tips from
the top World champion eventer Ros Canter shares some of her fave jumping exercises
Our Event rider Ros expert and team gold mCanter won individual edals Equestrian Gamesat the World in 2018.
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ou don’t need to school over big fences to improve your jumping, and even top riders keep things really simple when training their horses. Ros Canter’s one of the best riders in the world, and she often uses low, easy fences called cavaletti to help her horses develop important skills for jumping, such as rhythm, balance and suppleness. It’s something you can do with your fave pony, too!
CLEVER CAVALETTI
Photos: Adam Fanthorpe
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web extra Watch Ros riding through the exercise at bit.ly/ PONY_ROS_CANTER
Exercise 1: Super serpentine This exercise asks you to ride a three-loop serpentine over cavaletti, and its a brilliant way to practise loads of the skills you need for jumping a course of fences. It’ll help teach you to land and rebalance your pony before changing direction and getting straight for your next fence. It’s great for his suppleness, too!
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Set it up Place three caveletti along the centre line – one at X, one between K and F and another between H and M. The poles should face the long sides.
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How to ride it 1.
Start by riding large on the left rein, and encourage your
pony to move forward in an active trot. Approach the first cavaletti at A. To make sure you stay straight, aim for the middle of the pole and keep your eyes up. On landing, look up to the next fence, and open your left rein slightly to guide your pony around the turn. Nudging him at the girth with your inside leg will encourage him to bend. Ride over the second cavaletti. This time when you land open your right rein and place your right leg against the girth. You’ll also need to change your diagonal by sitting for two beats of the trot. Ride over the third cavaletti to finish your serpentine. Have a go in the other direction, remembering to use the opposite aids as you’ll be starting on the right rein.
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Top tip
You can try this exercise with poles on the ground first, then raise them to cavaletti when you’re feeling more confident.
Up the challenge
e middle cavaletti th er ov ge an ch ad e l a r Ask fo
If you’re acing the exercise in trot, try it in canter! Remember, though, that you’ll need to change canter lead in the middle. This isn’t as tricky as it sounds and you can use the centre caveletti to help you. As your pony takes off over it, look up to where you want to go and slightly open your new inside rein. It’ll help to put a tiny bit more weight in your inside stirrup, too. If he doesn’t change leg straightaway, don’t worry – keep practising and he’ll soon work out what you want.
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Hot to trot Part two of our paces series shows you how to improve your pony’s trot
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ow often do you think about your pony’s trot? Probably not that often! But, trot’s the pace you do most of your riding in, especially in dressage tests, so it’s superimportant to make sure your pony’s trot is active, rhythmical and consistent.
All about trot
Trot’s a two-beat pace and your pony uses his legs in diagonal pairs. When he’s trotting he should track up, which is when his hind feet step into the hoofprints left by his front feet. Although there are four different trot types, working trot is the one most often used, and a good working pace is vital to master extended, collected and medium trot.
Dotty diagonals
The first thing to ask yourself is “Am I on the right diagonal?” Making sure you’re rising on the correct diagonal will help your pony to stay balanced and improve his trot. This is because your pony uses his hindlegs to power himself forward, and when he turns a corner he’ll take a lot more weight on his inside hind as it has to stretch further. Rising on the correct diagonal means you take your weight off his hindlegs and his back.
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On the diagonal
As your pony’s legs work in pairs when he trots, you can use his front legs to tell if you’re on the right diagonal. You should sit as his outside leg moves back, and rise again as it moves forward. If you think you’re on the wrong diagonal, don’t panic, it’s really easy to fix. All you need to do is sit for an extra beat of trot, so you’ll sit for two steps. Then, check his outside shoulder to see if you’re correct.
Exercise 1: Figure it out C
Riding a figure of eight can really help you ace diagonals as you’ll need to change them every time you cross over the centre line.
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HOW TO RIDE IT
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Start on the right rein in trot, and ride a half ● Change 20m circle from your diagonal A to X. K F As you ride over X, sit for an extra beat and A ask your pony for left bend by changing your leg aids. Now ride a 20m circle left. When you get back to X change your diagonal and your pony’s bend again, then ride a half circle to A to finish the shape.
A steady beat
Once you’ve made sure you’re on the right diagonal it’s time to think about rhythm. Your pony’s trot should have a regular two-time beat. To help you keep a steady rhythm try chanting. Say ‘baked beans’ out loud, and aim to rise on baked and sit on beans.
Exercise 2: Feel the Rhythm Another way to help your pony stick to a regular beat is to ride to music. Make your perfect trot playlist and off you go. You’ll need songs that have a regular four-beat tempo, such as The Other Side from The Greatest Showman soundtrack or the GhostBusters theme. Use a bluetooth speaker to play the songs out loud so your pony can hear them, too.
Top tip
You could even get your mates involved to create a musical ride. Or why not ask your instructor to set your next lesson to music?
HOW TO RIDE IT 1.
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Play the music quietly while you’re warming up so your pony gets used to it – he may spook the first time he passes the speaker. Then, gradually increase the volume. Ride your pony around the arena, making sure you’re rising to the beat of the music. Next, start adding shapes into the mix, without changing the rhythm of his trot.
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