Of all the obstacles on a cross-country course, ditches – in their various forms – often cause the most angst. Some horses tackle them with aplomb from the get-go, but most need plenty of quiet repetition to develop their confidence. Olympians and top coaches Nicola Wilson, Chris Bartle and Andrew Heffernan share their tips in this article exclusive to H&H subscribers
Quiet, slow repetition is the key to how to solve your horse’s fear of ditches. To build – or rebuild – confidence in jumping ditches, it’s vital to start this part of his eventing training from scratch, says British team performance coach Chris Bartle. He explains that it is a mistake to ask a horse to tackle a ditch without giving him the opportunity to look at it first.
“With a young horse, or a horse that is nervous, I will always take them to the ditch with no intention of jumping it,” he says. “I will let them stand beside it and walk around it until they are comfortable in the environment.
“Only when I know they are happy about being there – they will stretch their head down and have a sniff – will I ask them to step over the ditch.
“The important thing to remember is that the horse must never be pressurised from behind, either by the rider or someone on the ground, because all that’s doing is encouraging him to think backwards rather than forwards.”
Initially, at least, ditches should be small enough so that human legs can easily step over them.
“I measure a ditch by whether I need to stretch over it on foot,” says Chris. “It doesn’t matter whether the horse is four, seven or 14, my approach will be the same. If a horse is hesitant I will spend all my cross-country schooling time walking quietly over tiny ditches.”
Chris argues that it’s not necessary to school over big ditches.
“If you’ve built solid foundations, these can be saved for competition when your adrenaline’s up,” he says.
How to solve your horse’s fear of ditches: “trust is everything”
When working on how to solve your horse’s fear of ditches, “confidence and trust is everything” says former European champion-turned-top coach, Nicola Wilson.
This starts with laying the right foundations and revisiting the basics on a regular basis.
“When you introduce a ditch for the first time make sure you’ve got a confident horse to give you a lead and choose an inviting ditch to start with,” she says.
Nicola also emphasises the importance of rider position.
“It’s important that you look in the right place – up, not down into the ditch,” she says. “A young or inexperienced horse will often look down into the ditch and dither on the edge. This is fine so long as you stay up in your body and have a nice, supportive leg on them and a long rein so they can stretch down, use their head and neck and safely pop over.
“It’s a really good idea to use a neck strap so you can hold the strap together with your reins in one hand,” she continues. “If your horse jumps bigger than you’re expecting you won’t lose balance and inadvertently catch him in the mouth, which can turn it into a negative experience.”
Nicola agrees that repetition is key.
“If your horse lacks confidence jumping ditches it’s important to keep revisiting them on a regular basis so that walking up to them and popping over becomes second nature,” says Nicola. “There are plenty of five-star horses who will do just this on the lead-up to a big competition, so it’s not something you should be worried about. The key is to be as prepared as possible.”
Nicola also extols the value of praise and patience.
“Tell your horse when he has done well because this helps build trust and solid foundations,” she says. “And always give ditch training time. Never start something that you don’t feel you can see through the end.”
Once your homework is done, testing your training in a competition environment is the next step.
“When you’re out on the course, make sure you stay in a good rhythm and balance, and in the correct tempo for the ditch fence you’re tackling,” says Nicola.
Icelandic ponies queueing up to jump a ditch in the wild – it comes quite naturally to most.
(Image credit: Alamy)
When ditches are your friend
Once you have ironed out how to solve your horse’s fear of ditches and they are confidently moving up the eventing levels, most ditches will become a help rather than a hindrance.
“Where a ditch has a fence over it or behind it, the ditch itself acts as a useful ground rail, defining the take-off point,” explains Chris. “Big ditch-brushes, trakheners, and anything like that where the ditch ledge is on the take-off side, makes for a horse-friendly profile.”
Even though this four-star fence is daunting, the ditch provides a helpful groundline.
(Image credit: Martin Dokoupil/ZUMA Wire/Alamy)
Chris explains that when riding this type of fence, you should resist the temptation to spend too much time much setting up.
“When I was a jockey, before I started eventing, a trainer once told me that you should always increase your speed into a ditch,” he says. “You will never get the wrong stride because there is a groundline. I always remind riders of this when I walk courses with them as it saves a lot of time.”
Ditches through a course-designer’s eyes
Course-designers use ditches in different ways. Olympic event rider, trainer and Bramham course-designer Andrew Heffernan explains that as well as the size of the ditch size, where it is sited will determine the level of the test.
“Part of my job as course-designer is to ensure there is a logical progression in difficulty as you go up the grades,” he explains. “For example, on a B80 course I might include a small open ditch followed three strides later by a rails fence, at BE90 this might change to a rail followed three strides later by a ditch. By the time you get to BE100 I might be asking horses to jump a simple rail-ditch-rail on flat terrain, and then at novice level you can start expecting to see a ditch with a bit of terrain either side.”
At the lower levels, ditches tend to be inviting, to encourage the horse to progress.
(Image credit: Alamy)
This logical progression has obvious connotations for a horse who is a bit “ditchy”.
“Even if a horse is solid with every other type of cross-country question, he needs to be completely confident jumping ditches at one level before moving on to the next,” says Andrew. “The questions asked of him — and therefore the trust he needs in his rider — will be tested to a greater degree every time you step up.”
“We dug a ditch at home and that was the turning point”
Event rider Ivy Fisher’s talented three-star mare, Balief De Reve (Bali), only has one chink in her armour – ditches.
“When I bought her as a young horse she had only ever showjumped and although she quickly took to jumping solid fences, she’s always been suspicious of holes in the ground,” explained Ivy, who grew up in Norfolk but has been based with Dassett Eventing in Warwickshire.
“A few years ago, when I was on the brink of giving up with her, my dad dug me a ditch at home and that was the turning point. It was a case of repetition, repetition, repetition. The penny dropped in the middle of the 2024 season and she started to take them in her stride.”
The pair won the under-21 open intermediate at Kelsall Hill in September that year.
At her current base, Ivy has access to three different ditches and incorporates them into almost every training session.
“Last season I was even including them in our fitness work, popping over a ditch mid-canter,” she says. “We still have the odd wobble, but she’s getting better all the time. Bali’s taught me so much about perseverance, getting the basics right and about not running before you can walk.”
