celebrity horse answers
RIDING
What’s your favourite venue?
Q
What’s your favourite competition on the international circuit? Danielle, on email
The atmosphere at Aachen is always electric Pic: Bob Langrish
A
RIDING Spurs are not a miracle cure for an unresponsive horse
Would spurs help me?
Q
I find myself constantly nagging my horse to keep an active walk. Do you have tips to help me keep the pace without chasing him along? Would spurs help? Verity, on email
A
I would ban you from using your legs! From now on use them just once to give your horse a sharp jab and then take your legs away from his sides. At the moment he’s probably trying his very best to ignore you, so you need to go back to basics and
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Topuldtionply
You sho sing spurs consider u ve a h if you a er leg secure low n o ti si po
teach him to react to your first aid. The more you nag, the more he’ll ignore you and the less responsive he’ll be. When you put your leg on, it doesn’t matter how he reacts just so long as he does react. You could use spurs, but this
won’t fix the problem. You’ll simply be making your aids stronger, and what happens when he starts ignoring you even when you’re using spurs? You need to concentrate on training him to react to a light aid the first time you ask.
I’ve represented Great Britain at Aachen CDIO, Germany, twice now and it’s always a fantastic experience. It’s such a historic venue, all the greats have ridden up the centre line there and it’s great to feel I’m following in their footsteps. Also, the crowd is always fantastic and helps to create a really electric atmosphere.
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