Horse&Rider Magazine - August 2022

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In this feature. . .

Set up a super-simple cavaletti exercise

Our expert

The magic Sasha Hargreaves is an eventer competing up to Advanced. She was national junior champion in 2017 and a junior European eventing squad member in 2017 and 2018.

As told to Rebecca Philpot. Photos: Jon Stroud

Sasha rides five-year-old, KBIS Star Attraction (Basil), owned by herself, Jane Tolley and Penny Holley. He qualified for the four-year-old Young Horse final in 2021 and has made a promising start to his eventing career.

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number Thinking of adding cavaletti to your horse’s schooling sessions? Eventer Sasha Hargreaves shares a favourite exercise to inspire you

I

f you think you need to send your horse soaring to new heights to improve your form over fences, think again. Size isn’t everything – especially if you’re hoping to minimise the amount of wear and tear you place on his joints. And while you’ll need mileage over fences if your aim is to compete, there’s lots you can do to improve your horse’s technique and boost his

confidence while keeping the height to a minimum.

The benefits extend far beyond the competition arena, too. Cavaletti provide a fun session for both horse and rider, and can help you break out of a training rut. They’re one of my favourite ways to inject some fun back into my routine, as well as boosting confidence. Keep it simple and you’ll reap the benefits in no time.

In the saddle

Improve your horse’s rhythm

Reduce anticipating

Why cavaletti?

Designed to help improve hoof-to-brain co-ordination, cavaletti are essentially raised poles. You can buy all-in-one models that are small in height, or use your existing jump wings or blocks at their lowest height.

Even if you don’t compete, adding questions to your training that encourage your horse to think on his feet will be of huge benefit.

By adding cavaletti to his routine, you’ll… improve his frame Cavaletti encourage a horse to stretch over his back and take the contact forward condition his core Taking taller steps will help engage and lift your horse’s stomach muscles and activate his hindquarters build his confidence The more questions you ask your horse sympathetically in training, the better equipped he’ll feel to answer your questions outside of the arena make him more careful Raising the poles off the ground means your horse will have to think more about where he places his feet have fun!

Plus, adding variety to your horse’s training routine can massively improve his focus

HORSE&RIDER 33

School’s

out

This month, we speak to top eventer, Tina Cook, for whom hacking is the ultimate cross-country training tool. She talks water, gears and ground – and how they can make your horse a better athlete Our expert

As told to: Bethany Searby. Photos: Jon Stroud

Tina Cook’s long list of accolades includes GB individual and team appearances, five European Championship golds and three Olympic medals.

Based on the South Downs, Tina can be found competing a diverse string of exciting horses and, out of the saddle, trains the next generation of eventers – including her daughter Isabelle.

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M

y mum was always brilliant at making hacks fun for me and my ponies, and was forever setting up home-made obstacles or looking out for little branches to hop over. Besides the excitement, it meant we were always expecting the unexpected – we were ready for a challenge and confident tackling new things. This, in essence, is how you prepare your horse for success in eventing, and cross-country in particular. By making him comfortable with spontaneity and ready for questions outside the familiar footing of the arena he’ll be a bold, brave cross-country machine in no time.

Exercise 1 Make a splash

Water is a potential sticking point for many horses and as you approach this question in a competition environment, you need to know your horse is comfortable and confident with getting his feet wet. This is absolutely something you can tackle out on a hack but beware – fail to choose the right conditions and you can create more problems than you solve. Considerations before taking your horse to water include...

• picking your puddle It needs to be a decent size – too small and your horse will be encouraged to try and jump it or skip to the side. Essentially, you need to make it painfully obvious that his job is to walk through the

water and that this is his clearest and easiest route • taking your time Going for a paddle, especially on a horse who’s young and unexperienced, isn’t a job for a 20-minute hack on a day where you’ve got heaps of time pressure.

The ideal scenario is you and your horse staying as relaxed as possible with capacity to walk through 10 times if you need to until the puddle’s no longer a big deal • treading familiar territory The perfect puddle is one that’s formed over a familiar track where you and your horse know the lie of the land. Don’t start splashing through somewhere that could be surprisingly deep or uneven – while your horse needs to expect the unexpected, you don’t want to frighten him

In the saddle

He’ll be a bold, brave cross-country machine in no time

HORSE&RIDER 41

Balancing

act

If you struggle to make time for your horse around your daily routine, we can help. A few small changes will make all the difference, so why not give our ideas a go?

H

Photos: Jon Stroud

orse ownership is a costly lifestyle choice – not just from your pocket, but time-wise, too. While looking after our equine friends is quality time we enjoy, there’s no denying that it can make life feel like a juggling act and it’s easy to end up rushing from one place to another feeling like we’re not achieving much at all.

Horses may only take up a fraction of our day, but add to that a full-time job, household chores, other hobbies and interests – not to mention valuable sleep – and often it seems there’s little time left for anything else.

So, how can you fit everything in around a tight schedule? How do some people appear to manage their time effectively without galloping around like a headless chicken? The reality is, if we look deeper into how we actually spend our time we may be surprised to discover how many minutes – hours, even – we can free up each day. Here’s what to consider.

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Mind matters

Our expert

Angie Jones-Moore SNHS Dip is a certified advanced level life coach with a particular interest in working with equestrians.

She runs Moore Unique Life Coaching.

1.Switch off your phone

Consider turning your phone off while you spend quality time with your horse, otherwise it’s tempting to check notifications and reply to messages that can wait until you get home.

If you really can’t switch it off and need to be contactable at all times, then put it out of reach – somewhere you can hear it ring but not be tempted to check it every few seconds.

2.Make lists

Lists allow you to tick off completed tasks one by one so you feel like you’re winning at life. Just spending a few minutes each day writing down what you need to get done means nothing will be forgotten, leaving you in a clearer state of mind.

It’s a good idea to prioritise tasks so the essential ones always get done.

Also, try to avoid getting side-tracked during a task. It’s far more productive to focus on one job at a time than making half efforts with several.

DID YOU KNOW?

The average person checks their phone around 110 times per day.

Own it

Making yourself accountable to someone else is a good idea. For example, saying positively out loud, ‘I’ll ride on Tuesday’ starts by making it real.

Then you can back it up by sending a photo of you riding to an accountable friend or partner.

When you know someone’s cheering you on it really helps you stick to the plans you’ve made.

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