Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

24 Horse& Hound1 August 2019

Words by Leslie Bliss. Picture by Sinclair Photography

FIX IT

How do I maintain control

when jumping a combination?

Thetalentedyoungshowjumperexplainshowheimproves

his horses’ rhythm and straightness in a sequence of fences

ASmyeight-year-old,

Glencoe,hasanexuberant

jumpanda bigstride,heused

tofindcombinationsdifficult.

Hewouldsometimesdriftto

thesidetogivehimselfmore

distancebetweenfences.

Thisexercisetaughthimto

shortenhisstrideandjump

moreeconomicallyover

combinationswithoutany

interference from me.

Q&A

GRAHAM,21,grewup

withhorsesatthefamily’s

DarwhillingEquestrianCentre

inScotland.Hehascompeted

inshowjumpingsincetheage

ofeight,andwonteamgold

atthe 2011 ponyEuropean

Championshipsandteam

silveratthe 2018 young

rider Europeans.

GRAHAM BABES

TRAINING

THE STARS

Useplanksinsteadofpoles.If yourhorsestandsona pole,it will

rollandcouldcauseinjury.

Beawareofyourownpositionandstraightness,soyoudon’t

unbalanceorhinderyourhorse.

Approachthegymnasticlineoffalternatereinsasthishelpsyour

horsebecomemoreflexibleonbothreins.

Only increase the height and width as he builds confi dence.

Consider this...

thevertical,placea plank on

thelandingside.

2

Onceyourhorse

understandstheexercise,

youcanaddmoreelements.

Placethesecondverticaleight

feetfromtheplankand,again,

addanothercanterplankninefeet

fromthissecondvertical on the

landingside.

3

Adda thirdfenceinthe

sameway,butleaveoutthe

canter plank after the fence

thistime.Startwithverticals,then

changethelastelementtoanoxer.

Thiscanbemadehigherand

widerprogressivelytoallowyour

horsetodevelophisscope.Only

increasetheheightandwidthas

yourhorse’sconfidencebuilds.

4

Youcanadjusttheheight

ofthefencestosuityour

horse’sexperience.

Withtheyoungerhorses,I

findtheV-polesandthecanter

plankscatchtheirattention

immediately,soI prefertokeep

theverticalssmalltoallowthem

toremainrelaxed.

I wantthemtofocusontheir

straightnessbetweentheV-poles

andnottooverjump,asthatthen

makesthedistancetothecanter

planktight.

Forolderhorses,it keeps

themathleticandstrongwithout

overjumping.Italsogivesthema

changefromcanteringaround a

course of fences.H&H

ProducerJoBates

shareshertop

performance tips

NEXT

WEEK

I SETupthisexerciseinthe

centreofthearena(seediagram)

asit allowsyoutoapproach

fromeitherrein.Theaimis to

improveobedience,rhythm

andstraightnessthrougha

combination.

Itis alsoextremelybeneficial

asit helpsyouconcentrateonyour

ownpositionoverthefences.

TACKLINGTHEISSUE

1

Startbybuildingonesmall

verticalfencewithV-poles.

On the ground, nine feet from

8ft

8ft

9ft

9ft

GrahamBabesregularlyusesthis

gymnasticexercisewithGlencoeto

remindhimtoadjusthisstrideand

stay straight in combinations

‘Itisalsoextremelybeneficialasit helpsyou

concentrate on your own position over the fences’