EDITORIAL
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September 2025 issue WIN!
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TRAINING
22 7 steps to jumping confidence Build the foundations for success
Levelling up Top tips and exercises to polish your Prelim performance
Love hacking Make hacking a relaxing experience for you and your horse
COVER Multiple choice Elevate your training with our polework layout
10-minute exercise Serpentines get a makeover
COVER A complete guide to: interval training
Be disciplined Strength-focused rider workouts for jumping
COVER Try something new... Horseback archery
10-minute exercise Poles on a circle
Feel the connection Learn to understand and communicate with your horse
CONFIDENCE
COVER Living the dream Alison Buttery helps turn your goals into reality
Lovely to meet you Buying a horse? Anna Haines helps you find the right one EXPERT ANSWERS
Head start Make the right choice when buying a hat
Pasture prevention How to help your fields recover from extreme weather
SHOPPING
at home Gorgeous kitchenware
Buyer’s guide Air jackets
COVER Tried and tested Long riding socks
Dream horsey homes Find your ideal equestrian property
01442
77 Your questions: answered HORSE CARE
70 13 things you need to know about... Digestive health
90 COVER Five-star management Ros Canter’s routine for success 94 Taking cover Experts answer
This month we love... Fleece gilets, circulation boosting bandages and more
GOOD READS
life with horses A week in the life of
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THIS MONTH Long riding socks
7 steps to jumping confidence
PART 1: FLATWORK FOUNDATIONS
Your work on the flat forms the basis of your showjumping round. Perfect it with Claire Edwards’ guidance
EXPERT
Claire Edwards MSc is a British Showjumping and British Equestrian High Performance Level 4 coach, an NDPCE coach, a BEF Youth Pathway coach and a BHS Accredited Professional coach. She runs Wix Hill Livery Stables in Surrey.
When you think of jumping, you probably imagine the dramatic take-off followed by a perfect bascule. However, the reality is that these moments in the air are actually few and far between, with 80% of your showjumping spent on the flat. This means that you and your horse will never reach your full potential over fences if you don’t have the fundamentals of flatwork in place.
In this series, I’ll give you some of my most useful pointers on how to produce the best possible results from different types of horses. But whether your horse is red hot or needs a little more encouragement over the poles, it all starts the same way – on the flat.
Forging ahead
What’s the first ingredient you need for showjumping? Forward motion. Many riders underestimate how forward their horse should really be to achieve the ideal rhythm for tackling a course or grid. Often, riders hold onto their horses in fear of them becoming too quick, long or flat, sometimes without realising it’s happening. Usually, it’s because they feel they need a safety net. If your horse is maintaining an active, polite canter towards a fence, there can be a small part of your brain that catastrophises, imagining a whole range of failure scenarios, from a run out to a knocked pole. This can lead you to try to fix the ‘problem’, but the reality is that by the time you’re three strides away, it’s already too late for adjustments.
Levelling up
Part two: Preliminary
Discover simple ways to perfect your basic dressage skills as you move up a level
EXPERT
Tania Grantham is a rider, trainer and polework specialist, as well as a writer and the host of podcast Poles, Piaffe and Prosecco. She is also the author of Inspire Dressage Polework Journal
In this series I’m exploring the core movements at each level of dressage. Last issue we looked at the foundation stage –Introductory level – and now it’s time to step up to Preliminary. All the requirements of Introductory still apply, but tests will now include a variety of shapes and patterns, as well as canter work, along with give and retake of the reins and trot stretch. If you want to know how to best present these movements, the following exercises will help you prepare to compete and show the judge the level of skill and training they’re looking for.
The scales of training
Dressage is judged against the scales of training, which are...
• rhythm: correct for each pace and consistent
• suppleness: the ability to move in a balanced way, both longitudinally (over his topline from his quarters to his poll) and laterally (flexing his body on turns and in lateral work)
• contact: consistent and elastic
• impulsion: the desire to move forward with energy from behind
• straightness: on straight lines, turns and circles
• collection: increased engagement of the hindlegs to transfer more weight onto the haunches
You need...
4 cones
20m circles at E or B
For this movement, the judge is looking for...
• regularity and balance
• bend and fluency
• size and shape
TOP TIP
It’s important to know the distance between markers and do the maths to work out exactly where your circle should be.
Exercise
Use cones to mark the quarter points of the circle.
Why it works
Riding the correct-sized circle, especially in a long arena test, can be hard. The cones will help you to clearly visualise the size and see whether your horse is prone to drifting on a particular part of the turn, allowing you to correct it and present a truly accurate circle.
How to ride it
Ride a circle around the cones and think about how your horse feels...
• Does he want to drift in or out?
• Does this differ on certain quarters of the circle?
• Does he tend to lose bend or overbend?
• Is it easy to link all the cones together or do you struggle with certain sections of it?
In this feature Improve your circles Introduce self-carriage Use corners for canter transitions
When the circle is correct, you should easily be able to ride accurately between the cones. Your horse should feel as if he’s stretching the outside of his body around the circle while bending to the inside and becoming a little lighter in the inside rein. You should be able to turn your shoulders and hips while remaining level and feel your horse is upright, not leaning to one side or the other.
Livingdreamthe
Turn your dreams into reality by taking a whole new approach to your riding
Alison Buttery is a certified mindset and confidence coach, a BHS APC senior coach and an experienced rider, who specialises in helping riders overcome their nerves. She’s also the founder of The Everyday Equestrian. EXPERT
As riders, we’re often great at planning the very best for our horses, yet how often do we pause to ask what we truly want from our riding and time spent with our horses? What is it that we really want to experience? What memories do we want to create? What are our hopes and dreams? It’s so easy to get caught up in day-to-day routines that sometimes our ambitions and dreams slip quietly into the background.
Make the reconnection
Perhaps you once had clear goals but confidence shifts or life changes have altered your focus. Or maybe you’ve never asked yourself what you really want from your riding. But it isn’t about pushing for more or striving harder. Rather, it’s about reconnecting with the things that mean the most to you as an owner and rider and are the real reason you got into horses and riding in the first place. Whatever you like doing with your horse, it’s worth exploring what you’d love to feel proud of in a year from now and then gently move forward one step at a time, because your dreams deserve the time and space to make them happen.
Photos: Jon Stroud. Alison runs The
Sit and think Before rushing to set goals or create a plan, take a moment to breathe. Ask yourself not only what you want to achieve, but also why it matters to you so much. That’s the emotional fuel that keeps you going when progress feels slow. When your goals are rooted in your identity and purpose, you’re less likely to abandon them at the first wobble or when life takes you off track for a while.
Try using the Five Whys technique as defined by Simon Sinek – it’s a deceptively simple and powerful way to dig deeper. An example might be wanting to jump a 70cm course again...
1. Why? Because I used to love jumping.
2. Why? Because it made me feel proud and free.
3. Why? Because I worked through my fear to get there.
4. Why? Because I proved to myself that I was braver than I thought.
5. Why? Because I want to feel strong in who I am, on and off my horse. By the fifth ‘why’, you often uncover a truth that feels personal and powerful, something worth holding onto, even when the surface-level goal shifts. And if you notice discomfort rising when exploring your why, that’s often a sign of something meaningful.
TOP TIP
Like trying on a new pair of shoes, new thoughts and actions don’t necessarily feel perfect straight away, but they’ll be good enough to help you take the next steps.
Thinking outside the box
Of course, not all dreams fit neatly into boxes – some of the most powerful riding aspirations are a little softer around the edges. You might want to feel more confident, build a stronger bond with your horse, or enjoy riding without the weight of expectation, and these aren’t always easy to quantify. Rather than rigid outcomes, focus on goals that are framed and stated positively and are within your control.
So, instead of being scared to go out hacking alone, shift to the idea of feeling calm and composed as you ride your horse confidently along familiar routes. Try to include sensory detail so
you bring your imagined experience to life. Importantly, the difference lies in where your focus goes. You’re not avoiding the fear, but quietly acknowledging it while moving your attention towards the experience you want to create.
Reflective prompt
Ask yourself how you’ll know when you’ve achieved your goal. Think about what you’ll see, hear, feel or say to yourself when it happens.
Part one: First impressions
Lovely to meet you
Buying a horse? Anna Haines helps you find the right one and settle him into his new home
Photos: Peter Nixon
Anna Haines is a clinical animal behaviourist, member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors, and has been a freelance equine behaviour consultant for 14 years. She has an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare, specialising in equines.
Bringing a new horse into your life is an exciting time, but it’s also a decision that carries significant responsibility.
Horses are sentient, social animals with complex needs, and understanding their behaviour is crucial if you want to build a strong, trust-based relationship with him.
First things first
Before you even begin your horse search, it’s essential to truthfully evaluate your situation to ensure you find the right equine companion. Consider your...
• goals – whether that’s a competition partner, a quiet hack or a horse for your whole family to enjoy
• level of skill and experience – there’s nothing worse than finding yourself over-horsed, usually resulting in considerable stress for you and the horse quickly being moved on
• available time, money and space for taking on a new equine friend
• expectations and the qualities you do want in your new horse – if you focus on what you don’t want, your brain will ensure that’s what you buy
Five-star management
Ros Canter shares her simple routine that keeps her horses feeling their best
EXPERT
Ros Canter is the reigning Individual and Team European Eventing Champion. She has multiple 5* wins to her name, including Badminton and Luhmühlen in 2025, and helped Team GB secure gold at the Paris Olympics 2024.
I’m a firm believer that horses should be allowed to be horses, and that this ethos is part of what works for me and my team. Horses need to be happy and healthy in order to perform at their best, and ensuring they have forage, freedom and friends is incredibly important to me.
Day-to-day
Like most, my horses’ routine depends on the time of year. During winter, my mum is up at the crack of dawn to feed, around 5am, then all the horses are out by 8am. My amazing grooms are then busy mucking out to prepare the stables to bring in at 11am to have a lunchtime feed. I ride throughout the day and will usually start with the horses who are in the closer fields so they can go back out for a while before lunch. I don’t ride the same horse at the same time every day, though, it just depends what’s going on and my plans for them for that week. We play a
lot of it by ear – for example, if one horse came in earlier to be ridden one day, I’d make sure they get extra turnout time the next day. The horses are skipped out and fed between 3–4pm, then get more hay before bed at late checks.
In the summer, it’s a different story. All of my horses live out 24/7 as soon as the weather perks up! They come in to be worked, but are even fed in the field. This is great for them and it’s a routine that I’ve found really works for me – it also makes life on the yard so much more enjoyable because there’s less mucking out to do!
Keeping tradition
My management approach is completely influenced by my mum – she’s always believed that horses should be outside as much as possible, and I do, too. It’s natural for them, they love to graze and it’s good for them to be moving around. We’re so lucky to be based on the farm because we’ve got the ability to look after the land and ensure it meets our needs. It’s poo-picked almost every day and we spend a lot of time managing the fields correctly to ensure they’re safe and suitable for the horses when they live out in summer.
Diet matters
Health and good performance start from within – we need to fuel our horses correctly to provide them with sufficient energy. I like to spend time analysing the horses’ diets to ensure they’re receiving all the nutrition they need. Alongside a forage-based and balanced diet, some might need extra support to encourage muscle development as they’re getting fit for the season, or perhaps a gut balancer around competition days – it’s all about tailoring it to the individual.
We spend a lot of time managing the fields correctly to ensure they’re safe and suitable for the horses
DID YOU KNOW?
Lordships Graffalo was living out before we set off for the Paris Olympics in 2024. This year, he stayed in at night until Badminton because I didn’t want to change his routine so close to the event, but he’s been turned out ever since.
