Moving on up

a miss as he’s a ‘one person horse’ and they are ridden by a judge in the final.

How much I do with them depends on the horse – Ed had lots of outings as a five-year-old as he got better the more he went out. Going to ‘stay away shows’ certainly improved his confidence.

The work programme starts with an easy stretchy day on a Monday, then a more intensive work session on Tuesday, followed by a hack on Wednesday. Then it’s back in the school on Thursday and Friday before another hack on Saturday.

I like to get out on the hills around the yard and take them on the gallops; they are probably fitter than most people’s young horses but that’s partly my eventing background.

I aim to ride them for about 45 minutes with 10 mins walking at the start and finish and I’d probably work through three different exercises with them.

If it’s a cold or windy day, you probably need to move on and have a trot quite early, but where possible I’ll do a lot of exercises in walk – rein back, walk pirouette, turn on the forehand – to make them supple and get them off the leg. It’s tempting to go rushing around on a young horse, especially if they are a bit sharp, but it’s our job to teach them to use their energy in a positive way.

Above: A range of exercises tailored to the individual horse’s strengths and weaknesses can help them take that next step on the dressage ladder. It’s the rider’s job to teach them to use their energy in a positive way.

Left: Ed can lack confidence and be spooky, but going on lots of outings as a five-year-old was very beneficial.

ED

Ed can sit behind the bridle. We do a lot of on and back and lateral work to get him to go more into the bridle.

I want him to use the base of his neck as he can easily be too short and choppy in his stride. The aim is for a bigger reach, not a quicker rhythm.

Leg yield along the wall encourages him to reach more with his front legs rather than staying in the same trot.

PICTURED

Left: The challenge with Ed in trot is to get him to go more into the bridle.

Below: His canter is pretty good, but when I ask him to collect, he goes hollow, using his neck for balance.

PICTURED

Above: Working through ‘on and back’ helps Ed go more into the bridle.

Right: Lateral work such as leg yield along the wall encourages the horse to reach more with his front legs rather than staying in the same trot.

His canter is pretty good, certainly more adjustable, but when I ask him to collect, he goes hollow, using his neck for balance. Lots of 10m circles, counter canter and changes of rein help with this. I’ll also tap the top of the quarters with my whip to encourage him to step under with his hind legs.

I will often start Buck with rein back in hand, which encourages softness and suppleness from the beginning.

With him I work more on the canter to try to keep him connected –I want to be able to put his neck down and pick it up again.

When he gets too quick, he’s reluctant to let his rider help him. If you hang on to him, he just gets quicker – he’s very powerful and just doesn’t know how to control it.

With a horse like this it’s tempting to avoid training the canter and work on something else in the hope that will improve it, or just to canter round and round.

Riding a loop on the diagonal encourages him to slow himself down and avoids him locking on in one direction, while a small circle in the corner before heading back onto the diagonal helps to keep the canter connected. Working in quarters in up the long side helps to get more separation between the hind legs and encourages him to take more time in the stride.

Other than generally improving the horse’s way of going there’s not too much of a step up from novice to elementary. Simple changes come in, along with rein back.

Above left: When Buck gets too quick, he’s reluctant to let the rider help him.

Above right: Quarters in along the long side helps to get more separation between the hind legs and encourages him to take more time in the stride.

Above inset: Don’t leave it too late to introduce rein back; it can be useful to start from the ground.

Don’t leave it too late to introduce rein back – as soon as the horse understands the forwards aids you can bring it in and it’s good to start from the ground.

Training horses is not always straightforward. If you’ve had a difficult ride, don’t take it with you into the next training session

As well as hacking, I’ll vary the training with ground work. I like to long rein rather than lunge as the double line helps to keep them working correctly rather than just galloping round you. Youngsters come out with a lot of energy but can quickly get tired. If they do the exercises well, take positives from the training session and start to cool down; they will tell you when they are ready. Just be aware of the amount of time that you are on them, given that you need to walk, stretch and assess them before the training starts, and stretch and cool down afterwards. Also consider what they have done the day before and how fit they are.

PICTURED

Right: Youngsters can get tired quickly. When planning a training session, bear in mind the time needed to stretch and cool down afterwards.

– approach them in the same way as normal and don’t focus on the issues you had before. Think about their suppleness and how to be better right from the start.

Make sure you have worked them in the size of arena that you will be competing in – if you normally use a large school it can come as a surprise! I practice the centre lines and some test movements, but keep the warm up and cool down the same.

After the nationals I like to give my horses a couple of weeks hacking, but then keep them ticking over and conditioned. It’s a good time for stretching and suppling, working on core strength. You don’t need to turn horses away for a full break – a change of emphasis in their work can be highly positive, however.

Performance

Performance