{"piano":{"sandbox":"false","aid":"u28R38WdMo","rid":"R7EKS5F","offerId":"OF3HQTHR122A","offerTemplateId":"OTQ347EHGCHM"}}
Trending:

How Alex Bragg’s training exercise uses turns to master straightness while jumping

Bethany Stone Bethany Stone

    • Want a horse who can tackle any question? In the first of this three-part training series exclusively for H&H subscribers, Alex Bragg shows how to harness the power of straightness to enhance your horse’s jumping

    “For me straightness when jumping is the key to everything,” says Alex Bragg, outlining his plan for this training session. “Without straightness, the horse will deviate over the jumps. This builds, and causes no end of problems, so you’re aiming to ride a course as a succession of straight lines.”

    Teaching riders to be straight isn’t about fixating on the minutiae – giving them a broader objective is far more effective.

    “Telling a rider they need a bit more inside leg here or outside rein there – it’s just too much to focus on,” he says. “When straightness is the most important thing, all you’ve got to think is about riding straight and your body reacts. If the horse doesn’t want to be on a straight line, you learn to apply the aids required to keep them there.”

    Alex is riding a novice mare, Arva, for this training session. Initially, he works her in around a gridwork exercise – a bounce and two strides to an oxer – with two parallel uprights flanking the approach.

    You may also enjoy reading…

    You may like...