Feature: Confident Cross Country

FEATURE

Confident cross country

Cross country training isn’t all galloping hell for leather over big fences, neither is it perfect distances and stride control. So, how should you train? ENYA CROCKFORD explains.

Irecently spoke with Sarah Clark, a 5* eventer who has a track record for producing young horses to the top levels of the sport. In Sarah’s expert opinion, the success of this phase comes down to two seemingly contradictory things: teaching the horse to think for themselves, while still listening to their rider. Neither horse nor rider gets it right 100 per cent of the time, so the horse needs to learn to use their initiative and develop a sense of self-preservation, all while responding to your aids.

Their responsibility: footwork

A safe cross country horse is one who takes responsibility for their own footwork, rather than always relying on you to place them on the correct stride. Good footwork can be developed by riding over different terrain and lines, which we’ll discuss in more detail below.

Your responsibility: line and pace

Sarah says that as a rider, your two primary responsibilities are the line you take and the pace of your approach. From the very beginning of their training, you should teach your horse to maintain the line you ride them on. Focus on teaching your horse to correct their line by responding to your aids, as opposed to manhandling them into straightness. the greenest of green horses to riding through 4* and 5* combinations.

First, envision a red string from your eyes onto the intended path over the fences. Now imagine your legs and hands are bumpers similar to those in bumper bowling. When the horse tries to deviate from the line, they simply hit the left or right bumper and thus have to stay in the middle. This avoids fighting them onto the line or accidentally overcorrecting them.

With all the adrenaline that cross country brings, how do you teach your horse to maintain the pace you set? Sarah is a big believer in doing things slowly from the start, giving your horse time to figure questions out and to answer them without a rush of blood.

If your horse does get excited, be consistent in correcting any changes in pace. Sarah uses a lot of halts in her training – four strides before or after the fence – to make sure the horse is listening and to defuse any tendency to rush.

Developing feel

In addition to deciding the line and pace, it’s also your responsibility to hone your ability to feel what’s happening and to react to it quickly. This comes through time, experience, and getting to know your horse. While you’re teaching your horse to figure their feet out, you can’t just be a passenger. You have to learn when to push and when to wait, and that leads us to our arena exercises,

which are an excellent way of safely developing your feel and your horse’s ability to think about their feet.

With Cassage S at the 2020 Wallaby Hill CCI3*-S (Image by Melissa Goodson, Snapshotaustralia).

Training on the arena

While there’s no substitute for

schooling on a course, there are several fundamental cross country skills that can be developed on the arena. You can do some of these exercises even before

you and your horse have reached the stage when you’re ready to start jumping. Provided you can stop, go, and steer, you can begin putting in the building blocks to set yourselves up for success.

1. Scattered poles Scatter between four and ten poles around the arena (or your riding area) and trot over them from a variety of angles and lines. This teaches your horse to think about their feet and to step over the pole no matter what line they’re placed on. It also helps you ride accurate lines. If your horse is very green, you can always start this in walk.

2. Pole patterns Place your poles in a pattern such as a square, triangle, hexagon or combination of shapes, and find various lines through them. This adds an extra challenge to the scattered poles exercise because the poles come up much more quickly. 3. Introducing narrow poles Get your horse used to the idea of narrow fences by walking and trotting over narrow poles with wings on either side. Remember to keep your horse straight with your ‘bumpers’! From here you can raise the pole into a small fence.

4. Introducing drums To begin jumping potentially spooky objects like drums, Sarah starts off with a drum on either side of the pole. She then gradually moves them closer until the horse is jumping the drums. Once this has been achieved successfully, she takes one drum away so the horse is jumping a single drum with wings on either side. When the horse is confident and straight, she begins moving the wings further away from the drum. Guiding rails placed on the end of each drum can also help.

5. Putting a course together Once your horse has been introduced to narrow fences and has practiced finding their own stride over poles, you can string together a course of regular show jumps, drums, skinnies, and even makeshift apexes.

Rather than setting smooth lines with perfect distances, place the jumps irregularly so your horse has to focus on their footwork, and you keep your focus on the line and pace. Initially these jumps should be set much lower than the height you and your horse are

confidently jumping. Make sure they stay low enough so that if there’s a mistake or awkward distance, it will become a learning experience without shaking anyone’s confidence.

Terrain training

Hacking out on varied terrain – walking on a long rein up and down hills, over streams, fallen branches, and uneven ground – is another essential part of your horse’s cross country training. Sarah advises you to sit back and keep your horse on a long rein if it’s safe to do so, giving them the opportunity figure out their own way through and over these ‘obstacles’. Doing this at a slow pace will give your horse time to develop their coordination, control their feet, and work out how to use their head and neck for balance.

Terrain training also allows you to develop the confidence to give your horse control over their own body, rather than grabbing the reins if they lose their balance.

Schooling on course

If you’re training for an event, it’s important to school on a course when you can. Here are some of Sarah’s tips for your ‘real’ cross country training.

Ditches, banks and water: For these types of obstacles, it’s essential to take the time to build your horse’s confidence from the very beginning. Just like your terrain training, start slow and small, preferably in walk on a long rein, which gives your horse the opportunity to figure out how to negotiate the obstacle successfully.

Adding your arena exercises: If you have the opportunity to take drums, poles and wings out on course, set up some of your arena lines in combination with ditches, banks and varied terrain. It’s a great way to train different lines and improve coordination and accuracy.

Developing adjustability: Just as important as the jumps and terrain is your horse’s ability to travel in an open canter or gallop, and then come back into a steadier, shorter canter before a fence. Sarah explains that while many top level riders look as if they’re doing nothing and

the horse is adjusting of their own accord, in reality the horse has been trained to be so responsive that we don’t see the adjustments being made.

When you’re starting out, it’s unlikely to be quite so smooth and subtle! Don’t be afraid to make your aids loud if your horse isn’t coming back to the pace you are asking for. Sarah also uses fitness work as an opportunity to train her horses’ ability to go forward and come back. She makes sure they have their mind on her at all times, and that they will wait when asked.

While there are quite a few tips and exercises here, don’t panic! You don’t have to do them all at once. Instead, think of them as tools to help you and your horse become a confident and capable cross country combination, navigating the training journey at your own line and pace.

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FAR LEFT: Easy to install, Geohex pavers simply lock into place. ABOVE LEFT: Mud increases the risk of debilitating disease and injury. ABOVE RIGHT: Geohex is ideal for stable flooring.