Horse&Rider Magazine – Spring 2021

4 STEPS TO CORRECT YOUR CONTACT

WARM

POLES! THE SECRET TO

UP WELL with

BETTER

PACES

Gemma Tattersall

Sleep well, eat right,

ride better

Simple swaps for a

happier horse

Managing

mares

Keep ahead of

sweet itch

cross-country riding tactics

GET FIT QUICK! ADVICE FOR YOU AND YOUR HORSE

4 February – 3 March 2021

Nicola Wilson’s

made easy

ON TEST: SHORT RIDING

BOOTS

£4.25

Issue number 616 Spring 2021 ■ Gemma Tattersall’s warm-up ■ Simple swaps for a happy horse ■ Sweet itch ■ Nicola Wilson cross-country riding ■ Horse and rider fitness ■ Goal setting tips ■ BTS with Yazmin Pinchen

The UK’s best-selling equestrian monthly

Set goals for your

BEST YEAR YET!

In this feature. . .

Our expert

Tania Grantham is a dressage rider and trainer who made the move up to Grand Prix with her top horse in 2019. She specialises in innovative polework formations and holds clinics all over the South East.

As told to Bethany Searby. Photos: Jon Stroud

Our models

Owned by Tania’s mum, Tina, Samarino (Sam) is a 2006 Westphallian gelding who Tania has produced all the way to Grand Prix from scratch.

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➤ Achieve

punchier paces and top transitions

Poles to solve your problems

PART THREE: THE BUNTING

This month, Tania shows you how to perfect your horse’s paces and ride top transitions with a brand new layout

H

ave you ever been in the middle of a dressage test, perhaps having performed a lacklustre transition, and wished you could pull up at the judge’s box to tell them “I can actually do that much better at home – mind if I give it another go?”

Alas, we all have moments like these from time to time. The one-shot nature of being in competition can be daunting enough to affect your riding – especially since you can have as many goes at a transition as you like at home. In training, you might ride a half-halt that your horse ignores, meaning he’s not sufficiently

engaged to walk at B like you planned.

You wait for the next letter, then the one after that until finally, at attempt 12, you ride a decent transition.

But what if we borrowed the idea that you get one shot per movement from the competition arena and applied it to our training sessions? Not only would this concept prepare you for a test situation more realistically, but riding through an exercise or movement with the pace you have, not circling away and trying to create a better one, would also give you a clearer picture of where you need to improve – and how to make corrections on the move.

➤

In the saddle

➤ Introduce

and polish counter-canter ➤ Boost your lateral work

HORSE&RIDER 23

In this feature. . .

Our expert

Alice Oppenheimer is an international Grand Prix dressage rider and trainer who produces and breeds dressage horses from her base, Headmore Stud.

As told to Megan Hurley. Photos: Jon Stroud

Our model

Headmore Bella Ruby, or Bella, is an eight-year-old mare by Belissimo M out of Rubinsteena. She’s owned

by Sarah Oppenheimer.

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➤ Build

suppleness with lateral work

In the saddle

➤ Teach

travers trouble-free ➤ Use half-pass to improve collection

Maximising your movements part four

Whether you’re stepping up a level or simply looking to freshen up tired schooling routines, Alice Oppenheimer’s hassle-free guide includes the perfect movements to give your flatwork a welcome boost

W

ith leg-yield and shoulder-in feeling easier by the day, you might be wondering where you and your horse can go from here. Lateral work’s now a firm friend, so you might be keen to up the ante and look for new ways to challenge yourself.

That’s where travers and half-pass come in. These tough-to-tackle – but perfectly doable – movements might feel like the pinnacle of lateral work, but there’s no reason you can’t introduce them into your schooling sessions at home and reap their many benefits, whether that’s improving your horse’s suppleness or lightening his forehand.

You might be keen to up the ante and look for new ways to challenge yourself

Getting going

Suppleness is the name of the game when it comes to travers and half-pass, which means it’s also the key to a good warm-up. Incorporate changes of bend to loosen up your horse, encouraging him to work evenly into both reins.

Make sure he’s supple in both directions and take note of which side he finds easier, as it can help to begin each movement on his better rein.

Be sure to include some easier lateral work in your warm-up, too.

Leg-yield and shoulder-in will have your horse thinking about going sideways – and set you up well for half-pass – before you try some trickier exercises. It’ll also give you the opportunity to make sure he’s listening to your leg aids and able to clearly distinguish between aids for forwards and sideways movement.

➤

HORSE&RIDER 39

&

PERFORM WELL PART 2:

Photos: Jon Stroud, Jacob Lund/Shutterstock.com, Nadianb/Shutterstock.com. With thanks to British Equestrian for their help with this feature, britishequestrian.org.uk

eat well recover well

You probably treat your horse like an athlete, but what about yourself? Experts from British Equestrian’s Perform Well programme share their techniques to boost your riding whatever your level

L

ife can often feel like a cycle of eat, sleep, ride, repeat. However, improving the quality of what you eat and how you sleep can make the riding and repeating part of the equation much easier – and more enjoyable, too.

Whether you want to perform at your best on the world stage or at a Riding Club show, it’s important to consider all the factors that come together as you enter the ring. On a physical level, something as simple as sleeping badly or skipping breakfast could mean the difference between a clear round and the poles tumbling. It could also knock your mental wellbeing – whether that’s losing confidence in your abilities, feeling stressed over what this could mean for the future or feeling upset about letting down your horse.

Luckily, there are simple steps you can take to ensure that your body’s rested and well-fuelled, meaning you’ll be in a better frame of mind every time you sit in the saddle.

Our experts

Leonie Lightfoot is a BASES (British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences) accredited sport scientist and has a Masters degree in sports psychology. She’s been helping athletes on British Equestrian’s World Class Programme since 2016.

54 HORSE&RIDER

Jane Holden is Performance Lifestyle Coach for the World Class Programme and is completing a PhD on athlete lifestyle. She previously worked with England Hockey as a physiologist and is also a trained yoga instructor.

Dr Dan Martin is a Performance Nutritionist and Chartered Sport and Exercise Scientist.

He also holds a PhD in performance nutrition and behaviour change. He’s been supporting British Equestrian’s World Class Programme since 2018.

Dr Luke Gupta is Senior Project Physiologist and Lead Sleep Scientist at the English Institute of Sport (EIS), where he works with elite athletes from a range of different sports, including those on British Equestrian’s World Class Programme.

Mind matters

The best you can be

British Equestrian’s Perform Well programme was developed to support everyone from grooms and top riders to support staff and the wider equestrian community. Each month, we’ll offer practical tips to help you take responsibility for your mental wellbeing and perform at your best, whatever level you ride at.

This three-part series will focus on the key building blocks that make up Perform Well, continuing with...

• part one Think well and move well • part two Recover well and eat well • part three Live well and connect well

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