PONY Magazine – Spring 2020

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Ben Hobday + y Pon Nuts u help yo

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12 February – 10 March 2020

Spring 2020 £4.25 Issue 862

ace jumping

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Pony Nuts has a lesson with eventing star Ben Hobday!

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ocial media star Pony Nuts is a huge fan of top rider Ben Hobday, so she jumped at the chance to have a lesson with him. She rode her stunning new horse, Bella, and was really keen to get some tips on how to get the best approach to fences so she can ride even more clear rounds!

Ben Hobday

Ben’s one of the UK’s mo popular event riders, and st year competed at Badmin last ton Burghley on Harelaw Wiz and ard.

Pony Nuts

Photos: Trevor Meeks

Pony Nuts, aka Gracie, has 137k followers on Insta. She rides five-year-old mare Bella, who . she’s owned since last summer

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Be in the zone

If you’re having a lesson somewhere new or competing at a show where there’s loads going on, your pony could get easily distracted. Ben says it’s important he stays focused on you, so you’re in control and have a better chance of keeping him relaxed and supple. To do this, have a soft, even contact on his mouth and ride lots of transitions and school shapes.

a classy canter

After Gracie’s warmed up Bella, it’s time to work on the most important pace for jumping – the canter.

Jumping’s essentially an exaggerated canter stride, so the better your pony’s canter, the better his jump should be!

“When you’re in canter, you should always be thinking about the three ingredients you need to get a great jump – power, straightness and control,” says Ben. “It’s also a really a good idea to regularly practise asking your pony to take longer, then shorter strides in the canter. It’s like moving through the gears on your bike, so you can create more power or cover a distance more quickly.”

Top te ip a smooth,

To help you rid er transition, balanced cant ok de rein and lo open your insi n he inside w up and to the ny for the po ur yo you ask ce. change of pa

Creating those gears

A really useful way to improve your pony’s canter is to ride a 20m circle and change gear every few strides. Ask him to take shorter steps so he’s in a low gear for five strides, then push him forward into a higher gear for five strides. It’ll really get him stepping through with his inside hindleg!

To create a low-gear canter... slow down the pace by taking your shoulders back and using your outside rein to ask your pony to wait. At the same time, press your inside leg against the girth to create more power.

Top tip

Don’t be afraid to make a mistak e when y o u’re training.

It’s the b est way to le arn how to do somethin g right.

To create a high-gear canter... wrap your legs around your pony’s sides to encourage him to take longer steps. Allow a little with your hands, but make sure you stay upright in the saddle to help keep him balanced.

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PART TWO

CELEB rider inspo with OUR EXPERTS

Mary King

Eventing fave Mary has won silver and bronze Olympic medals, plus two World Championship golds!

Chris Burton

Chris rides for Australia, but is based in the UK. He’s competed at two Olympic games and won Burghley in 2016.

web extra

Watch Mary put her horse King Robert II through his paces in leg-yield at bit.ly/ MARY_KING_LEGYIELD

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o help you and your fave pony prepare for the new competition season, and give you the best chance of success, we’ve asked top event riders Mary King and Chris Burton to share some of their fave exercises. Practise them regularly and they’ll help make your pony more balanced, supple and responsive, so he performs better than ever!

Top tip

Make sure your pony’s thoroughly warmed up before trying any of these exercises.

Exercise 1 Side stepping

According to Mary, every pony should understand how to move away from your leg when you apply light pressure on his side.

Riding leg-yield’s a great way to teach him this, and it involves your pony moving forwards and sideways at the same time. It’s awesome to try, and it’ll help make him super-supple, too!

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leg-yield

HOW TO RIDE IT

1. Go large in walk, then turn down the three-quarter line just past C and stay straight for a few strides.

2. When you’re level with H, open your inside rein to create a small amount of bend, then place your inside leg on the girth and apply a little pressure to ask your pony to step over.

Keep a contact on your outside rein, and support him with your outside leg just behind the girth. Make sure you keep your body straight to help him stay balanced.

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3. When you feel your pony take a sideways step, release the pressure with your inside leg for a moment. Then apply it again to ask him for another step.

4. Start by asking for just a few steps of leg-yield at a time, before rewarding him by walking forward and straight.

In each session try another few sideways steps so you can build up to leg-yielding all the way from the three-quarter line to the track.

5. Have a go the other way.

UP THE CHALLENGE When you and your fave pony are finding the leg-yield exercise easy, you can have a go in trot. Another way to mix things up is to try riding a zig-zag by leg-yielding to the left for two or three steps, then to the right, and so on.

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