Horse&Rider Magazine – May 2019

In this feature. . .

➤ Fine-tune

your skills with five jumps or less

Gimme five As told to Bethany Searby. Photos: Adam Fanthorpe.

Even without a vast range of showjumps, you can still put your skills to the test at home. All you have to do is get creative, says eventer Ros Canter

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rofessional riders are usually fortunate enough to have a range of different fences and fillers to use in training. But what happens when you don’t own enough wings or poles to replicate the demands of a full course at home?

Okay, perhaps you can’t produce an immaculate course of 11 obstacles with a smaller jump collection, but you can construct frequently asked showjumping questions and hone the forward-planning skills required to put them all together with five fences or fewer. It just takes a little creativity.

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Focus from the get go

Having a canter round and popping over a single fence is a lot of fun and certainly has its place, but will it prepare you and you horse for a competition? Not really. So, design your training around what you’ll encounter in the ring. At any showjumping level, you’ll find...

• combinations • related distances • changes of direction • time saving angles Knowing what to expect will ready you for these more complex questions.

The pressure’s off at home to a degree, but use your training sessions to ensure you’re riding precisely and effectively. Developing clear, accurate aids that elicit exactly the response you want from your horse will make your job a hundred times easier when every stride counts.

To do this, I always refer back to my position principles at the start of every session of maintaining a contact with longer reins, an upright body and a strong awareness of where I’m looking – always ahead to the next question.

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In the saddle

➤ Get

creative with combinations ➤ Learn to keep a quality canter

Our model

Izilot DHI (Isaac) is a 16.1hh six-year-old, Dutch-bred gelding owned

by Ros, and Nick and Alex Moody. In 2018, he secured second place in the Burghley Young Event Horse final and third in the five-year-old Young Horse Championship.

Our expert

Ros Canter has made a name for herself on the eventing scene. As well as her team and individual eventing golds at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, she’s also racked up several top-five completions at CCI5* in recent years.

HORSE&RIDER 19

In this feature. . .

Our expert

Spencer Wilton was part of the British team that won silver at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, with his top horse Super Nova II. This was followed by team bronze at the World Equestrian Games in 2018.

Our model

As told to Rachel Dyke. Photos: Jon Stroud

Darren Hicks is an eventer-turned-dressage rider. He’s riding Zaire LH, who’s owned by Alex and Marcia Mouradain and is competing at Novice level.

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➤ Identify

when your horse is on the forehand

In the saddle

➤ Improve

his suppleness and balance ➤ Sharpen your transitions

back foot On the

Does your horse have a tendency to tip onto his forehand? Spencer Wilton’s exercises will get him back in balance

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eing on the forehand is one of those feels to run down a hill – and, because his engine terms that gets mentioned all the is disengaged, he’ll find it difficult to maintain time, but riders often don’t impulsion. You can normally tell if your horse is understand what it means on the forehand because he’ll lean on your or how to fix it. Simply hands in an attempt to balance himself, put, it’s a question of balance – or meaning he feels heavy in front. the lack of it. When he’s on the Teaching your horse to come off TOP TIP forehand, your horse takes more his forehand and take his weight It’s important to consider your weight on his shoulders and front behind is fundamental to dressage position in the saddle, as your body legs than on his hindquarters success – without it, he’ll struggle tipping forward will unbalance (where his engine is) and it feels with test movements and your marks your horse. as though he’s tipping onto his will suffer. Conveniently, though, the nose. Moving in this downhill exercises that highlight whether your fashion makes it harder for him horse is on the forehand are also key to carry himself – think of how it to correcting it.

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goal lotta fun No matter your level or ambitions, having a horsey aspiration to aim towards will make for a summer of fun. Follow our goal-setting tips to maximise your results

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ith summer just around the corner, the weather and daylight hours are finally on your side and you’ll be starting to feel as though all the man-hours you put in over winter were worth it. So, it’s time to get your planning head on and decide what to do with the gift of all this extra time.

Setting horsey goals to achieve is fun and motivating, but sometimes outlining something you’re keen to accomplish can bring a pressure element with it. Rather than feeling overwhelmed, though, try breaking down your ambition into its individual parts and you’ll find it much more achievable.

The key to reaching your goal is the realisation that all you actually require is the aim itself, a thorough plan, and a realistic and fair time frame.

A deal of thought combined with healthy dose of honesty are the final components you need to set the cogs in motion – plus a trip to the stationery shop, if you’re that way inclined.

All you actually require is the aim itself, a thorough plan, and a realistic and fair time frame

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Mind matters

TOP TIP

Do you buy a coffee everyday on the way to work? At £2.50 a time, that’s £12.50 a week. By reducing your coffee habit to a Friday treat, that’s already a weekly saving of £10 that you can put towards achieving your goal.

1. Pick your goal

No doubt you’ve got boundless enthusiasm for your potential goal, and because of this it can be tempting to reach for the stars. But, before you do, it’s important to have a little talk with yourself and decide whether the goal you have in mind is realistically do-able in your time frame. Nothing’s more demoralising than having to shelve a goal you’ve wished so hard for, so step one is to decide on something achievable. This will depend upon a few everyday factors, such as...

• budget Make sure your goal isn’t going to break the bank. For example, if you’re keen to start competing and aim to affiliate, forking out for regular training, registration and membership with the relevant governing body plus entry fees won’t come cheap. Therefore, have a think about how you might make little savings here and there to fund your ambition. Furthermore, you could cut costs by competing on day tickets, particularly if you’re only planning to enter a couple of affiliated competitions • your personal schedule Sometimes, our enthusiasm allows us to lie to ourselves about how much (or how little) free time we have.

It’s important that you can maintain a healthy horse-life balance so you don’t run yourself into the ground. Be honest with yourself and work out how much time each week you can feasibly devote to working on a goal – this will help you form the right one for you It’s also very important to ensure that your goal is a specific one. This means that, once you’ve reached it, you aren’t encouraged to move the goal posts and make life harder. Be kind to yourself and be proud of what you’ve achieved – bask in the glory of reaching a target.

TOP TIP

Day tickets allow you to compete with an organisation without having to front the full membership fee.

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