Horse & Hound – 08 August 2019

24 Horse& Hound8 August 2019

Words

by

Nicola

Jane

Swinney.

Picture

by

Peter

Nixon

FIX IT

How do I nail a supreme

championship performance?

Theleadingshowhorseproducerprovides her essential

tips for shining bright in a supreme

ATtheRIHSin2012,there

wasa ride-offfortheWinston

Churchillhorsesupreme.Even

thoughSimonCharlesworth

onPearlyKingpippedmeand

OathillTakeTheBiscuitfor

thetitle,it wassucha buzz.

I thinkit wasthefirsttime

therewereequalmarksinthe

WinstonChurchillandit was

a specialmoment.If it ever

happensagain,perhaps I’ll get

it next time.

Q&A

DANIELLEhasbeena showing

producerfor 25 years,

qualifyinghunters,hacks,

ridinghorsesandcobsforthe

majorchampionshipshows

fromherCheshirebase.

ShehaswonatbothHorse

oftheYearShow(HOYS)and

theRoyalInternational

(RIHS)andrecentlytook

theridinghorsechampionship

attheRoyalWindsorHorse

Showonthenovice

Times Square.

DANIELLE

HEATH

TRAINING

THE STARS

Doneproperly,a rein-backis impressive,asit showsyourhorseis

stillonthebridleandreactingtoyourleg.However,thereis nothing

worsethana messyrein-back.

A goodrein-backis achievedwithcommunicationthroughyour

handandleg.Gentlyencourageyourhorse,squeezingthrough

yourhandstoaskhimtomoveback,andgentlyencouragewith

yourlegs.

Practisereiningbackbyridingbackonestrideata time—make

sureyougiveyourhorselotsofpraisewhenhehasdoneit.

Makesureyourhorsestandsafterhe’swalkedthatstrideback,so

hedoesn’tgetintothehabitofrunningbackwards.Assoonashe

takes a stride back, loosen the rein, so he knows that’s enough.

Consider this...

IFyourhorsegetsthroughto

thesupreme,youhavelittletime

toimpressthejudges.Youmust

show off his best pace and his

bestasset.It’snotthetimetotry

somethingnew.

Herearemytipsfora winning

supremeperformance...

1

Keepyourshowshort

andpunchy.Eventhe

professionalscangeta bit

lostfromtimetotime.

Althoughyoumighthave

donesomethinggoodatthe

beginning,if youthenridetoo

manycirclesoraskfortoomany

gallops,it willhavelostimpact.

Makesureit doesn’t go onfor

toolong.

2

Alwaysincludea good

stretchofwalk.Thejudges

wanttoseewalkatthe

beginning and end of your show.

Australiandressage

riderLyndalOatley

on the half-pass

NEXT

WEEK

3

Alwaysshowa gallop.Even

if you’reona hack,your

horseshouldshowa good

extension,loweringandcovering

theground.Youdon’thave to

gallopthelegsoffhim.

4

A walktocantercanlook

impressive,butallyour

transitionsmustbesmooth

andseamless,withyourhorseon

thebridleandlisteningtoyou.

5

Avoidincorporatingthe

judgesintoyourshow,such

ashandingthemflowers —

it’s too personal.H&H

‘It’s not the time to try something new’

DanielleHeathrideschampion

hunterOathillTakeTheBiscuit

intheWinstonChurchillhorse

supreme at the RIHS