards and keep your eyes peeled on social media selling sites where you can often pick up tyres that are being given away.

2. Plastic barrels

Plastic barrels can act as great jump wings. Fill with sand to weigh them down and you can purchase barrel jump-cups online to hang on the barrels and hold the poles, turning them into your own showjumps. Just make sure they are weighted or fixed so they can’t roll.

Or think cross-country. “I use blue plastic barrels a lot,” says five-star eventer Kitty King. “I use two barrels with a short pole between them to create skinnies, or I jump a single barrel with poles for arrowhead practice. These can be done on grass or an arena. You can build corner jumps and angles too — it’s great in the arena for introducing horses to cross-country ideas.”

3. Pallets

Wooden pallets are a firm favourite with equestrians for their versatility. They can sometimes be picked up from distribution companies that discard them and can then be broken down into sections providing materials for building wings, gates and fillers. Just make sure there are no protruding nails or wooden shards that might cause an injury.

“When I very first started, I remember I didn’t have a gate and there was always one at Hickstead and so my dad got a pallet and built a gate out of one,” says showjumper Nicole Pavitt.

4. MDF

Sheets of MDF are inexpensive and can be purchased from DIY stores. If you’re feeling artistic why not paint your own filler design? Join these together with bolts to feet made from pallets and you can have your own bespoke fillers.

“I’ve used pieces of MDF in front of barrels to make a nice skinny fence, ” says Kitty.

5. Poles and Planks

Sawmills and agricultural stores often sell wooden poles at a considerably cheaper rate to showjump poles. Leave them rustic or get creative and paint them any colour you choose for your own personalised jump poles.

“Paint them really bright — the brighter the better!” says Sharon, who has been doing more showjumping in recent years. “I used to knock down the Hickstead plank so we painted our own planks red with our names in white, exactly like the Hickstead ones to practise at home. It’s good to practise the things you have problems with. We used to speak to a local paint company and they would sometimes give us the leftover paint that nobody wanted.”

6. Hedges and logs

If you have your own land at home, you could be sitting on your own cross-country course. Sharon explains how basic raw materials helps her train for cross-country at home.

“We use logs cut down from trees and if you have a wooded area you can put some jumps in and out of, so when you go through you are jumping from light to dark,” she says. “If you have hedges between your fields you could trim them down and then jump in and out over it. You can make things really simply just using the things you have.”

7. Blankets

“I make coffin jumps simply using poles and a blanket,” says Kitty. “I’ll put a blue blanket on the ground with poles either side — just make sure the sides are pinned down so they don’t blow up and spook the horse!”

8. Plant pots

A plain looking jump can be made into a Hickstead-worthy fence in no time. Look around the garden and make the most of plant pots with bright flowers that can work really well under fences. Just don’t borrow anyone’s prize specimens without asking first!

9. Water jumps

Sharon remembers practising water trays at home by taking advantage of the great British weather.

“Our school would sometimes flood and I’d simply build a fence around that. Use the things you have to your advantage,” she says.

10. Recycle

Before you throw out old poles or fence posts, cut off the broken ends and so you have a short pole to create a skinny.

Safety first

When making your own jumps, always make safety the first priority. Care should always be taken when working with wood to ensure all nails are removed and there are no screws sticking out that could cause injury.

“Horses do have accidents and can stop at things so you have to use wood that won’t shatter or splinter and remember to make it jumpable and inviting,” says Sharon. “The jump has to be safe.”

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Say goodbye to shouting instructions and the stress of straining to hear your trainer whether you are having a lesson, schooling or warming up at a competition with this great selection of wireless communication systems.

As a rider, these wireless communication systems mean you can receive clear instructions without being in close proximity to your trainer. As a trainer, it means you don’t have to shout and you can give and receive instant feedback.

The best wireless communication systems for horse riding are compact, lightweight, easy to recharge and can be attached securely. Another thing to note is that a one-way conversation option has less lag time and often clearer sound compared to a two-way system, but some products have the option to do both.

If you usually train in an area with good phone signal, it’s possible to have the same effect on a phone call with wireless earbuds.

Best wireless communication systems

Ceecoach 2

RRP: From £159 |

With this wireless system, up to six participants can communicate with each other clearly for up to 500m via Bluetooth. It allows for two-way communication, and all of the features can be controlled with just three buttons. The rechargeable battery allows 10 hours of talk time and up to three days of standby time. If you want two headsets, you should opt for the Ceecoach 2 Duo.

In the UK? View now at amazon.co.uk

WHIS Wireless Home Instruction System

RRP: £246 |

Available in six colours, this one-way wireless system allows communication from coach to rider with clear sound and no delay. They can be used 280m apart in an open space and come with a charging port.

If you’re looking for multiple receiving sets, the WHIS Duo comes with one instructor transmitter and two rider receivers.

Nossewej Easy Train One-way Wireless Instruction System

RRP: £149 |

This wireless system allows for one-way communication from trainer to pupil up to 300m away.

Sound Fields Equestrian Wireless Training System

RRP: From £199 |

This compact and lightweight wireless training system has an LCD display showing volume, remaining battery life and system status. The rechargeable battery allows more than 20 hours of operation for receiver and 15 hours for the transmitter.

Coach2Rider EX Competition

RRP: £195 |

This two-way coaching set has no delay so the coach and rider can receive immediate feedback from each other. The pocket-sized units can be attached to a lanyard and each set comes with two headsets with microphones.

They have 50 channels, a 100m range and a long-lasting battery.

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During her professional career, British showjumper Laura Renwick, a former winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, has made regular appearances on British Nations Cup teams. She is renowned for producing young horses and for training riders from the Maldon, Essex, base she runs with her husband — former showjumper John Renwick. Here she shares her top exercise for maximising balance and strength to help you improve jump-off turns.

Training the stars

I use this exercise regularly with six-year-olds after flatwork and it is excellent for improving their balance and strength and assisting with seamless leg changes. Also, when I’m training riders, it helps them to see a stride off a corner.

I frequently see riders at the lower levels thinking that they are going fast in a jump-off, but at the end of their round they are disappointed to see what a slow time they have notched up.

The problem is that they think speed is a winning formula when their momentum has made economical turns almost impossible. Either that or they slow down to go around a corner and consequently waste time.

The key to winning a jump-off is good rhythm and controlled, tight turns, so you can take the shortest route. Watch the leading riders — they never look like they are going particularly fast, but they record great times. They shave off those extra milliseconds.

However, this can only be achieved with plenty of practice at home. I have used this cross-pole/figure-of-eight exercise for many years to address this issue. It is excellent for improving a horse’s balance and strength, assisting with seamless leg changes and helping the rider see a stride off a corner.

How to improve jump-off turns

1. Place a small cross-pole in the school, initially near the edge so the arena side prevents a young horse from falling out on the corners, and then, in time, move it to the centre.

2. Warm up by jumping the fence a couple of times in a straight line, then approach again in a controlled canter and jump across the fence on an angle.

3. You can start angling the cross-pole on either lead. If you have angled it from the left, you should land on the right lead and circle right, keep up the canter momentum and then angle the fence right on the next approach, followed by a circle left to complete the figure-of-eight, and so on.

4. Start with fairly large circles and carry on with the pattern until they gradually become tighter.

5, Repeat the exercise only five or six times — it is important not to overwork the horse.

Consider this…

• Often the horse will land on the wrong lead leg. If so, get him to change back onto the correct one as quickly as possible.
• Inexperienced riders frequently get in front of the horse’s movement. Sit up, look at the fence as you come around the corner and stay behind the movement.
• Bitting is personal preference, but for young horses doing this exercise full cheek snaffles can offer a little support on the turns.

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Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Showjumper Charly Edwards, who specialises in breeding, breaking and producing young horses for top sport, explains how to collect your horse’s canter

The dreamy image of a supple and relaxed horse, sailing around the arena in a glorious collected canter evokes sighs of contentment from most — but it takes a lot of work to get there. Training for it properly, so that you and your equine partner are getting the most out of it, can be tricky. International showjumper and coach Charly Edwards breaks it down for us to explain how to collect your horse in canter.

Collection occurs when the horse carries more weight on their hind quarters. There is an increased engagement, lightness in the forehand and self-carriage. It is the last step in the scales of training and is preceded by the other five steps — rhythm, suppleness, contact, impulsion and straightness. To achieve collection, the other scales of training need to be established to a certain extent. So before you get to this point, you’ve probably put in quite a lot of hard work!

As well as performing the scales of training relatively consistently, your horse must have the muscular strength, balance, understanding and acceptance of aids to accurately achieve collection. Work with your coach, a friend or even use video of yourself to assess that all this is in place. If you feel you are lacking in one area, go back to work on it, before progressing again.

When you do get to the point of collection, you will be helping build strength in the horse’s topline. Working in a collected way is so important, because it stimulates those key muscles along the horse’s back, neck and hindquarters, creating strength and suppleness. Not only will that then further the ability to work in a balanced and harmonious way, it can help to prevent injury — such as lameness stemming from back injuries or soreness. Collection will also help to develop a horse’s abdominal muscles and strengthen their core to support their topline through lifting upward towards it.

When collection is established, you will find it helps build the horse’s paces — they will become more uphill and lighter in the contact — which equals self-carriage. This in turn can be really beneficial for helping to improve longevity of a horse’s working life, as they take the impact and pressure off their weaker front limbs and put it back into their naturally stronger hind limbs.

Regardless of your chosen discipline, collection will allow your horse to go in an athletic way, with balance and will increase the “rideability” factor. Here are some training tips to help you on your way.

Variations in pace

• Establish working to medium steps within the chosen pace.
• Repeatedly, move the pace forward and then bring it back.
• Get used to controlling the variation of pace.
• Use walk to canter and canter to walk as it is an extension of the variations in pace.
• Focus on quality over quantity — canter or walk for as many strides as needed until the transition can be executed correctly.
• The upward transition must not be rushed and horses must push off from behind.
• It is the same principle for downward transitions — slow the canter and be in balance and relaxed before you transition to walk.

Introducing collected canter

• Pick up working canter.
• Introduce collecting the stride on the short side — go for approximately five strides.
• Go immediately back to working canter on the long side.
• To shorten horse’s stride, sit taller, lengthen your spine and include multiple half-halts in the rhythm of the horse’s stride (sit taller on the corner as you go in, slow your upper body and slow your seat). As soon as your horse responds give him a pat and canter forward.

You can also use counter-canter to help with straightness and collection and it is instrumental to improve the true canter. It will also help a horse use their backend and to find balance.

A counter canter exercise to aid collected canter

• Start on a large circle on the correct lead.
• Change the rein on a figure of eight remaining on the ‘wrong’ canter lead through the turn and up the long side, then back to change the rein on a figure of eight.
• Repeat this exercise regularly to aim for improvement in balance.
• It helps teach obedience as the horse must be listening to your aids.
• To begin with, start with only do a few counter circles and then gradually add more as the horse gains muscle and strength.
• Naturally on the turns, if ridden correctly, while in counter-canter your horse will collect.

Things to look out for

Sometimes riders pull their horses back to try and “collect”, riding front-to-back, rather than back-to-front. This will produce a shortened stride, but the horse will still have its weight on the forehand. You want your horse to push up from behind and into the contact.

It is physically demanding for a horse to learn collected canter, so don’t ask for too much too soon and ensure your horse is strong enough to carry his weight over his hind end.

Developing collection takes time — Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Collected canter: things to remember

• The horse needs to be ridden from the back end to front end with the energy coming from the hind quarters.
• Remember repetition, praise and reward.
• Work evenly on both reins
• Work in short bursts to start with and slowly build it up, making sure the horse has a break in between — like humans would have between sets at the gym.
• Take videos if possible so you can see your progression as it is easy in any training to think you have become “stuck”.
• Straightness and collection are interlinked, so improving one will help to achieve the other.
• Make sure you have enough leg on, otherwise the horse will lean on the forehand and break the pace.
• You should not be pulling back on the reins when trying to achieve collection.
• Go back to working/medium canter after the exercise as you don’t want your horse offering you a tiny canter with no energy.

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Dressage rider Jessica Dunn explains how to achieve harmony in the hand and stop a horse resisting the bridle

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Working hunter specialist Kelly Ward has won at all major county shows, Horse of the Year Show and Royal International. Her passion is sourcing young horses and starting them in the discipline. Here’s her advice on how to jump a stile or other narrow fences…

How to jump a stile

Bloomfield Incognito (pictured) came to me having never jumped. He’d had a few successful seasons on the flat and his owner wanted to try him as a working hunter.

He has a fabulous jump, but felt claustrophobic over skinnies. He would rush over the fence as if he felt the wings were too close. I went for a mid-width fence until he was more confident going through the wings. When he did start jumping true skinny fences, I spent a lot of time trotting through the narrow wings with a pole on the floor. Now, he will happily jump them.

The stile fence is found in most working hunter courses. The variety of stiles is huge and can consist of any filler, and can be a vertical or a spread. But they all have the same determining factor — they are skinny.

Skinnies are often described as bogey fences as they are easy to nip out at or knock down. But, if ridden correctly, they shouldn’t be any harder to jump than any other fence. It’s crucial not to jump your horse over a skinny until he’s established on the flat and jumping wider fences confidently.

Tackling the issue

1. Firstly, you must ensure your horse is in a straight line. He must be able to canter on a straight line between your hand and leg, otherwise he will struggle to jump a skinny.

2. When riding to a skinny, it is important to maintain rhythm in the canter. An inexperienced horse may need more help from his rider; if he feels like he’s going to wobble, wrap your legs around him and hold him straight to reassure him.

3. Always start with a small fence and use solid, wide wings, guide poles, or both, to channel him through the middle. If he never learns how to run out at a fence it won’t be an option that enters his mind — jumping skinnies will just be part of his normal jumping routine. If running out becomes an issue, go back to basics and re-educate him by starting the training process.

4. Once you have taught your horse to jump a skinny confidently, replicate some of the varieties you may see in the ring. Again, start small. Avoid waiting until you get to a show to introduce your first water tray under a skinny. Once your horse is jumping skinnies happily, he shouldn’t be any more likely to lose his jumping technique and knock that fence down than he would another fence on the course.

Things to consider…

• Never be complacent. Whether you have an older, more experienced horse or a young one, refresher schooling is important whatever stage of training he’s at.
• If you’re struggling, seek professional help. A fresh, well-trained eye on the ground can work wonders.

You might also be interested in:

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Event rider and coach Nick Gauntlett explains how you can use poles to dictate the rhythm that will give horse

Using cavaletti to improve the horse’s canter and balance

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

International showjumper and young horse producer, Sarah Lewis shares a jumping exercise designed to improve straightness and control for both horse and rider

This jumping exercise to improve straightness and control was taught to me by Malcolm Pyrah. I find this is useful for horses of all ages as it helps with concentration and it is also helpful for rider position and straightness. I find it particularly useful as a competition preparation exercise as it really focusses on rider concentration and reaction time. It can easily be done in a 20x60m or slightly smaller arena.

Sarah’s jumping straightness and control exercise

The exercise is performed out of trot. Start with a pole on the ground and 3.5 paces to a cross pole.

Ensure you ride a good corner and are straight when coming to the pole (and that the grid itself is straight). Make sure the horse keeps his trot and correct him if he breaks into canter.

Once he is happy and relaxed put a second cross pole at 3.5 paces from the first and repeat the exercise. Each time, re-establish the straightness and the trot after the fence.

Add a third cross pole at another 3.5 paces and then finally a small vertical (80/90cm) at approximately eight paces, before making the vertical into an ascending oxer.

Once the horse is relaxed about the grid, exit the grid by allowing him to canter on.

With young horses, follow the lead they land on to make it easy and come back around and jump the little oxer on its own at a slight angle (40°). On landing, correct the lead and repeat that step in the other direction.

Then, complete the entire grid a few times, gradually increasing the size of the oxer. Even on an experienced horse you would not need to have the oxer much bigger than 1/1.05m.

The grid is useful to work on straightness, overcoming green wobbles and on rider position and straightness.

I find that the angled approach to the little oxer really helps both horse and rider with reaction times and gets you both looking for the fence, which is essential in the ring.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

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International showjumper Holly Smith (pictured) uses this showjumping gridwork exercise with both her younger and more experienced horses to help them jump a flowing round.

Holly explains her “showjumping gym” gridwork exercise…

The three main things I consider when riding a showjumping course are time, attention and care. This exercise enables you to practise pushing horses on between lines and bringing them back, getting them to focus. Mistakes are made when horses run on and you no longer have their full concentration, so this helps prevent that.

I call it a “gym layout”, which combines a variety of trotting poles, cavaletti, cross-pole oxers and narrow fillers with guide poles arranged into grids.

It’s a workout I find especially useful with my top horses when I feel they need to leave the floor, but I don’t want to jump them over big fences and put unnecessary strain on their tendons and ligaments.

It’s also something I introduce early on with the youngsters — I make it really easy and just start with poles on the ground. It’s a big help with the canter, particularly as some horses don’t initially have the confidence to canter over fences.

The showjumping gridwork exercise

It is based around grids, incorporating placing poles, cavaletti and fences on both bounces and longer distances. You can mix and match to suit each horse and I usually introduce a new challenge to a line at least once during the session.

1. To start, set up three or four lines of different fence combinations, one of which might just be trotting poles raised at alternate ends.

2. I start out gently to make sure the horse is understanding the question. Cavaletti and poles should be falling in the centre of the arc of the horse’s stride or jump. Once the horse is jumping each line correctly, I start to come up with some “gym circuits”.

3. Some of the trickier elements — such as a skinny filler with guide poles — I might introduce individually, and then add into a grid later on. I like to “skinny train” my showjumpers, as course builders can throw in some surprises.

4. I usually put a cross-pole oxer at the end of a line or in the middle of a grid, as this help with straightness. V-poles, guide rails and poles as “tunnels” on the floor all help to stop any drifting.

5. I will introduce a bigger fence into a line — at a max of 1.10m — to help keep their concentration.

6. Between lines you can also introduce some exercises on the flat. I like to do a canter to walk transition and then ask the horses to move their hindquarters around 180°, while keeping their shoulders still (turn on the forehand), before going back into canter. It teaches them balance and gets them stepping under. As you move out of the exercise, it emphasises turning from the outside rein.

Continued below…

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This simple exercise provides a solid foundation for skinnies and arrowheads to help you when jumping a horse on an

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Tips and pitfalls

• Make sure to give plenty of rests as injuries are most likely to occur when a horse is tired.
• There will often be lots of long lines and tight turns in an arena set-up, so it’s important to keep control of the horse’s outside shoulder.
• If a horse isn’t paying attention, introduce V-poles on the sides of the fences to help.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

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The highlight of Oxfordshire-based Irish event rider Aoife Clark’s career to date is seventh at the 2012 Olympics with Master Crusoe. Aoife has won at Bramham and Blenheim, and has had two top-10 Badminton finishes. She competed a string of 10 horses this season and gave birth to baby Patrick in May 2019. Here she shares her advice on how to keep your horse straight over a fence.

How to keep your horse straight over a fence

I love this exercise and use it on my experienced horses, including Fernhill Adventure and Celus D Ermac Z, as well as the youngsters. I vary the intensity of it with the height of the fences and the size of the loops — not less than 20-30m for the youngsters or 15m for the advanced horses.

Falling out through the outside shoulder on a turn is a common problem and it can lead to issues in keeping straight to a fence. I use this simple gymnastic exercise because it helps to keep the shoulders straight, plus it is brilliant for improving rideability, suppleness and balance.

Tackling the issue

1. To warm up, place a few cross-poles along the centre line of your school (see diagram). How many you use will depend on the size of your school. Also place parallel feeder poles before and after each cross-pole, to encourage straightness.

2. With a young horse, ride through the serpentine in trot first to help him stay balanced. Concentrate on keeping straight through the feeder poles for at least a couple of strides after each obstacle. Then focus on trying to ride the turns square. Remember to use your outside aids to encourage your horse not to collapse in on the bend, which will lead to his shoulders falling out. This is the vital part of the exercise.

3. If the horse has understood the exercise, progress to tackling the serpentine in canter. If he lands on the wrong leg, bring him back to trot to change legs, but keep riding the square turns.

4. Concentrate on keeping your body upright in the saddle and make sure you look in the direction in which you are heading. If you collapse, so will the horse, and he will lose his balance on landing. Your position should encourage your horse to land on the correct leg for the turn while also maintaining straightness during landing.

Continued below…

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Things to consider

• This can be a difficult exercise for younger horses who struggle with balance, so don’t overdo it initially.
• Repetition and consistency is key, but if the horse doesn’t understand what to do, return to it another time.
• For experienced horses, gradually increase the difficulty by raising the fences and removing the feeder poles to test straightness.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

The Hickstead Derby winner explains how to get your horse to make a better shape over fences

In 2019, Ireland’s Mikey Pender became the youngest-ever winner of the Hickstead Derby, aged 19. He also became the first rider in nearly 40 years to lift the Boomerang trophy at his first attempt at the title. Mikey has also competed for Ireland in three pony European Championships — finishing fifth aboard his horse Imagine If One in 2015 — as well as one junior and one young rider European Championships. Here he explains how to get your horse to make a better shape over fences

Training the stars

I have used this exercise a lot with my Hickstead Derby winner, the 12-year-old puissance specialist Hearton Du Bois Halleux, as he can become strong going into fences. This has helped him jump a lot more smoothly.

I use this exercise for all my horses — whatever their age and level they’re working at — usually about once every two weeks.

My aim is for the horse to jump through this combination straight, to be relaxed, make a good shape over the fences and then land on whatever canter lead I ask for.

How to get your horse to make a better shape over fences

1. On the centre line of the arena, set up a small vertical, around 90cm-1.20m in height, depending on your horse’s experience and jumping ability. Place a pole on the floor three metres behind this vertical. Then three metres behind that pole, place another small vertical, the same height as the first one.

Place ground poles about half a metre in front of each of the verticals, or just over if the verticals are up to height.

2. Having warmed up, approach in canter, making sure the horse is relaxed. Change the rein and repeat.

3. How often you repeat this exercise depends on whether you are happy with the way the horse is feeling. Some horses only need to do it twice, others need more attempts. Once the horse has given you the right feeling once or twice in a row, that’s enough. It’s all about the effort the horse gives you.

Continued below…

#SundaySchool: the showjumping ‘gym’ with Holly Smith

The international showjumper talks us through this multi-fence workout which she uses with both her younger and more experienced horses

#SundaySchool: Laura Renwick — how to improve jump-off turns

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Consider this…

• Don’t repeat this exercise more than 10 times in any one session.
• Some horses will make a rounder shape jumping the verticals if they are 1.10m high rather than 90cm. It all depends on the horse.
• Don’t be tempted to make the verticals any bigger than 1.20m. There’s no need — it’s about technique, not height.
• If your horse isn’t relaxed, do some flatwork until he settles.
• If a horse is still going too fast and is rushing towards the second vertical, add a ground pole placed three metres after the second vertical. I only do this on rare occasions, though.
• If the horse isn’t jumping straight, add V-poles — do whatever it takes to teach them to keep straight.
• You could start with just the one vertical and landing pole when introducing a three- or four-year-old for the first time.

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Patience and preparation are key, but is there a tried-and-tested route to producing a horse to the top level? Sarah Radford asks the experts

THERE has never been a better time to be a producer of young horses. At the top end of the sport, a burgeoning calendar of five-star shows creates an insatiable demand for big-track jumpers. At the amateur level, horse sales are also booming, with lockdowns prompting unexpectedly time-rich enthusiasts to focus on their passions.

While this may be an attractive market, with big money to be made for the right horse, producing is a long and expensive game that can be riddled with disappointment.

“A lot depends on the end game of the producer – they need to evaluate how good the horse is and what their financial pressure is,” Olympic team gold medallist Peter Charles explains. “You have to learn to judge a horse’s ability to learn and its physical strength.”

Often, the guiding principle in horse production is not so much about knowing what to do, as knowing what not to do.

“The most important thing with a young horse is not to mess them up. You need to protect the horse at all times until it gets to seven or eight,” says Irishman Ger O’Neill (pictured below) of Castlefield Sports Horses, who has an established track record at producing to the top level.

“There are a lot of individual systems, and that’s fine, but once you do too much too early you ruin a horse and many get lost in the system because of it.”

In the UK and Ireland, many adhere to the traditional approach of backing horses as three-year-olds before turning them away. This is followed by further light education and potentially the introduction of competition at four.

West Sussex producer Alex Hempleman follows this approach. But while he may have his four-year-olds “popping a course at home,” he likes to give them lots of breaks and acknowledges that “the best place for a four-year-old is often in the field”.

“We all have the young horse championships in our mind and while they might be a nice thing to do, ultimately we are looking to produce a horse as best we can. There is no point giving a horse a bad experience,” he counsels.

Increasing knowledge of the impact of stress on the immature skeleton, particularly in bigger and slower-maturing modern warmbloods, has prompted some producers to delay backing until they are older. It can also reduce the risk of asking too much too soon from a capable horse.

It’s tempting to aim a good four-year-old at young horse championships, but this can be a contentious issue, with people concerned over the demands on young horses, particularly in the younger bracket.

Peter is among those who waits to start a horse until the spring of their four-year-old year.

“Mine do hardly anything until they’re five as that way you don’t overjump or overtrain them,” he says.

HOWEVER, the choices producers make are realistically often influenced by business model.

“William Funnell does a super job at the Billy Stud but he has to sell on a large basis, so it’s important for him to get his horses out in age classes,” Peter says.

“Buyers do compare results but that only tells one part of the story. I breed five to six horses a year and because I am producing a low number I can afford to take my time.”

Kim Barzilay, who has produced horses through the British system that have gone on to championship level, including Tinka’s Serenade, Lizziemary and Kimba Flamenco, gives her horses a brief start as three-year-olds but is cautious not to rush them into the ring.

“We don’t chase championships with four-year-olds, we let them enjoy life and know when to stop and give them a break,” she says. “I earn my living buying and selling, so producing our home-breds to Foxhunter is recreational for me really.”

Shirley Light, who runs the Brendon Stud at Pyecombe, usually contests the young horse championships but adopts a common sense approach.

“What a horse is ready to do depends on their temperament and conformation,” she says. “If they’re a little rubber ball or big old cruise liner that will make a massive difference, as does their attitude and intelligence.”

If you are campaigning a four-year-old, she says, it is best to pick your shows wisely and pace them.

“Some of the four-year-old classes get too big too early in the year and we don’t jump those any more,” she says. “I also don’t believe in starting them off too early, it’s a long year for them then while they’re still growing.”

Ger has been successful in young horse finals, winning at the world breeding championships for young horses at Lanaken, Belgium, four times – once with a five-year-old, twice with six-year-olds and once with a seven-year-old – but says he would only aim to be competitive there with a particular kind of horse.

These are usually smaller, quicker and more agile horses that are often faster-developing, have natural balance and are more likely to be ready to jump against the clock. Winners at Lanaken, however, are not necessarily the ones who will go on to a big-track career.

“Those horses would probably go on to jump 1.35m or 1.40m. If it’s a mare, it will look good on her CV and you might breed from her at that point. You can ask them more early on because they won’t need to jump the biggest grand prix at nine or 10,” Ger explains. “Those horses [who will go on to big tracks] you will be more happy with for jumping a double clear. Quite often it’s the horse who finishes fifth who is the one everyone is trying to buy.”

Ger adds that big-jumping horses often “come late” and are the ones you’d usually want to put back in the field once they’re established. It’s at this stage that experience can become critical in evaluating the calibre of horse you have.

“You can end up taking advantage of a horse if it’s very talented, as they find it easier, and I’ve done it in the past,” Peter warns, recalling that with his 2012 Olympic ride Vindicat, he was always playing the long game.

“He was with me from five years old and he was nine before I asked him to win a class. Winning is not something that impresses me, it’s the capability of winning later on that matters.”

AS the market for horses has become increasingly global, production systems have become more standardised. Ger notes, however, that Ireland and Britain “do have a name for producing their horses a bit quicker” than in some areas of Europe.

Emma Stoker established a great reputation for producing young horses while working for Townhead Stud, but is now based in Belgium riding for Axel Verlooy. She says she was surprised to find the approach to starting young horses there is slower and more relaxed than in the UK.

“They are allowed to be horses for longer,” she says.

Horses at Axel’s typically start being handled at four but do very little until the age of six.

“They might jump them a bit at four and if they have a mare that looks good, they’ll turn it away to have a foal first and then they’ll start it again at six – that would be unheard of in the UK, it would be too late to aim for Foxhunters,” says Emma.

“But you can give them a bit more of a consistent education rather than starting and stopping.

“We had a really nice five-year-old last year that I was desperate to take to a show but Axel said, ‘No, it doesn’t need to.’ This year we took it to two day shows and then to the Sunshine Tour and she did a better job there than most just because we waited. She was like a sponge.”

For Emma and others, the foundation “checklist” they like to see established at home to ensure a positive first experience in the ring is the ability for the horse to accept the hand and leg and to have a basic ability to shorten and lengthen.

“You need the engine, the clutch and the brake,” she says. “We spend more time on that than jumping – these simple things make everything else a lot easier.”

Turns are broadly viewed by producers as less worrying for horses than speed.

“I’ve never forgotten what Marion Hughes once told me: ‘Don’t ask a horse to go faster than it’s comfortable with because as soon as a horse is outside of its comfort zone, that’s when you start to do damage,’” says Ger.

Emma adds: “My idea of producing a horse to do a jump-off is so it doesn’t know it’s gone fast, it’s just smooth.

“I always try to make turns a little tighter rather than gallop.”

Continental tours have increasingly become viewed as the ideal environment for bringing on a young horse, offering the advantage of four to six weeks of intensive education, gradually building a horse’s confidence around appropriately built age tracks.

Ger feels they offer reliably good ground and course-building, but he says it is equally possible to produce a horse on a domestic circuit.

“The problem [in Ireland] is that sometimes county shows might not be built by someone who knows young horses and the fences might be old-fashioned and heavy and could frighten a horse,” he says. “On a tour you might be able to do eight or nine classes across four weeks and really bring the horse on.”

Emma agrees that the Continental approach to course-building is well judged, and is certainly beneficial to correct production.

“In four-, five- and six-year-old classes all the fences have groundlines, no distances are too short and they can really learn,” she says. “There are no traps.”

Others argue that the system within Britain – which combines traditional newcomers and Foxhunters, which are open to all ages of horse, with age class series – are more than adequate for the job.

“Britain has produced many grand prix horses,” says Shirley Light. “But an unfriendly track puts pressure on horses, far more pressure than a rider does.

“Short distances can pull their heads off the fence – you just want flowing, simple tracks for four-year-olds and nothing too technical for five-year-olds.

“One of the things I like in Europe is that their age class tracks are the same height in the first round and the jump-off; you know what you’re getting,” she adds. “I’d like to see it in this country in all our training shows.”

Whichever route people feel is right for their horses, there is certainly one element everyone needs to master before dealing with the responsibility of moulding a showjumper for its future.

“You need patience,” says Emma. “You have to have so much patience.”

You can also read this featutre in the 27 May issue of Horse & Hound magazine.

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This exercise, as explained by five-star Irish event rider, Camilla Speirs (pictured), explains how to improve lead changes over a fence.

Aim

The aim of the exercise is to improve straightness in the horse and the accuracy of the rider on a circle. Over time, it will also improve lead changes over a fence, as the horse develops his agility.

How to improve lead changes over a fence

1. Set up the exercise of four verticals and two oxers in the school. The blocks (X on diagram) act as markers, to help you ride a consistent, even circle. The inside circle should be 20-25m, and then 30-35m on the outside. With young horses, the blocks ensure they don’t fall in or out (depending on which line you are taking), and simultaneously make sure the rider stays accurate.

2. Young horses often waver in front of the fence if they’re coming on a tight line or circle, so it’s extremely important that the horse jumps the middle of the pole. I keep them dead straight and then, if they have a pole down, they’ve made their own mistake. Eventually, they’ll learn they need to give themselves room, back off and jump cleanly.

3. At first, it’s not a priority to influence which leg the horse lands on. I often find young horses can get flustered and lose the quality of the jump if you insist they land on the correct leg each time. For me, it’s about keeping them straight and I’ll encourage them to do a lead change after landing.

4. With older horses, this exercise helps the change of leg over the fence. All horses have a favourite leg to land on and this exercise highlights that.

5. I don’t want to encourage the correct inside leg by pulling on the inside rein or by throwing my weight to the inside, nor diminish the quality of the jump in any way. Without complicating things too much, I keep my body in the centre at all times and think about pushing the horse over the fences with my new inside leg and holding them with my new outside rein. They must not veer left or right in front of the fence and they must take off parallel behind.

6. Gradually build the verticals higher and the oxers wider. Over time, this exercise will encourage the horse to be careful and use their scope as they jump.

Article continues below…

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#SundaySchool: how to improve rhythm over fences

Event rider and coach Nick Gauntlett explains how you can use poles to dictate the rhythm that will give horse

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The five-star eventer shows how the figure-of-eight jumping exercise can help develop balance, rhythm and the ability to land on

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Tips and pitfalls

• Do not fall into the trap of looking to the base of the fence. The rider must keep eyes up and around the circle. This helps keep the horse balanced and off the forehand.
• Keep your upper body back to give the horse room to tackle the verticals and make sure you stay in your jumping position on landing from the oxers, so the horse has time to finish behind.
• On tighter circles, the horse will naturally lose impulsion. Use lots of leg and keep the canter active, so you don’t lose the quality of the jump.

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Talented young showjumper Graham Babes explains how he improves his horses’ rhythm and straightness in a sequence of fences

Graham, 23, grew up with horses at the family’s Darwhilling Equestrian Centre in Scotland. He has competed in showjumping since the age of eight, and won team gold at the 2011 pony European Championships and team silver at the 2018 young

rider Europeans.

Training the stars

As my eight-year-old, Glencoe, has an exuberant jump and a big stride, he used to find combinations difficult. He would sometimes drift to the side to give himself more distance between fences. This exercise taught him to shorten his stride and jump more economically over combinations without any interference from me.

The exercise

I set up this exercise in the centre of the arena (see diagram) as it allows you to approach from either rein. The aim is to improve obedience, rhythm and straightness through a combination. It is also extremely beneficial as it helps you concentrate on your own position over the fences.

Tackling the issue

1. Start by building one small vertical fence with V-poles. On the ground, nine feet from the vertical, place a plank on the landing side.

2. Once your horse understands the exercise, you can add more elements. Place the second vertical eight feet from the plank and, again, add another canter plank nine feet from this second vertical on the landing side.

3. Add a third fence in the same way, but leave out the canter plank after the fence this time. Start with verticals, then change the last element to an oxer. This can be made higher and wider progressively to allow your horse to develop his scope. Only increase the height and width as your horse’s confidence builds.

4. You can adjust the height of the fences to suit your horse’s experience. With the younger horses, I find the V-poles and the canter planks catch their attention immediately, so I prefer to keep the verticals small to allow them to remain relaxed. I want them to focus on their straightness between the V-poles and not to overjump, as that then makes the distance to the canter plank tight.

For older horses, it keeps them athletic and strong without overjumping. It also gives them a change from cantering around a course of fences.

Continued below…

#SundaySchool: the showjumping ‘gym’ with Holly Smith

The international showjumper talks us through this multi-fence

#SundaySchool: William Whitaker on how to develop rhythm

Sharpen up your showjumping basics with this curved

Consider this…

• Use planks instead of poles. If your horse stands on a pole, it will roll and could cause injury.
• Be aware of your own position and straightness, so you don’t unbalance or hinder your horse.
• Approach the gymnastic line off alternate reins as this helps your horse become more flexible on both reins.
• Only increase the height and width as your horse’s confidence builds.

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Going to a competition well prepared does wonders for your confidence – and hopefully your results. Becky Murray checks out some of the best venues to help you get ready for the 2021 season

With spring in sight and once lockdown restrictions ease, our thoughts are turning to the competition season. It’s difficult not to get excited at the thought of setting new goals and riding at some of our favourite centres again. Top riders and coaches agree that riding in a relaxed setting away from home is a key part of competition preparation – for the rider and the horse. We find out what the professionals have to say, and explore what facilities are on offer at some of the UK’s top venues.

Showjumper Holly Smith says when preparing for competition, you have to know what to expect from your horse away from home.

“I try to take the young horses out once a week,” she explains. “Training in a non-competition environment enables you to repeat exercises and make corrections until you get it right – without the stress of getting a bad result.”

And this is no different when preparing for the white boards, agrees international dressage rider Maria Eilberg.

“If you know you’re going to be competing in a challenging environment where there are banners everywhere, then you want to try to provoke the horse a little bit in training with things they’ll be faced with,” says Maria, who regularly visits Unicorn Trust Equestrian Centre, near Cheltenham, and Solihull Riding Club in the West Midlands. “If you’ve done the preparation, the finale of doing your test should be the easy bit.”

Olympic eventer Vittoria Panizzon says it’s important to take horses out cross-country schooling on different surfaces in the run-up to the season.

“Taking them to different places regularly is really important so they become less tense when going out,” says Vittoria, who is a fan of Lyneham Heath Equestrian in Oxfordshire. “You can be practising one thing at home but it can be very different when you’re away.”

Scotland

MORRIS EQUESTRIAN CENTRE, AYRSHIRE

This welcoming venue (pictured) offers large indoor facilities, regularly hosting Horsescotland squad training. It built a new outdoor arena in 2020, with more expansion plans for 2021 including a canter track and forest walk. It hosts BS and BD competitions.

● Indoor arena 95x50m £100

● Indoor warm-up arena 45x20m £45

● Outdoor arena 95x45m £55

● Outdoor warm-up 40x20m £35

LINDORES EQUESTRIAN, FIFE

Offering 125 cross-country fences across 85 acres of countryside, this venue is favoured by some of Scotland’s ve-star riders, including Louisa Milne Home. The 30cm to 1.05m course, featuring a water complex, is maintained by BE- accredited course-builder.

Midlands

VALE VIEW EQUESTRIAN, LEICESTERSHIRE

This premier competition centre (pictured top) is rated by riders across the disciplines with an enviable cross-country arena catering up to 1.10m.

It offers a tack shop, plus clinics with event coach Caroline Moore and international dressage rider Amy Woodhead.

● Indoor International arena 70x30m £40 plus VAT

● Indoor National arena 66x25m £30 plus VAT

● All-weather cross-country across four arenas £27.50 plus VAT

Amy puts Vale View at the top of her list for training her horses in the run-up to competitions.

“I really recommend training away from home and practising your test inside the white boards, especially for amateur riders, who are not going in the ring as much as a professional,” she says.

“In 2020 I made a big effort to take the horses away schooling regularly and I had the best year I’ve ever had with my results.”

ASTON-LE-WALLS, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

The base of international eventer Nigel Taylor and Olympic rider Ann Taylor offers “everything you’re ever going to need”. The facility has cross-country fences from 65cm to advanced and hosts BD, BE and BS events.

● Indoor arena 55x30m £25

● Outdoor arena 60x20m with mirrors £25

● Showjumping arena 100x80m £25

● KBIS all-weather cross-country arena 105x75m £36

● 30-acre cross-country schooling field £30

The north

KELSALL HILL EQUESTRIAN CENTRE, CHESHIRE

This venue offers state-of-the-art facilities, with the added bonus of a seven-mile farm ride, plus water complex, gallops and cafe. There are plans for an equestrian retailer to open later in the year and the centre hosts BE and BS competitions.

● Indoor competition arena 72x45m £50

● Indoor Primrose View arena 60x30m £35

● Outdoor Lake View arena 110x70m £15 atwork, £25 with showjumps, £30 for arena eventing

● Outdoor Lake Side arena 64x46m (prices as per Lake View arena. The two combine for arena eventing)

● Cross-country schooling field £20

● BE cross-country course (available after the venue’s horse trials) £25

RICHMOND EQUESTRIAN CENTRE, YORKSHIRE

This family-run centre hosts a liated showjumping, dressage and eventing. Richmond installed a cross-country water complex last year and holds clinics with top coaches, including Lucinda Green.

● Indoor Richmond arena 70x26m £30

● Indoor Tunstall arena 36x30m £25

● Outdoor Yorkshire arena 70mx50m £30 including portable cross-country fences or working hunter fences

● Outdoor Breckenbrough arena 60x20m £25

● BE cross-country course (available after the venue’s horse trials) £30

Showjumping coach Ernest Dillon touts Richmond as a “five-star establishment” and one of his top venues to teach at: “The outdoor with the arena eventing jumps and the cross-country course are fantastic. I couldn’t praise it highly enough,” he says.

Wales

BEACONS EQUESTRIAN, CARMARTHENSHIRE

Beacons promises a “supportive atmosphere”. The centre holds unaffiliated competition, BS and BD including Area Festivals, as well as clinics with inter I dressage rider Victoria Jenner.

● Outdoor main arena 80x30m £25 for two horses

● Outdoor arena 60x30m £20

● Outdoor arena 40×20 £15

● Arena eventing across the 60x30m and 40x20m arenas £35 for two horses

RADFORDS EQUESTRIAN, LLANYMYNECH

Set on the English/Welsh border, this BE venue “caters for everybody” and o ers competitive pricing. It features a farm ride as well as two water complexes, and hosts BD and BS competitions.

● Outdoor arena 80x30m £15

● Outdoor arena 45×25 £12

● Indoor arena 41x21m £15

● Cross-country schooling area £15

● BE cross-country course (available after horse trials) £20

East

KEYSOE COLLEGE EQUESTRIAN CENTRE, BEDFORDSHIRE

This centre is home to a number of shows, including BS plus international dressage and eventing. It offers cross-country schooling across 25 acres.

● Indoor competition arena 66x30m £60 (£50 without jumps)

● Indoor collecting arena forflatwork 60x30m £50

● Outdoor arena 84x64m £50

● Clopf arena 110x40m with portable cross-country fences £50

● Three 20x60m dressage arenas £25

● Cross-country schooling including water complex £35

BOYTON HALL, SUFFOLK

This centre provides “affordable” training in its two arenas. It runs unaffiliated shows and holds training clinics with former international event rider Fiona van Tuyll.

● Outdoor showjumping arena 60x40m £15 with showjumpers or arena eventing fences

● Outdoor dressage arena 70x30m with mirrors £15

Suffolk-based young rider Alice Hallows, who competes up to CCI3*, uses a variety of East Anglian venues to tune her eventers up.

“Great Witchingham [Blackwater Farm, Norfolk] is good for giving the horses the experience of a whole course, so a competition feel with some bold fences, to check you have all the gears working,” Alice says. “Little Downham [Cambridgeshire] is great for technical lines and water jumps, so I go to both.

“For all-weather, I go to Anvil Park Stud [Norfolk] and Codham Park Equestrian [Essex], which both have great surfaces and plenty of space.”

South-west

BICTON ARENA, DEVON

Host of the international horse trials, Bicton offers an “atmospheric feel” situated on Grade I-listed parkland. The Western Counties arena and Bond arena link together with cross-country fences, and the all-weather surfaces allow for all-year schooling. It also holds BS and BD shows.

● NAF Five Star arena 90x50m £25

● Western Counties arena 70x60m £25

● Bond arena 70x30m and Western Countries with arena eventing course £30

● BE cross-country course (available for one week after each horse trials fixture) £30

Australian Olympic eventer Chris Burton says Bicton is a fantastic facility thanks to its multiple all-weather surfaces.

“Bicton is a venue I train at a lot,” says Chris. “It’s very educational for all levels.”

CHARD EQUESTRIAN, SOMERSET

This purpose-built facility holds BD and BS shows, and for 2021 will host a Nexgen Young Horse Series qualifier.

● Outdoor 90x60m £20

● Outdoor 90x75m including arena eventing course £25

● Outdoor 65x35m £15 for atwork, £18 with dressage white boards

● Unaffiliated cross-country course 50–60cm £20 (untimed)

● Unaffiliated cross-country course to 1m £25 (untimed)

South-east

WELLINGTON RIDING, HAMPSHIRE

This international competition centre caters for grassroots to elite level. It hosts BD, BE and BS shows, has a tack shop plus top-of-the-range clubhouse.

● Outdoor Waterloo arena 100x85m £35 per 30 minutes (arena eventing course available)

● Indoor Duke’s Hall 70x30m £35 per 30 minutes

● Cross-country schooling field £25

THE ALL ENGLAND JUMPING COURSE, HICKSTEAD, W SUSSEX

Home to the famous Hickstead Derby, this international venue (pictured) launched arena hire in 2019. It offers schooling facilities from 60cm to 1.10m.

● All-weather cross-country schooling across three arenas; Equine America arena (130x70m), Coldstream Equestrian arena (90x60m) and Equine America water complex (65x45m) £36 per hour

● 2Plan Arena 80x50m with showjumping track built by Ben Townley. £60 per hour up to a group of six.

International showjumping coach Corinne Bracken says it’s “crucial” to train at different venues, and she recommends Wellington Riding and Hickstead.

“Having your home instructor with you is important – this gives you a good baseline of where you’re at before you go to a competition,” says Corinne. “It’s about planning for the first show, not just turning up and seeing what happens.”

All prices per horse, per hour, inclusive of showjumps and dressage white boards, unless stated

This feature was also published in H&H magazine, 25 February 2021

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Is remote training over video call the way forward, or is it putting horses and riders at risk? Ellie Hughes investigates

Top of Pammy Hutton’s list of pandemic achievements, she reveals, is training Trinidad-based rider Michelle Sabga-Aboud from advanced medium to grand prix in six months – all via Zoom. Thanks to modern technology the Bristol University student, who had been riding at Talland while studying in the UK, has been able to continue progressing under Pammy’s expert eye since being locked down in the Caribbean.

Twelve months ago the idea that you could be perfecting your piaffe more than 4,000 miles away from the person telling you how to do it would have been unthinkable, but events of the past year have made us look anew at everything, including how we train our horses and stay motivated.

Online coaching via platforms such as Zoom, Pixio and FaceTime have opened doors that would have otherwise remained rmly closed, but the subject of remote riding has divided opinion among trainers. There are those who extol its virtues and those who take a more cautious view, questioning its impact on teaching standards and rider learning, as well as highlighting potential safety concerns.

So what do riders need to consider before turning on their headsets? What works remotely and what doesn’t? And what does the future hold?

“I worry that there are a lot of uncontrollables when you are linked up to a rider purely through technology,” says eventing coach and former Olympian Eric Smiley. “If the trainer knows the pupil, the horse and the surroundings then some of the safety bases are covered, but even the most experienced trainer cannot be 100% in control of a remote lesson because they cannot see beyond the reach of the camera.”

International dressage rider and trainer Adam Kemp shares Eric’s concerns. It is one of the reasons he does not offer remote teaching, preferring instead to travel to clients’ yards – at his own expense – to deliver one-to-one training in person.

“Yes there is a safety element to it, but also for me coaching is so much more than just switching on a camera and giving a lesson,” he says. “It’s a two-way dynamic and I just don’t feel connected to a horse or rider when I’m looking at them on a screen. I don’t like not being able to read their body language.”

British dressage regional coach and UKCC level two instructor Janine Lamy admits that she finds it hard to pitch a lesson with no personal interaction.

“From the moment I turn up to teach somebody I will be assessing their mood, how they are interacting with the horse and all the other little clues I can glean that determine how I might pitch my lesson on that particular day and what we should – or shouldn’t – be working on,” she explains. “You can’t do it when you are talking via a headset.”

To a certain extent the same is true of the horse.

“I can see a horse cantering round with its ears pricked on a screen, but I can’t tell what is going on at a deeper level; for example, I can’t tell whether it is really taking the rider forward,” Eric points out.

Remote training has also highlighted differences in how riders learn.

“For riders who learn visually and by watching others it is hard,” says Janine. “When I’m teaching a lesson in person

and introducing a new movement I might demonstrate on foot what a half-pass or a walk pirouette looks like, but I can’t do that if I’m not there. “Or I might say, ‘Don’t do that with your hands, do this,’ and show them what I mean – but that won’t work either. As a teacher you are very restricted in the way you can explain things.”

But Pammy believes that such obstacles can be overcome.

“You have to be prepared for a bit of trial and error,” she says. “It is part of the reason I charge less for Zoom lessons – I can never guarantee I will see everything and it can take time to get the technology set up, but I think that being able to have continuity and a focus for training outweigh the negatives.”

Her student, Michelle Sabga-Aboud, agrees: “There hasn’t been a movement that Pammy hasn’t been able to improve, and if we run into an obstacle she always finds a new approach,” she says. “The only thing is I think she sometimes wishes she could jump out of the screen!”

Even with fairly basic technology, Pammy says she is still able to see the length and width of a 60x20m arena.

“It requires a lot of concentration and I would nd more than three remote lessons back to back too much as it’s very tiring for your eyes,” she says. “But even at the far end of the arena where the horse is only a three centimetre dot at the bottom of the screen, I can still generally tell whether it has too much inside bend, or if the rider is using too much outside rein or pulling too much, even if it is by looking at what the horse’s muscles are doing.

“And I am always 100% honest – you have to be – and I will never pretend I have seen a flying change if I haven’t.”

Showjumping trainer Ernest Dillon, who uses Zoom to continue to train existing clients, believes many of the concerns surrounding remote training are, in fact, equally applicable however a lesson is delivered.

“Showjumping is not complicated, but nowadays some trainers make it so,” Ernest says. “Teaching and learning happen best when you keep things simple and focus on the basics. This is something I strongly believe in regardless of how I deliver my lessons.

“Too many trainers give over-complicated instructions dressed up in fancy language, which leads to confusion for the rider and the horse. Do this remotely and you have an even greater problem.”

Ernest likes to discuss a lesson plan with the rider in advance so they can set up exercises (see below).

The issue of teaching standards is also something that bothers Adam Kemp.

“Teaching is an unregulated and unquali ed service, and going online provides a much bigger platform for anyone to give it a go,” he points out. “Even in normal times there is a temptation for riders to chop and change trainers and to try someone new who might be fashionable at the time or who

is good at promoting themselves online,” Adam adds, “but unless they are a good communicator and familiar with the rider, the horse and the setup then there is the potential for confusion [at best] and danger [at worst].

“I want to look after the integrity of my trade at all costs, and to me that means being in an arena with the horse and rider.”

Pammy agrees that riders should carefully consider from whom they accept advice. “Never forget to look up the qualifications of the person you’re learning from – and that applies equally to remote and real-life teaching,” she warns.

There is no doubt that online lessons have played a valuable role in keeping coaches in business, and riders and horses learning through the past year. It is likely they are here to stay, but the word on the street is that we should proceed with caution.

“We need to be very careful that virtual teaching doesn’t end up becoming the new norm,” warns Eric. “It certainly has its place, but to rely on it solely would be a mistake and, I believe, detrimental to equestrianism as a whole.”

The rider’s view

Dressage rider Becky Latimer (pictured) put training on hold during the first lockdown, but when competition ground to a halt again over the winter she was determined to find a way to stay motivated and on track with her aim of competing at prix st georges by the summer with Harley I, the gelding on whom she won a novice regional title in 2019.

Becky signed up to a six-week online training package devised by grand prix rider and coach Henry Boswell. It comprised weekly remote lessons plus support, advice and insight in between.

“I am a very target-driven person and I have to fit in riding around work and family, so this set-up has given my training impetus and helped me use my time constructively,” says Becky. “I have never met Henry in person but we are in constant communication. I use [the online platform] Pixio for lessons and Henry and I talk in advance about what we will be working on during a session.

“One of the downsides is that once the camera is positioned you don’t want to be moving it around, so for example if Henry is “sitting” on the centre line he can’t see whether my shoulder-in down the long side is correctly on three tracks, but we tailor exercises accordingly and find ways to work through any technological issues.

“I don’t believe virtual lessons will ever be a replacement for the real thing and I would not want them to be, but I like the regularity they offer, and if interspersing remote coaching with real-time lessons means I can train more often then I will be carrying on with them.”

The jumping view

Florida-based Jackie Bachor has been training with Ernest Dillon for 20 years and says that Zoom lessons have filled a much-needed training void during the pandemic.

“I feel I have made real progress with my young horse this year despite the situation,” she says. “One of the biggest benefits of Zoom is that it gives you the ability to record lessons, so I spend time reviewing them, asking questions and making corrections ahead of the next lesson.

“Trot and canter poles, cavaletti and gymnastic grids are probably the best exercises for remote training because I only have one static camera,” she continues.

“The downsides of only having one view are that some of the detail can get lost. Working on the flat is harder [without more high-tech equipment] because I often end up riding out of the frame.

“There are also things I can feel from my horse during the lesson that I think Ernest would pick up on if he were on the ground, but I have to stop and explain them. Sometimes I have to ask him about the tempo and whether I’m going too fast or too slow, but the video is pretty good unless the connection blips out during the exercise, which has happened a couple times.”

This feature was also published in H&H magazine, 25 February 2021

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Caroline Moore, former five-star eventer and British Eventing national under-18 coach and junior team coach, explains how you can use this raised pole exercise for horses to develop your horse’s hoof/brain co-ordination. It is an exercise she regularly uses when warming up for jumping or to help a young horse develop elevation in its paces.

The aims of the exercise are to improve:

• Hoof/brain co-ordination
• Accuracy
• The use of the hind leg through the transition
• Rider’s posture
• Rider’s technique in preparing for transitions

Caroline explains: “I’m using dressage boards, one metre apart from each other, but you can also use raised poles. Around 10-12m away, I have an area where I’m going to ask the rider to ride a transition. We can use the energy created from riding over the dressage boards to help the hind leg with the walk and halt transition. We then move on to some more boards coming out of the exercise — this is all about the transition forward into trot and gaining balance and rhythm as early as possible to successfully negotiate the second half of the exercise.”

The grey horse being ridden by Ros Canter in the video is just four-years-old.

“You can see how this exercise encourages the mare to use her eye, and you can see that she is raising her toes just enough,” says Caroline. “This helps improve the core stomach muscles and raising the shoulder, so it’s a great exercise for a young horse — it’s like taking them to the gym.

“Then in the downwards transition, you want to get four to five good steps of walk with the horse staying relaxed — it’s important to prepare this transition as early as you possibly can. Then move forward back into the trot and this is where you really have to work at regaining the energy to ride through the second set of boards.”

Caroline warns that this is a fairly difficult exercise but a really useful one: “This exercise also shows how important it is to look where you’re going and stay in symmetry with the horse so that you stay in perfect balance, allowing the horse to soften.”

After successfully executing the exercise with a walk transition between the two sets of raised poles, the difficulty is heightened by changing the downwards transition to halt.

“Riders need to prepare by using some half halts and thinking forward into the transition. Think of riding forward from behind so that you finish the halt off square. Then you ask the horse to move forward into the trot and it’s really important to gain activity in the step. The poles or the boards afterwards help with this because it focuses the horse on going forward.”

Points to be aware of:

• Maintaining rhythm
• Energy levels
• Fatigue
• Praise and reward

More expert training advice from Caroline:

Caroline Moore: How to train your horse to jump an angled skinny fence

Caroline Moore, former five-star eventer and British Eventing national under-18 coach and junior team coach, we learn how to teach

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Event rider and coach Nick Gauntlett (pictured) explains how you can use poles to improve the rhythm that will give horse and rider confidence in their approach to a fence

Aim

The aim of the exercise is to help the rider stay in a level rhythm as they approach a fence. My feeling is that too many riders focus on trying to see a stride when in fact, riding in a really good rhythm, with energy and with good balance is far more important than the spot you actually get to.

An exercise to improve horse’s rhythm over fences

1. Set up the poles as per diagram one. On the long side establish a good canter and really ride the power through the turn. If you don’t meet the first pole perfectly, don’t worry too much — the bounce will encourage your horse to meet the following pole in a good rhythm. Depending on the level of the horse, the height of the fence can be increased or the upright can be expanded to an oxer once you’ve checked the horse is happy and in good rhythm.

2. The exercise can then be progressed by removing the pole which is 10.5 yards from the fence (diagram two). Rather than just riding two strides on your own, and using the third pole as a check and measure, see if you can make it to the fence in five strides after the second pole. If you lose rhythm, put the pole back in.

3. A lot of riders jump the first fence of a course really well and then get a little onward-bound, tending to land in a canter that isn’t as good as the one they took off from. To correct this, try jumping the line in the opposite direction, fence first, then the poles. Initially lose the 10.5-yard pole after the fence to give yourself a little more time to find the rhythm. The remaining poles act as a visual aid for the rider to land, make a half-halt and put the horse back together in time to ride the pole, bounce, pole.

4. Put up a fence on the other side of the arena (diagram three) and keep the template that’s set out for you in the approach to fence one in your mind’s eye, making sure you keep the canter level and maintaining the rhythm to fence two. From here you can build a course of fences, using the poles to remind you (at fence one and fence five) to keep that lovely rhythm within the canter.

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Tips and pitfalls: maintaining the horse’s rhythm over fences

• This exercise requires someone on the ground. If you clip a pole and it moves, the second time you come round the striding will be wrong and you’ll get into trouble.
• It’s very easy to turn five strides into four or six — and then you’re not staying in that level canter you’re trying to establish. Don’t let the poles do all the work — it’s good discipline to count your poles and strides out loud.
• Try to establish a good canter at the start. In an ideal world the poles are to prove you right, not to fix everything.

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The international showjumper uses a canter-on-a-circle exercise to help develop balance and control, which can be used in the ring

Aim

I do this canter exercise regularly, with horses of all ages and abilities. The older and more experienced the horse, the more difficult you can make it. With younger horses, it can be quite a demanding exercise as they might not have developed any brakes yet. For a green horse, I might start off with two poles, one at three o’clock and one at nine o’clock, then add in the third and fourth when they are ready.

It’s a good way of teaching the horse to be soft and carry himself, while being responsive to the control you are asking for.

This exercise also helps riders with their ring rhythm, which is important because they go from forwards to backwards strides frequently. It also teaches the rider to see a stride while not over-jumping their horse.

Exercise

1. Lay out four poles, one at each quarter of a 20-30m circle. Don’t make the circle too small because you don’t want to make it too difficult for the horse. For young or inexperienced horses, start with one pole at a quarter of the circle and build up to four poles.

2. Next, canter six strides between each pole on the circle. Aim to make the strides between the poles exactly the same, in a consistent rhythm. You want the horse engaged, listening and remaining on the same line. It’s also important that you stay in the centre of each pole and don’t cut across, and that the horse is straight through his body.

3. Then start to change the strides between the poles, so do five between one set and six between the next, so that you are riding five, six, five, six. When asking for longer or shorter strides, you need to be smooth and gradual. For longer strides, use your leg and hand to keep the horse soft, then add a gradual leg aid and allow with the hand. To come back to a working stride, lean back and apply a little pressure with your legs, rather than forcing with the hand.

4. Then ride five strides between each pole, and then six between each pole around the entire circle.

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Tips and pitfalls

• Always have a plan in your head of what you’re going to do before you do it.
• If your horse jumps to the left or right over the poles, it will affect the distance to the next pole, so be consistent in where you land after each pole. Having the horse straight means you can set yourself up nicely for the next pole.
• Horses can become disunited, so if this happens bring them back to trot and re-canter.
• Build the exercise up gradually so that your horse learns what you want.

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday.

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Anyone who has experienced competition riding nerves will know just how debilitating they can be. We asked Danielle Olding, of From The Neck Up, how to eliminate competition riding nerves.

Danielle says: “Nerves are the brain’s way of alerting us to potential dangers and protecting us from doing anything rash. Many of us experience clear symptoms from anxiety, doubt and negative thoughts, through to nausea, sweating, migraines, or an increase in breathing and heart rate.”

Sound familiar? Well the good news is, nerves can help our riding — they speed up our reactions and make us ride with more purpose. The bad news is, for some, they have the opposite effect, making competing an emotional trial.

The trick, Danielle says, is to learn to work with your emotional responses, channelling them into the job in hand rather than trying to eradicate them altogether. Here she explains how.

1. Understand the positive intention behind the nerves. Are you concerned for personal safety, delivering a competent performance in front of others or is it something else? Find a positive, practical way to satisfy this concern, so your brain can relax and not feel the need to press the warning buzzer.

2. Identify any possible causes behind your nervousness, such as a previous bad experience, and get some professional help to scramble your brain’s recollection of events.

3. Notice what process you are going through in your head to generate your nervous reaction. Are you creating pictures of everything that might go wrong, or are you using a running commentary to talk yourself into a negative state? Try changing the order in which you do things in your head. Change the volume, location or tone of the voice. Make colour pictures black and white, big pictures small, close pictures far away, movies into still shots, disaster into success.

4. Take the word “nervous” out of your vocabulary, both in your outward conversations and in your inward thought dialogue. Replace it with the word “excitement”. You’ll be amazed how your brain will adapt and generate a totally different state.

5. Keep yourself in the present. There is nothing a ‘What if’ junkie loves more than to catastrophise and create a damn good drama. If this is you, get a job writing thrillers. This marvellous skill has no place in the real world. Our horse has no comprehension of the nightmare you have on continual replay in your head. Learn to stay firmly rooted in what is actually happening underneath you right now. There is more chance of Richard Branson toppling out of his hot air balloon half way through your round than your elaborate script joining the ranks of reality. Try to recall any rare occasions in your riding career when you didn’t die, or get banished from the venue on account of your hopeless riding, and compare this to the number of times in your career when you did. This should give you a better sense of reality.

6. Learn to keep your body physically relaxed. If you can keep your body soft and relaxed, your brain finds it very hard to generate a negative emotional state (because it associates a soft, relaxed body with a happy, confident emotional state). The best way to keep your body soft is to breathe. Learn to ride with slow breathing based low, behind your belly button. If you get really good, you can synchronise your slow breathing to the horse’s strides in any pace, this will help you maintain your breathing and a good rhythm.

7. Learn to ride with a soft jaw. Think back to how your jaw felt last Saturday night on your way home from the pub. Your jaw needs to be totally floppy and ‘disconnected’ and the rest of your body will soften with it. It is impossible to have a soft, relaxed body if your jaw is tight. So all you actually have to do is open your mouth very slightly and keep the jaw ‘floppy’. Learn to do this in downward transitions, lateral work, collection and coming over poles and fences until you can keep it totally uninvolved all the time.

8. Start riding in peripheral vision. Peripheral vision is another thing that your body naturally does when it is relaxed. Put yourself into it directly, and your brain assumes that you must be relaxed and everything is ok with the world. It is that soft, blurry gaze where your eyes remain firmly fixed on one spot out in front of you whilst taking in everything around you by way of vague shapes, colours and movement. Learning to ride like this makes it difficult for your brain to generate a negative state because it is not natural. It will also improve your balance and sense of feel.

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9. Actively create images and movies of you riding confidently. You have to teach your brain to do this. Take a few minutes three times per day to mentally rehearse yourself using one or more of these tips every time you ride, out hacking, or in competition, until your brain starts to develop them as a habit.

10. Remember, confidence is like a muscle, the more we use it, the stronger it gets.

From the Neck Up is led by Danielle Olding. Danielle is an experienced business, executive and sports coach who is CIPD qualified and is also a trainer member of the the Association of NLP and the International Coaching Federation. She is an NLP Trainer, Master Sports Practitioner and UKCC Level 3 Accredited Coach.

We are continuing to produce Horse & Hound as a weekly magazine during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as to keep our website at horseandhound.co.uk up to date with breaking news, features and more. Click here for info about magazine subscriptions and access to our premium H&H Plus content online.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Showjumper David Simpson (pictured) has represented Ireland in pony, junior, young rider and senior teams. He is based in West Sussex at DLS Showjumping, which he runs with his wife Louise. In 2016 David won both The Queen’s Cup and the Derby trial at Hickstead, as well as the Oliva Nova grand prix. 2019 was a phenomenal year for David, winning the Queen Elizbeth II Cup for the second time, representing Team Ireland in five-star Nations Cup teams and World Cup competitions, and claiming top spot at Horse of the Year Show in the Leading Showjumper of the Year.

Training the stars

When I took on the ride of Team 55’s Jenson I used this exercise to help form a great partnership with him in a short space of time. I find it keeps his stride level and stops him rushing at his fences — it’s made a big difference.

Striding is one of the basic elements of showjumping and it is something that a lot of people struggle with. No two horses are the same, but I find this exercise can improve the issue in most situations, and it is very straightforward to do. I use it with all our horses, from the green four-year-olds up to grand prix.

Tackling the problem

1. Build a vertical fence in the middle of your arena, then place a pole three-and-a-half steps away on each side, and a cavaletti fence 16 steps on from each of these. From either cavaletti to the first pole should be a normal four canter strides, so adjust the distance if you need to. I would start with the vertical in the centre at about 80cm but with very green horses just place a pole on the ground.

2. Ride over the first cavaletti and pole and halt your horse before the vertical, rein him back and give him a pat, then ride away and do the exercise again. Do this so your horse learns to respect your aids and doesn’t charge at what’s in front of him.

3. Once you get the feeling that the horse is waiting for you, carry on down the line and proceed over the vertical and the final cavaletti.

4. Similar to the four strides on your approach, your four strides to the final cavaletti are important, and you need to get the same feeling of control. If you need to, stop and rein back in this section also. After doing this, I let them walk for a moment to catch their breath and take in what you’re telling them.

5. Once you feel completely in control you can make the vertical bigger, or change it to an oxer. I wouldn’t go bigger than 1.30m, as they are working harder than you think.

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Consider this…

• Always put your leg on over the pole before the fence, because this trains your horse to put effort into take-off without rushing.
• The most important thing when doing any exercise is to stay relaxed. Horses will make mistakes, so try not to get annoyed, just keep repeating it until they understand what you’re asking them.
• I build this exercise in the centre of the school so it can be done off both reins and in both directions. Horses are stronger on one side, so keep it equal and do it the same amount on both reins.

We are continuing to produce Horse & Hound as a weekly magazine during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as to keep our website at horseandhound.co.uk up to date with breaking news, features and more. Click here for info about magazine subscriptions and access to our premium H&H Plus content online.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

We all know how to walk a showjumping course so we know where to go, which fence comes next and what the distances are in the combination fences, but what other things should you be thinking about as you walk around the track prior to your round?

Showjumping course designer Steve Williams and trainer Corinne Bracken gave delegates at the BHS National Coaching Conference at Addington Equestrian Centre last month plenty of food for thought regarding approaching your round and things to consider in the arena and we share their top tips here.

1. When walking the course it’s important to look out for visual distractions.

“Consider what could distract or spook your horse – is there a public gallery, a burger van at the side or a load of poles or fillers lying in the corner of the arena that you need to be aware of?” says Steve.

2. Where is the space?

“Look for the space in the arena where you can regroup, breathe and put things right. Use those spaces effectively during your round to bring your horse back under control or regain momentum,” explains Corinne.

3. Break the course down into sections and then take each section at a time. This helps you to put a bad jump behind you and move on.

4. When walking the course look back where you have come from.

“Frequently looking back helps to give you a better idea of the line you should be taking between and over fences,” says Corinne.

5. Think how each fence jumps as a standalone entity and how it jumps in relation to the next fence or line of fences and ride it accordingly.

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6. Use your corners.

“Make corners your friends and use them to prepare, get the hind leg underneath the horse, regain momentum or do the opposite if the horse is running away from you,” says Corinne.

7. Don’t overthink distances.

“On longer distances get back in the rhythm that you and your horse need, stop counting the strides,” says Corinne.

8. Make sure you understand the course, what it is asking and where the challenges lie.

“If you don’t understand the course how can you expect your horse to?” adds Steve.

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Dog leg lines are frequently used by showjumping course builders and they can be challenging to ride correctly.

Here’s some helpful pointers from Irish international showjumper, David Simpson (pictured), who trained and produced young horses for Shane Breen for seven years, won the Queen’s Cup at Hickstead in 2016 and the Olympia Puissance in 2014.

1. The key to any dog leg is to break it down into two straight lines i.e you would break a seven stride distance into three and four — three strides moving away from the first fence on the line and then four strides until take off for the second fence in the line.

2. Stay centre to centre of each fence. A course builder designs the line to be jumped best from centre to centre, so follow this rule and it will give you the best chance of clearing both obstacles.

3. Entry to the dog leg is important. Don’t be worrying about the line until you have jumped the jump into the line. The dog leg is designed to distract you into making a mistake on the way in.

4. The jump at the end of the dog leg is equally as important. This will determine how you ride the line. For example, to a double of verticals you would always try to add a stride to create more balance, whereas if you’re riding to an oxer you would be keen to not add and have more impulsion.

5. Know your horse’s strengths — no two horses are the same (some have a long stride, others short, some are naturally quick, others will struggle with the time allowed). So when you make your plan to ride a dog leg, consider the horse you are on and adapt accordingly.

Now you’ve got that advice in mind, take a look at these showjumping competitions available to enter where you can showcase what you’ve learnt…

Unaffiliated showjumping

Date: 21 March

Venue: Forest Edge Arena, Swaffham

Details: “This show features a range of classes from clear round and 50cm to 1.05m.”

Enter now

Unaffiliated showjumping

Date: 21 March

Venue: Moulton College, Northampton

Details: “This event features a range of classes from 50cm up to 90cm.”

Enter now

British Showjumping

Date: 22 March

Venue: Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester

Details: “This event features a range of classes from a clear round and British Novice up to a 1.30m open.”

Enter now

Weekday morning unaffiliated jumping

Date: 24 March

Venue: Tumpy Green Equestrian Centre, Cam

Details: “This event offers classes ranging from 40cm to 1m.”

Enter now

Unaffiliated showjumping

Date: 28 March

Venue: Cobham Manor Equestrian Centre, Maidstone

Details: “This unaffiliated show has classes from 50cm up to 1m, plus a 40cm clear round.”

Enter now

Open Showjumping

Date: 4 April

Venue: Inchcoonans Competition & Livery Yard, Errol

Details: “This show has classes from 45cm up to 1.05m, with Trailblazers qualifiers plus clear rounds at 35cm and 1.10m.”

Enter now

Visit equo.co.uk for full competition and training listings

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Son of late showjumping legend Tim Stockdale, Joe (pictured) is making his mark in showjumping ranks and was selected to represent his country as part of the young rider Nations Cup in Austria and European young rider team in 2019. He also won the under-25 grand prix at Royal Windsor in May.

Training the stars

One of my top rides, Gunner II (Romeo), anticipates where the fences are and starts taking you to the fence before you want to go there. He’ll come around the corner and fall in on the inside, then end up coming in too tight.

He’s a very sensitive horse and picks up on my body language, feeling for the direction my body is turning so he can anticipate the direction, so I’ve had to learn to be still and central in my body so as not to give too much away to him.

When riding a course, some horses come around the corner and fall in or drift out through their shoulder. If they go out through their outside shoulder, they are then on a wider line than they should be. If they cut the corner and fall in, you end up coming to the fence tighter than you want to. This takes you off your line and alters the striding. You either then have to take a stride out or put in a short one, which increases your chance of a knocked pole.

Tackling the issue

1 First, make sure the horse is listening to your leg aids. You want to know your leg is going to be effective and the horse is going to respect it, so you can use it as a barrier and help keep him straight on the line you want. Your leg should effectively keep the horse upright in his body, so he doesn’t fall in or out but stay on the same line, curve, rhythm and ideal approach to the fence.

2. It’s important the rider remains neutral and balanced in the saddle. If you’re on a sensitive horse, as soon as you adjust your body, the horse will know where you are heading and will start to anticipate and take over. By staying as straight and central as possible, you won’t give too much away. You need to be very disciplined to stay tall and not lose your balance, keeping your weight in your heels so you don’t grip with your knees.

3. I then put up a few fences, quite small to make it easy, and practise turning fairly tightly after fences and coming back inside fences, making some quite tricky turns so the horse gets used to having to turn back on himself and take off from wherever he is. It also helps you to get your eye in and see a stride as you come around a corner and not always when on a dead-straight line. It keeps your horse’s mind busy and constantly offers new questions, so he doesn’t have time to anticipate. It is also good practice for keeping your leg on, because as soon as you take your leg off, the horse can take advantage and fall in or out.

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Things to consider

• It’s vital that you have the basics in place at home before you go to a competition and attempt a jump-off — this is not the place to be schooling your horse.
• Horses can fall in on turns if they struggle to hold themselves up, so that could be pain related or due to them being too weak. Know your horse, and when things don’t feel right, get him checked out.
• Horses with an inappropriate or badly fitting bit can have issues with turning, so ensure your horse is properly kitted out.

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Do you seem to find yourself more often than not, taking off too early or perhaps getting too close to a fence?

Here’s some helpful pointers from Irish international showjumper, David Simpson (pictured), who trained and produced young horses for Shane Breen for seven years, won the Queen’s Cup at Hickstead in 2016 and the Olympia Puissance in 2014.

• The most important thing is a good canter — if you don’t have this, it makes it harder to achieve a good distance and then a good jump
• You must have control in the canter from the turn — you need to be able to adjust the canter easily either shortening or extending the stride, which comes from a plenty of flatwork practice
• A relaxed horse and rider is key — a lot of riders get nervous about achieving the perfect distance and pass this feeling on to the horse, leading to an erratic canter and making it harder to execute.
• Always look early on to where you are going — your eye will naturally put you roughly at a good distance so trust what you are looking at.
• Ride a correct corner, which should be as close to a right angle as possible — if you cut this, you will end up closer than you planned from the turn and likewise if you overshoot the turn you will end up further away or being forced to add in an extra stride.
• Be confident in what you are doing. Remember a horse’s stride is only four yards long, so even if you are the worst possible distance you are only two yards away from the perfect one. Normally you turn with a maximum of 16 yards from the take-off, so even if your flatwork isn’t strong, it should be possible to add or remove those two yards.

A useful exercise to try

David says: “A good simple exercise to help with this is to set up two poles on the ground 24 yards apart, which should be a slightly forward five strides. Come through this on both reins twice on five strides, then come round on each rein on six strides. Count in your head and be strict with yourself. This will teach your horse how to be adjustable and train yourself as a rider to trust your natural eye and be confident in what you see.”

Now you’ve got that advice in mind, take a look at these showjumping competitions available to enter where you can showcase seeing the perfect stride…

Nervous & novice unaffiliated showjumping

Date: 7 March

Venue: Milton Equestrian Centre, Worksop

Details: “This event has classes ranging between 35cm and 95cm with junior and senior sections.”

Enter now

British Showjumping

Date: 7-8 March

Venue: Muirmill Equestrian Centre, Kilmarnock

Details: “This show features a range of classes from 90cm to 1.30m.”

Enter now

Unaffiliated showjumping

Date: 8 March

Venue: Fenland Equestrian Centre, Wisbech

Details: “This event has classes from 40cm up to 1.10m.”

Enter now

Unaffiliated showjumping

Date: 14 March

Venue: Rein and Shine Equestrian Centre, near Swindon

Details: “This show has classes ranging from 30-35cm up to 1m.”

Enter now

British Showjumping

Date: 18 March

Venue: Keysoe, Bedford

Details: “This event has classes from 90cm up to 1.40m.”

Enter now

Visit equo.co.uk for full competition and training listings

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Currently based in the Netherlands, Jessica, 23, was a member of the gold medal-winning showjumping team at the 2011 and 2012 pony European Championships. She also won individual silver and team gold at the 2014 junior European Championships, having won team bronze in 2013. Jessica went on to represent Britain at senior level in 2015 and was travelling reserve for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Training the stars

I use this exercise with most of my horses and am finding it particularly useful at the moment for my seven-year-olds I-Cap CL Z and Heat Off The Night.

This is a good exercise to help keep your eye in to see a stride.

It also teaches your horse manners, as well as control and balance. After all, related distances are everywhere on a course. It helps horses to learn to adjust their stride in the ring, so they don’t get stuck in the same rhythm.

Tackling the issue

1. Depending on your horse’s experience, start with two canter poles placed 18 metres or four canter strides apart on a straight line. Build this up to three poles, each 18m apart (see diagram one below).

Start by riding four canter strides between each distance, then make it five strides. Play around with alternating the number of strides, too: four strides, then five and back to four.

Ask someone on the ground to count the number of strides between each canter pole.

2. When you’ve mastered this, progress to placing four poles on a circle at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock (see diagram two below). Practice altering the striding between poles again. This is harder as you have to ride each one accurately — there’s no room for error.

3. To increase the difficulty, replace the poles with cavaletti. Do this on a straight line to begin with. Start by swapping the third pole for a cavaletti, then work your way up to changing all three.

When you do this on a circle, it becomes even more difficult. Only change alternate poles to cavaletti unless you and your horse are experienced and confident.

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#SundaySchool: the showjumping ‘gym’ with Holly Smith

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#SundaySchool: William Whitaker on how to develop rhythm

Sharpen up your showjumping basics with this curved grid exercise

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Consider this…

• Don’t overface the horse at any point.
• Always make the initial distance between poles and cavaletti four strides, otherwise the exercise is too difficult.
• If you have a hot, fiery horse, keep the exercise simple and aim to make it as flowing as possible so he doesn’t become overexcited. Therefore, use just two or three poles on a circle and make the distance five strides each time, rather than alternating between four and five.
• If it goes wrong, go back to walk. If you are on the circle, come out of the circle. Gather yourself and your horse, find a good canter and come again.

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Andrew Nicholson and Robbie Power have been riding at the top of their games for many years now. Olympian Andrew has been victorious at both Badminton and Burghley numerous times, while Robbie has wins in the Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup under his belt and is also a former showjumper.

The duo of top horsemen combined their expertise during the International Eventing Forum at Hartpury College on 3 February to reveal the essentials for a perfect showjumping round.

Racing vs. showjumping

“The main difference between being a jockey and a showjumper is that in jumping you are working with the same horse every day, you will probably get to ride it six or seven days a week,” says Robbie. “As a jockey, I am riding horses I have never sat on before. Therefore, it is important to ride down to the first fence in a forward rhythm and wait to see what the horse does at the fence — you have to be prepared for anything.

“By the second fence you can relax, but you have to adapt very quickly to different horses and ride as you feel.”

Andrew adds: “Horses are bred and used for different jobs but their way of thinking is the same. As a rider, you have to think on the horse’s wavelength and train him to not only do what you want, but also train him to both his strengths and weaknesses.”

Maintaining rhythm

Both Andrew and Robbie highlight that rhythm is the most important factor in a successful jumping round.

“My father, [former Irish showjumper] Con Power, would always say that in a jump-off, you win over the first three fences, not the last three,” says Robbie. “So it’s all about getting into a good rhythm once you’ve gone through the start.”

It’s similar in eventing, explains Andrew. “A forward rhythm is important, coming out of the start box across country you need to be in the rhythm you want coming into the first fence.”

Staying positive

Riding positively is also crucial in a good jumping round.

“At the start of race, I always make sure I am feeling positive vibes,” says Robbie. “If you’re feeling negative as a rider, that will only pass onto your horse. So heading to the first fence, always ride positively and get away from the fence the other side and get going — if you get a positive start, chances are, you will have a good round.”

Find a strong canter

“Maintaining a good, strong canter is important,” says Andrew. “You should be coming off the bend in a good canter and rhythm, letting the jumps come to you and you need to be looking for a stride from the rhythm you have.

“Sometimes you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone and go for that bigger canter. Across country, coming into a coffin for example, you have to be able to change your horse’s stride pattern without breaking the rhythm.”

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Balanced in the saddle

“As a jockey, my job is to have the horse going forward in balance. Coming into fences at 30mph, over three miles, the horse cannot be standing off every fence because that is a waste of energy,” highlights Robbie. “When a horse jumps from a nice even and rhythmical stride, he can remain in his comfort zone.

“It is the same in jumping, the rider has to sit quiet but maintain the forward momentum. The sports are similar in that you are always wanting to get from A to B as fast as possible.”

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Are you looking to be ultra-competitive while out showjumping? Here, Kirstie Leightley (pictured), an international showjumper who is based with top rider Guy Williams in France, shares her top tips on how to be unbeatable in a jump-off…

1. Know your horse — Not all horses are the same, in fact, far from it. When considering your lines and distances in a jump-off you must do so with your horse in mind. Some horses are easy to open up and lengthen on a wider line, whereas others have a shorter stride so can take the tighter lines but may need to add a stride to a distance. If you get the chance, watch competitors before you jump — try watching a horse that rides in a similar way to yours so that you can mirror and perfect their round.

2. Rhythm — Often riders make the mistake of stepping up the pace in the jump-off and then slow down when making tight turns, before pushing on again and so on. This way of riding actually slows you up in the long term. Ring craft is key and something that develops through experience and learning from the masters of our sport. When you watch the fastest riders in the world, they set off at a pace they can maintain; keeping smooth and looking effortless.

3. Know your plan — This is key before you enter the ring. Once you’ve jumped the initial round, you need to study the jump-off plan carefully. Guy always takes me into the ring to go through the plan so that we can look at the lines and see the distances we take. When we do this, we are always bearing in mind whether we’re turning up to a wide oxer that needs room, or to a vertical with a tighter line needed to set up the next fence. Decisions you make about your routes should be determined from how your initial round rode.

4. Control — Jump-offs are designed to test this — roll backs and options to take strides out mean you need to be in control and in harmony with your horse. Although you will be riding at an increased pace, you need to be able to adjust this dependent on the type of fence. In the ring you wouldn’t want to ride to a plank the same as you ride an oxer. While keeping it smooth you must respect each fence and adjust to them all, keeping in perfect balance to give your horse the best chance of jumping it. Training at home is essential, using the same aids you want to use in the ring.

5. Build for the future — Often as a young rider you can get carried away with always wanting to win. While winning is the ultimate goal, sometimes you have to consider which classes will suit your horse and whether the horse is going in the ring to build experience for the future. Top riders will plan their year and competitions to suit the horse. Many will take the first day as training to increase their chances of performing at their best for the class their horse is aimed at. Sometimes the right decision can be not to compete in a jump-off — if it doesn’t benefit the horse’s jumping then it can be wise to save them for another day.

Now you’ve got that advice in mind, take a look at these showjumping competitions available to enter where you can show off what you’ve learnt…

Unaffiliated showjumping

Date: 9 February

Venue: Mullacott Event Centre, Ilfracombe

Details: “This unaffiliated competition features classes from cross poles up to 1m and also incorporates a range of qualifiers and an accumulator class too.”

Enter now

Unaffiliated showjumping

Date: 9 February

Venue: Moulton College Equestrian Centre, Northampton

Details: “This unaffiliated competition has classes ranging between 50cm and 90cm.”

Enter now

British Showjumping

Date: 9 February

Venue: Alnwick Ford Equestrian, Morpeth

Details: “This affiliated competition features classes ranging between 1.15m up to 1.30m, with Highland Show qualifiers too.”

Enter now

Unaffiliated showjumping

Date: 15 February

Venue: Highfield Equestrian at Howe, Cupar

Details: “This unaffiliated competition has classes from cross-pole clear round and 45cm up to 1.05m.”

Enter now

British Showjumping

Date: 15 February

Venue: Dorset Showground, Gillingham

Details: “This affiliated competition includes classes from clear round and 80cm up to 1.25m.”

Enter now

British Showjumping

Date: 23 February

Venue: Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester

Details: “This affiliated competition has classes from clear round and British Novice up to 1.30m.”

Enter now

Visit equo.co.uk for full competition and training listings

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Five-star event rider and multi- junior and young rider European eventing medallist Georgie Spence provides one rider with some helpful advice on how to see a stride while jumping

Q: “I can’t see a stride any more! Please can you give me suggestions for exercises and techniques to help me get my eye in while jumping, and also perhaps build a little more confidence. I’m currently jumping at around 85cm.”

Georgie says: A lot of people struggle with seeing a stride so I wouldn’t worry yourself too much. There are plenty of different exercises you can try.

Firstly, you need to make sure you have enough quality in the canter — a lot of people confuse a powerful canter with a fast canter. You need balance, rhythm and ‘jump’ within the pace.

A large number of people become hung up on seeing a stride but actually it’s not the end of the world if you can’t see the perfect spot. If you think about when you loose jump a horse, they don’t get to the fence on the perfect stride every time but they learn to sort themselves out — a horse needs to be able to think for itself.

Seeing a stride is something that develops with time. A few exercises I use when teaching, is to place two poles five strides apart. Canter over the two poles several times each way on the five strides. Then adjust the canter to add a stride to make it six strides between the poles, again riding in both directions. Then go back to the five strides and then go to four strides. As you get more confident build the poles to small fences and then bigger fences, but still within you and your horse’s capability.

This exercise starts to develop your ability to change the canter and feel the length of each stride which will come in handy if you need to collect or extend the canter to meet a fence on the best take-off point.

Continued below…

William Funnell’s 10 tips for seeing a stride

For the best riders seeing a stride is instinctive, but for many of us it requires work. William Funnell shows

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I also find it helpful to put a pole on the ground two strides before a fence. It doesn’t quite give you the security of having a placing pole (usually a bounce stride) before take off which will nearly always put you in the right spot, but allows you to start or feel the take off point from two strides away.

The main thing to remember is a horse is much more likely to be able to take off from the wrong place with a good canter than the perfect place in a weak canter.

Visit Georgie’s website or follow her on Facebook

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Irish event rider Austin O’Connor explains a simple exercise to help teach horses to land on the correct canter lead after a jump

Event rider Austin has represented Ireland at two Olympic Games and numerous senior championships. Based at Attington Stud, Oxfordshire, Austin enjoys coaching when he’s not producing his own string of young eventing stars.

Training the stars

Isazsa is a six-year-old mare by Zavall VDL. She’s a big-moving, extravagant horse and has a wonderful ability to shorten herself to a fence. She is super-careful, but her preference is always to land on the left lead. Her weakness is falling out through the left shoulder, so this makes it more difficult for her to land in balance on the right lead.

We work a lot on her straightness, both on the flat and when jumping. This exercise has helped hugely to improve her balance on landing and therefore prepare her for the next fence.

Landing on the incorrect lead is a problem that can affect every horse, from those starting out to ones at the top of their game. The quality and balance of the horse’s canter on the approach to the fence can have an impact on whether the horse can land and maintain their canter on the required lead. The rider’s balance can also play a part.

Tackling the issue

1. I use a simple jumping exercise with a single fence set on a 20-metre circle to help encourage horses to land on the correct lead. Start by placing a single fence on the circle with two ground poles set as tram lines on take-off and two more ground poles placed about five metres after landing (see diagram).

2. Jump the fence four or five times before changing the rein and repeating the exercise in the other direction.

3. The key to this exercise is not to focus on the horse landing on the correct leg. If they do land on the incorrect lead, I encourage them to maintain the counter-canter on the 20-metre circle and continue to the fence again. They will then most likely land on the correct lead next time.

The idea is the horse learns that landing on the incorrect lead is more difficult for them, so they start to work out for themselves that it is easier to land in balance and on the correct leg.

Article continues below…

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Consider this…

• Avoid throwing your weight to the inside or asking for too much inside bend. This will only make the horse fall in that direction and then have no choice but to rebalance and land on the opposite lead.
• Repeating this exercise over time will help strengthen the horse and encourage him to respond to subtle, clear aids from the rider.
• If, despite correct training, your horse still refuses to land on the correct leg, it might be worth getting him checked over to ensure he isn’t in any physical distress, which may be affecting his ability to land on the correct lead.
• An added benefit of this exercise is that it helps to establish counter-canter and therefore straightness, as well as the balance
  of the rider.

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I was feeling a bit more confident about my next little competition stint out to Belgium, mainly because I knew more about the set up and how things were run, so felt a bit more in control. I took Felix (pictured above) and Fleurie out for the international shows, along with my young horse Cambridge, to get some further training and also take him to the local training shows.

When we arrived in Belgium I managed to get him straight to Lier and jump him round a little course to dust off the cobwebs, then onto Sentower the next day to jump him in their big international ring. This was a great experience which didn’t faze him in the slightest.

We then chugged off to Kronenberg (I won’t bore you with my lorry issues… again!), which was only 50 minutes from the yard — win! I really like this show. It has two arenas that aren’t enormous, but the course builders really utilise the space and create nice flowing tracks that encourage a good pace with no half distances. The arenas have a restaurant in the middle of them making for great viewing, with nice indoor and outdoor seating. Most of these shows also have outdoor international arenas where you can exercise the horses, which was ideal for my young horse. Cambridge didn’t compete but he presented at the trot-up, took in the atmosphere and got to sneak in some extra flatwork training. The Kronenberg show also has the new, huge Emmers tack shop which is horsey heaven — I didn’t realise how many things I “needed” until visiting. Hi, Santa!

After Kronenberg, I had a few areas I wanted to work on, so we had a good few days training to get focused. Below are the exercises that I’ve found to genuinely improve discipline, balance and rhythm:

Exercise one — two cavelletti for discipline

Set it up so you can have four or five strides between the two cavelletti. Then set up in your mind what you are going to do in terms of strides each time you come around to the cavaletti, for example, a few four stride attempts, followed by a couple of five stride attempts, followed by another four stride. Make sure you alternate the direction of approach and turn in the direction of the canter lead you land on, turning a 15m circle then go back to the cavalleti. This is great for your own and the horse’s discipline. The mental preparation is as important as the rest.

Exercise two — two small verticals for balance

Set the two small verticals up as in the picture above. Go through the exercise in a normal training canter a couple of times, then up the pace, landing and moving forward around the apex getting less strides in-between the verticals. On the longer run, if you land on the correct canter lead, move forward. If you don’t, balance, get your change, then move forward. If your horse isn’t established in canter changes, trot before the turn and pick up canter on the correct lead. This was great for me because I tend to get ‘stuck’ in corners.

Exercise three — a mini four fence course for rhythm

Set up according to the picture above, this helps to work on consistency. Jump a variety of different lines six or seven times (or less) then break and repeat until you feel happy you’ve got a nice rhythm and pace around the fences. I first found this tricky because I over-thought it. Once I relaxed and rode with feeling it came more naturally.

All of these exercises are designed to help develop the pace and quality of your canter so that in the last two or three strides you have the ability to sit up and balance. This means your horse has maximum push from behind giving them the best chance to clear the fence.

They also help encourage articulation and movement through the horse’s body, which can help their jumping technique. Because we were competing, the jumps we do in training are all around 80/90cm — they are more gymnastic work than anything else.

To end the week, we headed to Sentower. I have to say, this is definitely the show I would choose to round off our year. It’s fantastic in terms of facilities and competition. They ran a two-star this time, which attracts a lot of riders who are fascinating to watch and pick up tips from in the warm-up and ring. The courses were a bit more technical and bigger with it being a two-star, with a couple more choices with the distances depending on your horse. I had both of mine in the 1.30m with the aim to jump them in the 1.35m if they both stepped up, which they did! Felix was great and flew round for a clear in the 1.35m on the second day. I was not as strong on the last day but he jumped his socks off, giving me heaps of confidence to start 2020 positively.

Fleurie is definitely one that’s had me scratching my head a couple of times over the past 12 months, but she finished off very strong on the last day in the 1.35m, giving me the motivation and belief to get her fitter and stronger ready for next year. Now we are back in the UK, we have started incorporating using a water treadmill, which seems to be really beneficial so far in terms of fitness work.

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Camilla Bingham’s showjumping blog: touring Belgium and learning some useful exercises

Camilla talks us through a recent tour she did in Europe

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This trip to Belgium really illustrated the importance of getting the right training and consistency into your horses, so you are both prepared to achieve your goals. I feel like we’ve pushed ourselves and become more motivated to keep pushing.

I hope you have all had fantastic Christmas breaks and an enjoyable New Year.

Camilla

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Love both dressage and jumping? Find out why the British Dressage (BD) combined training series could be perfect for you

For any riders keen to make the most of their love for both dressage and jumping, The Ideal Saddles combined training series allows you to combine dressage from prelim to elementary level with jumping up to 1m — a great challenge to aim for this winter.

How does the BD combined training series work?

There are 19 qualifiers taking place across the country from Cornwall to Aberdeenshire as part of the 2019/20 series, with the last one of these taking place in late February. Each qualifying show will feature six classes, and competitors who finish in the top two in any class at any qualifier will qualify for the 2020 Ideal Saddles Combined Training Championship at Field House Equestrian Centre on 15 March. Find the dates and schedules for the upcoming qualifiers here.

What levels are available?

Riders have the choice of two showjumping heights at each dressage level. To compete at prelim and novice, combinations must not have previously competed at medium level or above, whereas any combination can compete in the elementary sections, regardless of their previous competition record.

The classes on offer at each qualifier are as follows:

1. Prelim 2 — 70cm

2. Prelim 18 — 80cm

3. Novice 24 — 90cm

4. Novice 32 — 1m

5. Elementary 42 — 90cm

6. Elementary 50 — 1m

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Do I need to be a member of BD?

Yes, but combinations can take part in the 2019/20 combined training qualifiers with just an Associate membership and horse registration, and compete on a class ticket (one ticket per class). However, if you qualify and wish to compete at the championship, your membership must then be upgraded to a minimum of a Club membership and club horse registration. Find out more about BD’s membership options and costs here.

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Showjumper Oliver Tuff (pictured) explains how to tackle dog-leg lines, which can be tricky if you don’t approach them correctly

Oliver, 16, made history at 2018’s Horse of the Year show (HOYS) when becoming the youngest rider to ever win the senior Foxhunter title, partnering Darino B. Oliver was on the winning junior Nations Cup team in Lamprechtshausen, Austria, in 2018, and jumped the only double clear to help Great Britain win the junior Nations Cup Youth Final at Sentower Park in Belgium.

Training the stars

Darino B makes riding a dog-leg easy because he’s always looking for his next fence. He’s always thinking and luckily he’s adjustable as he will shorten or lengthen when asked.

Another horse I ride, whom I won’t name, has quite a big stride and can fight when I change direction. In this case I would plan to ride an outside line so I have more room.

Dog-leg turns — where a turn or bend has to be made in between fences — can cause problems when riders don’t stick to the line. I’ll often see them drifting out and losing the rhythm, and having to add a stride. This gets them in a muddle because they fall in on the line and arrive at the next fence too close, which means they can’t jump it or they knock it down. If the first fence goes wrong it makes it difficult to get to the next one.

Tackling the issue

1. As with any related distance, you’ll need to walk the distance between the fences. Ensure you keep straight leaving the fence and then stay straight on the approach to the next fence, so you walk the correct line. The change in direction should be smooth, not jolted, to avoid shortening the horse’s stride.

2. When warming up, ride forward in the canter and keep the horse in front of your leg.

3. As you approach the first fence on the dog-leg, ensure you are riding to the centre of the fence. The line is designed to be jumped from centre to centre; this will give you the best chance of clearing both fences.

4. As you jump the first fence, keep your eye fixed on the second. Be sure to leave the first fence straight and approach the second fence in the same way, so you ride the line the distance was built on when you walked it. Sit up between the fences to avoid tipping forward and getting in front of your horse, as this could make it easier for him to stop.

5. Maintain your forward canter so the horse focuses on the second fence. The second part of the distance will determine how you tackle the line, so sit up and look up.

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#SundaySchool: controlling the canter with Jessica Mendoza

The international showjumper uses a canter-on-a-circle exercise to help develop balance and control, which can be used in the ring

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Consider this…

• Think about the length of the distance and the length of your horse’s stride — by knowing your horse’s stride and way of going, you’ll be able to ride through the fences accurately and give him the best possible chance of jumping clear.
• Does your horse drift in or out? If he tends to fall in, recognise your distance will be shorter, and if he jumps out on to the outside line, the distance will be longer.
• Practise dog-legs over small fences at home — you can start with guide poles on the floor to help you stay on the correct line.

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

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Showjumper David Simpson shares an exercise to ensure your horse meets a fence on the perfect stride

About David

Showjumper David Simpson has represented Ireland in pony, junior, young rider and senior teams. He is based in West Sussex at DLS Showjumping, which he runs with his wife Louise. In 2016 David won both The Queen’s Cup and the Derby trial at Hickstead, as well as the Oliva Nova grand prix.

Training the stars

I took on the ride of Team 55’s Jenson and have used this exercise to help form a great partnership with him in a short space of time. I find it keeps his stride level and stops him rushing at his fences. It’s made a big difference and he is now being placed in 1.40m and ranking classes.

Tackling the problem

1. Build a vertical fence in the middle of your arena, then place a pole three-and-a-half steps away on each side, and a cavaletti fence 16 steps on from each of these. From either cavaletti to the first pole should be a normal four canter strides, so adjust the distance if you need to. I would start with the vertical in the centre at about 80cm but with very green horses just place a pole on the ground.

2. Ride over the first cavaletti and pole and halt your horse before the vertical, rein him back and give him a pat, then ride away and do the exercise again. Do this so your horse learns to respect your aids and doesn’t charge at what’s in front of him.

3. Once you get the feeling that the horse is waiting for you, carry on down the line and proceed over the vertical and the final cavaletti.

4. Similar to the four strides on your approach, your four strides to the final cavaletti are important, and you need to get the same feeling of control. If you need to, stop and rein back in this section also. After doing this, I let them walk for a moment to catch their breath and take in what you’re telling them.

5. Once you feel completely in control you can make the vertical bigger, or change it to an oxer. I wouldn’t go bigger than 1.30m, as they are working harder than you think.

Article continues below…

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The international showjumper talks us through this multi-fence workout which she uses with both her younger and more experienced horses

#SundaySchool: controlling the canter with Jessica Mendoza

The international showjumper uses a canter-on-a-circle exercise to help develop balance and control, which can be used in the ring

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Consider this…

• Always put your leg on over the pole before the fence, because this trains your horse to put effort into take-off without rushing.
• The most important thing when doing any exercise is to stay relaxed. Horses will make mistakes, so try not to get annoyed, just keep repeating it until they understand what you’re asking them.
• I build this exercise in the centre of the school so it can be done off both reins and in both directions. Horses are stronger on one side, so keep it equal and do it the same amount on both reins.
• Striding is one of the basic elements of showjumping and it is something that a lot of people struggle with. No two horses are the same, but I find this exercise can improve the issue in most situations, and it is very straightforward to do. I use it with all our horses, from the green four-year-olds up to grand prix.

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday.

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Oliver, 16, made history at last year’s Horse of the Year show (HOYS) when becoming the youngest rider to ever win the senior Foxhunter title when he was 15, partnering Darino B (pictured).

Oliver was on the winning junior Nations Cup team in Lamprechtshausen, Austria, last year, and jumped the only double clear to help Great Britain win the junior Nations Cup Youth Final at Sentower Park in Belgium.

Training the stars

Darino B makes riding a dog-leg easy because he’s always looking for his next fence. He’s always thinking and luckily he’s adjustable as he will shorten or lengthen when asked.

Another horse I ride, whom I won’t name, has quite a big stride and can fight when I change direction. In this case I would plan to ride an outside line so I have more room.

Dog-leg turns — where a turn or bend has to be made in between fences — can cause problems when riders don’t stick to the line.

I’ll often see them drifting out and losing the rhythm, and having to add a stride. This gets them in a muddle because they fall in on the line and arrive at the next fence too close, which means they can’t jump it or they knock it down. If the first fence goes wrong it makes it difficult to get to the next one.

Tackling the issue

1. As with any related distance, you’ll need to walk the distance between the fences. Ensure you keep straight leaving the fence and then stay straight on the approach to the next fence, so you walk the correct line. The change in direction should be smooth, not jolted, to avoid shortening the horse’s stride.

2. When warming up, ride forward in the canter and keep the horse in front of your leg.

3. As you approach the first fence on the dog-leg, ensure you are riding to the centre of the fence. The line is designed to be jumped from centre to centre; this will give you the best chance of clearing both fences.

4. As you jump the first fence, keep your eye fixed on the second. Be sure to leave the first fence straight and approach the second fence in the same way, so you ride the line the distance was built on when you walked it. Sit up between the fences to avoid tipping forward and getting in front of your horse, as this could make it easier for him to stop.

5. Maintain your forward canter so the horse focuses on the second fence. The second part of the distance will determine how you tackle the line, so sit up and look up.

Continued below…

#SundaySchool: the showjumping ‘gym’ with Holly Smith

The international showjumper talks us through this multi-fence workout which she uses with both her younger and more experienced horses

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Consider this…

• Think about the length of the distance and the length of your horse’s stride — by knowing your horse’s stride and way of going, you’ll be able to ride through the fences accurately and give him the best possible chance of jumping clear.
• Does your horse tend to drift in or out? If he tends to fall in, recognise your distance will be shorter, and if he jumps out on to the outside line, the distance will be longer.
• Practise dog-legs over small fences at home — you can start with guide poles on the floor to help you stay on the correct line.

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Young showjumper Kirstie has been based with Guy Williams in France for the past three years, competing alongside him in Europe and internationally. Partnering chestnut mare Thais D’La Verrerie, whom Kirstie has produced, she has enjoyed success in international four-star classes and earned a placing in the 2018 Hickstead Speed Derby

The warm-up is crucial to the outcome of your performance. Every horse is different, so it’s important to tailor your warm-up to your horse and build on an effective routine for future competitions.

My top mare, Thais D’La Verrerie, has always been incredibly sharp wherever we are, but particularly in the warm-up. Over time we have developed a really effective warm-up routine.

For sharp horses like Thais, who are used to being turned out each morning, I will always get up early at shows to lunge her when the exercise arena is quiet. It is important for her to get out and stretch while staying relaxed away from all the other horses.

At any show, but particularly shows where your horse is staying away from home, it is key to try to replicate his home routine as best you can. The warm-up should be a reliable and practised part of his daily management routine.

Tackling the issue

1. Start your warm-up with about 12 horses to go — aim to keep your horse as relaxed as possible while still being focused on the job. You don’t want to be in too early, nor do you want to be rushing. For a sharp horse, the warm-up is about focusing him on your aids and blocking out external factors.

2. With about eight to jump, start over small verticals, coming off both reins; use a bounce pole to slow the jump and keep a level stride. Sharp horses can be spooky, so rather than applying too much pressure and forcing a flat jump, allow him to have a look. He is only trying to respect and work out the fence.

3. Once you have jumped a few bigger fences, take your horse away from the hustle of the arena and dismount until you have one to go. As sharp horses can get their blood up quickly and lose focus, this will allow your horse time to relax before entering the ring. Use this time to watch a rider in the ring and go over your plan.

4. Before you enter the ring, finish on a bigger vertical to back your horse off and focus his mind on the job in hand. Remember that he will feel what you feel, whatever you do as a rider, so keeping relaxed is key.

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#SundaySchool: controlling the canter with Jessica Mendoza

The international showjumper uses a canter-on-a-circle exercise to help develop balance and control, which can be used in the ring

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Consider this…

• Concentrate on your own warm-up, don’t just follow what others are doing — all horses are different.
• Allow yourself time so you don’t end up rushing.
• Try using massage rugs prior to your warm-up to help reduce muscle tension.
• Always ensure you have good help on hand during the warm-up, whether it be a trainer or groom.

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

How much thought do you give your approach to a jump? Jonty Evans was keen to stress the importance of riding a straight, accurate line to a fence to the riders he taught at an arena cross-country clinic which took place at Lincomb Equestrian Centre in Worcestershire earlier this month.

“Every single fence is on a line, it may be a dodgy line and it could be short, long or angled, but it’s a line and the line you take is very important,” explained the Irish Olympic event rider. “The line you take to a fence is the rider’s own choice, the horse is not responsible for the line you have taken, make sure you bear that in mind when you are jumping.”

Throughout the session, Jonty ensured his pupils jumped cross-country fences on various different lines, highlighting the following key points:

1. A rider’s job is to choose the line, the horse’s job is to jump the fence

The rider should decide when to turn on or off the line and how accurate the line is. Don’t let the horse dictate how you get to the fence and the line you take to get over it.

2. Don’t be late getting onto your line

Turn onto your line as early as possible and once on it focus on nothing changing. There should be no wobbles, just a straight approach.

3. Be accurate

Remember you are in charge of where you are jumping and how you approach the fence. Skinny fences shouldn’t be a problem if you are always accurate in your training. There may be less of the fence to jump, but if the horse is used to jumping over the middle of the jump, it shouldn’t matter.

4. Look straight ahead

Find something beyond the jump to look at and aim towards it. Doing this will help you stay on your line and ride straight.

5. Focus

Focusing on an object directly beyond the jump will also mean you are less likely to miss your stride as you are concentrating on what’s ahead rather than whether or not you have the right stride. While every fence is on a line, not every fence is on a stride.

6. Aim

Aiming your hands and legs at the jump will help you to approach it in a straight line.

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7. Legs, hands, eyes

Use your legs to keep you and your horse on the right line. Keep your hands soft and your eyes up.

8. Forward but sensible

Keep riding forward but wait for the fence to come to you, don’t chase your horse into it.

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Sharpen up your showjumping basics with this curved grid exercise

Aim

One of the most important steps in producing a showjumping horse is to develop rhythm.

This grid will encourage you to use the correct leg and hand aids to maintain consistent rhythm. It will give a useful indication of your horse’s jumping pace — too slow and five strides will be difficult to achieve, but too fast and you won’t fit them in. The exercise will also train your eye to focus on a new destination, riding over one pole and looking ahead to plan for the next.

The exercise

1. Lay out the poles to allow five strides (just over 18m) on each corner, from mid-pole to mid-pole. Leave plenty of room on the long, straight sides at first, as you don’t want to overwhelm the horse at the outset with challenges that come too thick and fast.

2. Start at walk, so the horse understands what is being asked of him. Once he is happy with this, progress to trot. Don’t worry about the number of strides — aim for the centre of each pole, keep a nice inside bend on the corners and use the parallel poles as a guide for straightness on the long sides. Work evenly on both reins.

3. With this established, move into canter and aim for five strides on each corner. React to what the horse is doing by using more inside leg if he falls in on the corners, or more outside rein and leg if he falls out through the shoulder. He should soon learn to stay on the correct canter lead, but be prepared to come back to trot for a stride or two if necessary to put this right.

4. Once you’re both confident at canter, on both reins, replace the poles with small cavaletti.

5. Make things more challenging by placing water trays under the cavaletti, or swapping one for some spooky fillers or a small plank. Aim to keep even, relaxed canter strides.

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#SundaySchool: controlling the canter with Jessica Mendoza

The international showjumper uses a canter-on-a-circle exercise to help develop balance and control, which can be used in the ring

#SundaySchool: the showjumping ‘gym’ with Holly Smith

The international showjumper talks us through this multi-fence workout which she uses with both her younger and more experienced horses

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Tips and pitfalls

• If the horse becomes too hot and sharp, go back a level. Try the exercise again in trot, or even walk, building it back up once he relaxes.
• Shorten the distances slightly if he struggles to cover the ground. The measurements suggested are standard — much will depend on his age, experience, fitness, schooling level and length of stride.
• Mastering this exercise may take months, especially with a young horse. Be patient and remember that a lot of good work is done in walk.

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now