Edward's Equestrian History
My lifelong passion for riding horses started at the age of six and the opportunities provided by New Zealand Pony Club gave me an excellent start within the sport. At this stage I had little regard for the finer points of horsemanship; to me riding was for fun. Who needed style? To get from one place to another in the shortest possible time was my goal. It took many years for me to truly appreciate the importance of flatwork. To me dressage was that necessary evil before the more exciting cross country and showjumping phases.
During my late teens my focus was heading towards a career in Horse Trials, where I competed up to “Intermediate level” and also completed several novice three-day events on three different horses. It was only when I started training my promising young (at the time) horse Melanion that it became evident that our future was going to be in showjumping. My initial successes were winning the Whangarei Grand Prix and placed third in the young rider of the year (Horse of the Year Show at Karaka) in 1992.
After graduating from university with a Bachelor of Science Degree I began riding full-time with jobs at Isola Equestrian Centre and then for Bruce Wakeling. Under Bruce's tutorage I acquired invaluable horsemanship skills and knowledge including experience with breaking-in and training young horses to sell or for clients. This experience taught me how to ride almost any type of horse. It always worked as long as I remained positive.
An employment opportunity to work for David Goodin gave my showjumping career a real boost. Under his coaching I started competing at World-Cup level on Melanion and with reasonable success. The season highlight was winning the inaugural Kelly Park Grand Prix during March 1997. Later that year I embarked on my OE (overseas experience) to the United Kingdom. On the way I competed at Hong Kong on borrowed horses and won the Halewinner Cup. I worked for a dealers yard in Sussex and then for British Showjumping professional Robert Smith.
Upon returning home, I started self-employment as a riding instructor and horse trainer while continuing to compete in the NZ League World Cup Qualifier circuit on Melanion. My biggest success was the forth placing at the 1998 Australasian Volvo World Cup finals held at the Ti Papa and 1st in the Waitemata World cup qualifier.
For the last few years I have also been employed fulltime as a shift worker.
Around my work I continue to teach, train horses and compete on New Zealand’s showjumping circuit. I now have two highly promising horses, Kahurangi Vin Rouge and Wesserwolfe Tane. Kahurangi Vin Rouge who was bred by current owner Gael Schultz has a spectacular jump and is competing in NZ’s One Star Grand Prix Series. She is also the New Zealand Speed Champion of 2008. The giant Wesserwolf Tane who, by some, was once deemed untrainable is now jumping in New Zealand’s World Cup Qualifiers and showing great promise over these huge fences.
You will have heard the saying, "You are only as old as you feel." It is exactly the same for your horse. There is no actual age you should retire your horse. The most important thing is whether he still enjoys jumping and if he is then keep going. Sensibly, obviously! You are wise to get regular checks by the vet and follow what he/she has to say. Make sure he is well fed and wormed regularly.
As your horse gets older it will take more work to get him fit and to recover from any minior soundness and viral issues. Therefore it is essential to get him fitter than a younger horse. Do more long slow fitness work and try to keep impact work such as jumping or riding on hard ground to a minimum, beach work yould be ideal. At home, you do not need to jump too often, maybe once before any shows. You may not need to jump him at all, but you know your horse there. At shows do less classes such as one class a day and avoid shows when the ground gets very hard. The extra effort and grunting on landing maybe because of lack of fitness or hard ground, but it maybe age catching up. Be realistic on what heights you enter and if start to feel that his body is not as willing as his mind, then jump him in lower classes.
If your horse is fit and well, I believe you will do more good by continuing to compete on him. But remember to listen to his responses. I continued to jump my horse Melanion at Grand Prix level until he was 21 and he could have kept going for others if wasn't so difficult to ride. the photos of him on my website http://www.ebullock.co.nz/melanion.html were all taken after his 20th birthday.
Best of luck
Regards
Edward Bullock
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Hi Edward
I Have a Gelding Thorghbred who is an awesome jumper but when the jumps seem to get bigger our head comes a bit higher every time. When we did Working Hunter at the A & P Show he was almost unstoppable and he was almost in the jump. He flicks his head up and tosses when he jumps. He has also nearly ended up on the jump. I have schooled him to many disciplines and dressage is the key to obedience between the jumps and he is perfect.
So what we have done? We have put rings on him and he had come down just a wee snip. Then I was told that it is to with the bit. But I am just wondering if it is? I doubt his teeth have been done so If you have the answers to my dilemma? Thanks. Winston
Hi Winston,
This is rather a common problem with jumping horses, including the fact that your horse is nice and calm when not jumping but gets strong when he approaches a jump. There are many reasons for your horse to do this like over-keenness or fear, but it is commonly done out of habit. Your horse knows no other way.
The solutions I will give you, like many other answers I have given below on this site, is a multiple step process.
Step 1. As you have already stated, start with your flat work. Work on getting your horse to listen to your lateral commands so you can get him to bend and flex his neck. Below are a few questions which I have answered for this step
While improving your flatwork is a good start, it will do nothing to solve your problem of charging at fences. It does, however give you the tools that you can use while jumping to solve these issues.
Step 2. Start with a pole on the ground and canter over it on a 20m circle. When jumping the pole try to maintain bend. Jump the pole as part of the circle. Ride fairly forward (without galloping) as you canter around the circle and then ask your horse to shorten during the last few strides before the rail. If your horse gets really keen, then make the circle a little smaller. When you achieve a nice relaxed canter on both reins, try the same exercise over a small fence. Continue with this exercise as a warm up exercise before jumping bigger fences. This is a rather demanding exercise on your horse, so keep the jump failrly small.
Step 3. Try jumping over a grid. There are many different types of grids you can do, but to start with you could to a treble of bounces or a treble of verticals. I like to keep the distances on little short so your horse has to compress his stride between the fences. If you are unsure what to do here maybe get some to help you here. When going through the grids, leave horse to work it out himself. Only half-halt to stop him leaving a stride out. Otherwise give your reins. If your horse knocks a rail down, do it again. Grids can be very effective with some horses, but others take little notice and keep running through them. If your horse is one of the latter, keep the fences relatively small. Continue doing grids, but at a smaller height until he learns to take notice of the fences. If your horse really responds well, you can challenge him gradually increasing the height of the fences in the grid. Build them up to the height you do in competitions.
Step 4. The next step is to try riding around a course. In my experience most thoroughbreds like to be ridden forward and free. The difficult part is to do this without him running away from you. What I recommend is to steady him after each fence and then look to quietly move up (increase the stride length gradually) to each fence. If he tries to rush at the fence, half-halt and then soften. Try to time your half-halt to the moment he tries to rush and then soften so he can lower his head and look at the fence. This may take a bit of practice and trial and error. If you are too soft with your half-halt your horse will continue to rush at the fences, but if you are too hard he with raise his head.
Rings (running martingale) can be effective for some horses, although I don’t like them too tight, as they interfere with the feel on the horse’s mouth. As far as a bit goes, I cannot comment too much without knowing your horse. You could possibly try a pelham or a different type of snaffle. I think a gag bit would only add to the problem. To me however I feel that you need to go through the four steps I have stated above. If thing start going wrong then go back to the previous step. The first three can done as warm up exercises for step 4.
Best of luck.
Edward
Hi Edward I am a 13 year old with a 7 year old TB that does well with jumping but with dressage she wont put her head down I learned that she has a hard mouth but her previous owner showed us pictures of her at the last show she went to and she was coming down on the bit nicely but no matter how hard I try she just wont bring it down for me and it can get quite frustrating, so do you think she is untrainable or if not do you have any tips for me? Michele
Hi Michele
I can understand your predicament as I also find flatwork very frustrating at times when things do not go right. You often feel like you are banging your head against a wall. Despite all your frustrations remember that you may be trying a little too hard and causing yourself to tense up. If this is the case you will only be making things worse.
One problem with getting a horse on the bit is the over focus on your horse’s head. Unfortunately when many don’t understand the physics behind a horse’s technique they only look at the head and neck positions. I like to look at the head and neck position as the finishing touch and as proof that you have everything else going correctly. Unfortunately too many riders work on pulling their horse’s heads down or use gadgets like draw reins to physically winch their horse’s heads into place and others spend hours lunging their horses in side reins. Unfortunately all these methods only create a false outline that results in a short broken neck appearance or a very hard mouth. Unfortunately I cannot give you a quick and simple answer.
My method involves getting your horse to listen to all of your hand and leg aids and creating a package that will result in your horse willingly dropping her head. First your horse must be under control. By that I mean that at any moment you must be able to stop at any time you want. Secondly your horse should be going forward. By going forward, I mean you should not have to constantly nag with your legs or whip to keep her going. Thirdly your horse must be going straight, relative to your current track.
As I stated in the previous paragraph you must able to stop at any time. This is essential for the obvious safety reasons. If your horse shies and gets out of control, you will be in for a very terrifying experience. As well as being able to stop it is also important to be able to control your horse with a light contact. If your mare pulls and runs away I recommend regular downward transitions to create this control. For example, if she gets speedy in the trot, try bringing her back to a walk for a few steps before resuming a trot. If she speeds up then repeat this. After a few attempts you may only need to slow the trot to an ‘almost walk’ before softening the reins again. The goal is to keep a steady pace while maintaining a light contact.
The next step is to get your horse to forward. To have your horse going forward is to have momentum. If your horse feels like she has the hand brake on then push her on. With a lazy horse I like to really get them going until they feel like they are in front of me. Only when they are going forward do I steady them to a more regular pace. It is important with a lazy horse to not use too much leg on a regular basis. Kick them twice as hard to get them moving and then lighten your leg, if she slows then urge her on again. Keep repeating this until she goes forward without you having to kick her on.
What you are looking for is a horse that responds to your steadying aids as well as your driving aids. Some horses are reluctant to go forward but when you urge them on they go to the other extreme and run away from you. These horses often have their riders holding them in fear of their horses running away. Repetition and a very tenacious level of patience are required.
The third step is to get your horse going straight. I find that once your horse goes straight she will then drop her head and take your contact down. Conversely, when she resists she will go crooked. When I say straight I mean straight on the track you are riding. If you are riding in a straight line your horse must literally have her body straight, but if you are riding on a circle she must be sufficiently bent to form an arc on this circle. I believe that to achieve this form of straightness is easier on a smallish circle of about 12m – 15m in diameter. If your horse is bending the wrong way then use your inside hand to create sufficient neck bend and then push your horse out with your inside leg. Should your horse bend too much or escape outward through her shoulder then position her head outwards with your outside rein and then use your outside leg to ask her to turn. When correcting these bend issues I like to use quite a strong leg and once I get a response I soften my leg. This will eventually result in your horse dropping her head whenever you use a stronger leg.
If you are having trouble getting your horse to respond to your leg I have answered a couple of questions below that I recommend reading. The key is to get you horse to understand your leg and hand aids and then use them to get her to go forward, straight while remaining under control. Once you get this package she will then take your contact down and forward. I like to have a longer lower head and neck carriage to start with. How long? I cannot answer until I see her go, but I still prefer to have horses a little longer as it is easier to shorten the neck than lengthen it.
My 8yo mare had started showjumping this season prior to this she has been a Park Hack doing showing classes. She is jumping 1m20-1m25 clear at home, but at competitions she will sometimes drop a rail with her hind feet. Are there some exercises we can do to improve her technique? Margo
Hi Margo
Having rails with her hind legs is usually a sign of a poor hind leg technique over the fences. This is usually caused by a short and not going forward canter. I would firstly recommend reading some of my answers below on my flatwork methods, but in this article I will give you a few pointers that may be of help.
Firstly, when approaching your fences I recommend riding a little more forward to the fences. Ride a little more steady around the corner and then lengthen her stride as you approach. Remember to keep this rhythmical rather than erratic. As you get closer to the fence push your hands forward so that you have a loose rein contact about two strides away from the fence. This will allow your horse to lower her head and neck and round her back in front of the fence. When you get to the take off spot close your legs and really push her off the ground. Keep your leg on throughout the jump to encourage her to use her back and trail her hind legs behind her while going over the fence.
There are many types of exercises you can employ to help. Any form of gymnastic or grid work will be helpful. Try building a grid that finishes with an oxer. Gradually build this oxer to reasonable height but not too high, in your case about 1.10m – 1.15m. Focus on making it wider. Jumping you mare over wide oxers will encourage her to stretch and use her back over the fence. You can also jump low wide oxers by themselves in a moderate but forward canter. Remember that when you jump wider oxers, unless you have breakaway cups put the back pole on the far edge of one of the cups so that if she does get it wrong the pole will fall easy and not hurt her too much.
Hey Edward, I have an 8yo 16.3hh Warmblood X TB mare. She loves to jump but I am a bit worried about the more technical jumps when I start to get higher. I was wondering if you have any tips on skills and drills to help me improve balance and techniques. :) thanx Lyndall
Hi Lyndall
There are many things you can work on to improve your technique and skills for showjumping. I also recommend reading some of my other answers below. While some may be for specific problems I find that most of these exercise are beneficial for all horses.
There are three main areas you will need to work on to improve your general showjumping skills, flatwork, course training and jump technique. Flatwork is training with no jumps around and is the base behind the other two elements, as I will state later. I have stated in many other answers I believe that it essential that you get your horse responsive to both your hand and leg aids. Many great exercises involve changes of pace and lateral work. Here are two of my favourite flatwork exercises.
Exercise 1: This exercise is best done in a large arena or flat paddock, where you can really open your horse’s stride. Start in canter and go large. While going large ride in two-point position (seat out of the saddle) and keep riding like this until you get to the next corner. Just before entering the corner, sit in the saddle and ask you horse to do a 20m circle. When doing this circle ask your horse to shorten her stride. Once the circle is completed then open the stride and go large again in two-point position. I like this exercise as it will ask your horse to lengthen and shorten her stride. It encourages her to stay balanced when on the open stride but keeps the impulsion on the shorter stride. As you get better with this exercise, you could try increasing the open stride pace and shortening the circle pace.
Exercise 2: Mixing lateral exercises with a 3-loop serpentine. I like
this exercise as the lateral exercise such as a leg-yield or shoulder-in improves works your horse physically while the serpentine works your horse mentally and improves suppleness. Ride down the long side performing the lateral exercise such as a leg-yield and the ride up the other way performing a 3-loop serpentine. Repeat this a couple of times and then change rein across the diagonal and maybe ask for a bit of lengthening, before performing the same exercise on the other rein.
The next element for showjumping training is course training. It is where you put the flatwork into practice by training your horse to approach and go between fences. After doing lots of good work on the flat, it will count for nothing if your horse never learns how to go between fences and as showjumping courses are a sequence of corners and lines your horse needs to respond quickly after each fence. Here are two of my preferred exercises to improve schooling between fences.
Exercise 3: Jumping a jump on a circle. Canter a 20m circle and jump a small jump as part of the circle. While cantering around the circle ask your horse to go a little more forward but ask your horse to wait to the fence (shortening the stride to get the correct take off distance). When jumping the jump try to maintain bend. If you do this correctly you should feel your horse really round her back and jump powerfully over it. This has been another of my favourite exercises as it really improves your horse’s jumping technique as well as working the jumping muscles. It also teaches you to jump fences off tight corners, which is a fantastic jump-off skill. One variation is to jump on a 30m circle and jump on a forward stride and then decrease the circle progressively until you get to a 10m circle. As you decrease the circle shorten the stride. This variation will teach you and your horse to jump at different paces. Another variation is to add another jump. The extra fence will speed up your reactions and get your horse to respond quicker to your aids.
Exercise 4: Varying the number of strides down a line. Set up a related line (two jumps in a straight line) say 6 strides (28 steps) apart and ride down this line at your normal pace. Count the number of strides between these fences. In showjumping the standard stride length is 12 feet (4 yards or 3.6m) long. If at your normal pace you did six strides then try shortening your stride next time and do seven. If you did seven, try lengthening your stride and do six. Alternate between doing six and seven strides. You may even try to do eight or possibly even 9 strides. You can even try to do five but I generally don’t recommend this as it may encourage your horse to get too strong. Some trainers like to focus on adding strides in training, as it is a great strengthening exercise, but I find that too much adding will get your horse thinking backwards. That is why I prefer to alternate between the shorter and more forward strides. This exercise is great for making your horse adjustable in front of fences and gives you more options in the competition ring down lines. Another variation is to jump a three-jump line. Try adding between the first two and then going forward over the next two. Then try going forward over the first two and add over the second part.
The third element is to improve your horse’s jumping technique. In general I have found that the quality of your canter just before the jump will have a huge effect on your horse’s jumping technique and exercises like exercise 3 and 4 when done well will help with technique, but your horse will need to learn how to jump well without your help. The best way to do this is through gridwork. Gridwork or gymnastic exercise can vary greatly from a simple vertical with two poles on each side to a sequence of as many as a dozen fences. Here I will give you three simple grids and one example of how you can mix them up. From there you can create you own types of grids.
Exercise 5: A vertical with poles about 2.5 – 3 yards each side of it. Trot to the vertical and soften your hands as you get to the placing pole and then put you leg on to ask for an extra effort over the fence. After the fence ask your horse to come back to a trot before turning around repeating this fence the other way. Gradually increase the height of the vertical after every couple of attempts. This is one of my favourite warm up exercises and is one I regularly start with at the beginning of a jumping session.
Exercise 6: Triple of bounces. Set three small fences about 3.5 yards apart. Ride down to them at a forward canter and soften your hands just before them. The idea is to get your horse to take notice of these fences and shorten her stride on her own accord. Another variation is to increase the height of the middle fence.
Exercise 7: Double of oxers. Set up two oxers at a distance of 10 yards apart. Before approaching, get a good forward canter going and then ride down to the fences. At take off put heaps of leg on to make her put in a decent effort. After a few attempts start building these fences, but increase the width more than height. Make them wide so that you horse learns to jump with power.
Exercise 8: Example of a more complex grid. Set up two small fences at 3.5 yards apart (bounce) followed by 7 yards (one stride) to a taller vertical and then 11 yards (2 strides) to an oxer. You can either approach this type of grid at a trot or canter. In the grid leave your horse alone so that she learns to do without your help.
Mix up these exercises for different days. I like to alternate hard training days with easier days so that my horse get a day to strengthen up. Try these exercises and let me know how you get on. When you receive jumping lessons from instructors take note of the exercises they give you and try them in your own time. You can also find more exercises in books.
Best of luck, Edward
Hi Edward, I'm stuck on a problem with my horse! When I approach a jump (poles) at the canter, he won't just canter in and pop over but pops up and down, head in my face, then when he gets there does jump it ok but its fast and zooms off on the other side. If i leave his mouth alone he will charge it. I do have a bit of showjumping experience up to 1.25 with several horses but have resigned myself to dressage with this guy for the last couple of years to get his head right, recently I decided to try again and have started over a pole on the ground and got to 70- 80cm before I've got fed up and called it quits again. What am i doing wrong do you think? Kim
Hi Kim
This is a question that I have waited for as it is a problem that I have had with several of my horses and one that I deal with all time while teaching. It is a very common problem. The two best horses I’ve had, Melanion and Wesserwolfe Tane have both had this problem. I am only just starting to get the latter out of it. It is also a problem that I have put a considerable amount of thought into over the past few years, culminating into a theory that I am now sure I have right.
Let us break this issue down into parts. It starts when your horse freezes and jumps up and down on the spot about four or five strides away from the fence. Some horses may go sideways instead, but it is still the same issue. He continues to bounce on the spot until he gets to a certain distance away from the fence (usually about two strides away) and then charges at full pace. The quality of the actual jump may vary, although it is often fast and flat. After the fence he bolts off until you rein him in again where he again resumes that “on the spot” canter.
There are two main issues here, firstly your horse may be two paced. What I mean by being two paced is that he will be happy to go at a very slow canter but when you ask him to go the slightest bit forward he takes off and bolts, there is no middle pace. Secondly, your horse only knows one speed to jump at and that is full steam ahead.
There are many causes for this problem to start. For example, the rider pulling on the horse’s mouth about four strides out from the fence and then riding hard at it. Whatever caused the problem; I am more interested in the solution. I have written a multi step program that should help.
Step 1, your horse needs to get more comfortable and responsive to your leg aids. You may have done that already during your dressage training. I like to do a lot of lateral work on sensitive horses, as your leg helps to desensitise him. I have written a couple of answers below that can help you here. It wouldn’t surprise me that away from jumping your horse may be a little angel.
Step 2; work on getting your horse comfortable with going forward, as at the moment he runs away from you when you let him go. Ride him in a decent sized flat paddock or arena of about 80-100m long and 40-60m wide. Hop into a canter and ride in two-point position. Take him round the outside of the paddock encouraging him to go forward without running away from you. When your horse’s head goes up and starts to run, turn him in a small circle until he relaxes before resuming the large circle again. I regularly mix a small circle to get my horses to shorten their strides before opening them out again. It may take some time to get your horse to relax on a good rolling canter, but keep at it. It is also a great fitness exercise for both you and your horse.
Once you start making some progress with this large paddock exercise you can then also start with some small fences and teach him to canter over them quietly. My theory on why horses charge at fences is that they realise they cannot jump from a slow going nowhere canter as it has no impulsion. They charge to create impulsion. They don’t realise that charging makes jumping a whole lot more difficult and more painful as they often take rails. By hotting up they switch off from the pain of knocking the rails. It is up to you to show that cantering forward but relaxed to a fence will be less painful and also a more enjoyable experience over fences, for both of you.
Step 3; start with a pole on the ground. Pick up a decent rolling canter without galloping and ride down to the fence. Over the past years you should have noticed the distance from the fence where your horse charges at the fence. This distance may vary from horse to horse and can change over time. Keep your hands as soft as possible as you ride to this point. You may even need to use a bit of leg to keep going forward. Just before you get to this “charging spot” or if you feel he is about to race at the fence, halt him! Give him a pat and repeat the exercise a couple of times. If you can’t stop him before the fence stop him as soon as possible afterwards. Once you get him to stop promptly, repeat the exercise, but this time only half-halt instead. As soon as your horse responds to your hands, soften them and let him canter quietly over the pole. When you can get your horse to go forward but quietly over a pole on the ground, try a small fence. Over time progressively increase the jump height. You may feel that you are going back to square one over a bigger fence but be persistent and patient. Be prepared to put the fences down again if it all goes ‘pear shaped’.
The best way to keep control is to ride a little forward with very soft hands and then half-halt and ask your horse to wait for the last two strides. In some situations if you are on a good stride your horse may wait for you, if this happens stay soft right to the fence. There is no need for a half-halt. You can then also start to ask your horse to jump at different paces. Ask him to go a little more forward to the fence. If he starts to run at the fence, half-halt but maintain the forward stride. Next try to go a little shorter and wait to the fence. Remember the key to waiting to a fence is not to get to short and slow or he will revert back to the original problem. Ask your horse to shorten but make sure he can still shorten a little more. Go in second gear instead of first gear. Look for a ‘short stride’ but keep your hands soft, but when you do see your stride half-halt and shorten the stride to the fence.
Step 4; ask your horse to canter over a series of bounces. These are small jumps about 9 feet apart. The beauty of bounces is that the jumps do the slowing instead of you. Also do lots of grid-work so that your horse learns to back himself off at slightly bigger fences. Remember to keep the distances on the short side so that he has to compress his stride. Keep the canter nice and forward when approaching these bounces.
Step 5; is to teach your horse to do a course. This can be the hardest part. Your horse may be relaxed at the first fence, but progressively gets faster as you go around the course. Practice lots of little courses with an emphasis on keeping control over the latter fences. When training my horses I like to ride forward at one fence and then wait and shorten to the next. Don’t be afraid to try some tight corners to fences. Tight turns are another way to keep your horse under control and can give you some invaluable jump-off practice.
Hopefully you can now go to a show and be able to ride competitively. If you get into a jump-off try to ride your horse forward and cut as many corners as possible but avoid the urge to gallop at full speed. That will only hot your horse up again. You may get beaten a few times but in time you will be able to go more forward while staying relaxed and making yourselves a more competitive team.
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Best of luck
Hi I have a 4yr TB that has been off the track for around 6weeks he has uncoordinated movement and I was wondering what I could do to make him nice to ride? I have also sent him over a few jumps at 30cm and he has long toes so he stumbles after the jump when cantering. What can I do to stop this and get his movement correct? I want him for a show jumper. Nikita
Hi Nikita
This is a very common problem for thoroughbreds that have recently come off the track. The solution is fairly simple, but it will require time and patience. The problem is that your will be very weak across his back. As thoroughbreds have been bred and already trained to gallop their metabolisms do not naturally accommodate the growth of muscle mass.
While many would suggest that you should turn your horse out until he begins to build up, I believe that you should continue to keep him in work. That is unless there are health or soundness issues. At this stage I would start with basic flatwork. I like to keep the lessons painstakingly basic at this stage. Remember that you need to take small steps and despite your horse’s physical weakness you need to think more about your horse’s education and learning rather than thinking about physically working him. That comes later. I think first about education, then technique and when the technique is sound, then finally work on physical strength. The reason is, that by working on physical strengthening first will only result in disaster. As you will be forcing your horse to something they physically cannot do, while being asked in a language they do not understand.
Start by making sure he knows how to stop or slow down on command. This may sound obvious but many thoroughbreds come off the track with horribly hard mouths. Next teach him to go forward off your leg. When you can stop, go and turn left and right, it is time to teach your horse to move sideways off your leg. As your horse begins to move off your leg he will begin to straighten and then start to round his back. When he starts to consistently round his back you can then try lunging your horse to supplement your schooling. Many would suggest lunging straight away, but I feel that an uneducated horse will only learn ways to avoid working the right muscles. While lunging there are many types of equipment you can use. The most popular are side reins, but personally I have never had any success with them. In my experience I have found that horses learn to lean and/or suck back behind your leg. My preference is the chambon or de gogue. These will encourage your horse to lengthen his neck and back. I find that my horses are far better to ride the next day after being lunged in a chambon compared to side reins.
When jumping, start low. Teach him to approach and canter away from smaller jumps. I would do a lot of trotting into a small fence with a rail on the ground on each side about three and a half yards from the fence. This way you can put the fence up a little higher. Like with your flatwork take small steps. And be realistic on what you ask. If you follow these steps you could possibly have a much better horse in a month or two. Remember to be patient.
I have answered a couple of questions with riders in similar situations. I recommend that you read the answers to the other questions below to give a few more pointers.
Best of luck
Edward
Hi Edward I have been riding a horse called Jeri for quite a while now, I have just started to teach him to jump.
I started off with trotting poles and then small cross bars but he just kept running through them! I stopped for a while thinking he was getting bored but then I started to teach him to work in a out line and on the beach one day I decided to take him over a log and he flew over it knees high and everything! He was in a outline coming up to the jump, I was just wondering why he was jumping when he was in a outline? If I try to jump without one he would just run through it? Thanks Nik
Hi Nik
This is a great observation you have made and I hope that many visitors to this site read your question. What you have mentioned about how your horse jumps when you have achieved an outline compare to when you don't is the main reason why flatwork is such an important part of training showjumpers. When you initially asked your horse to jump he was likely to be very long and heavy in front. Your horse's hindlegs would have trailed at the back. Your horse would have moved with most of his weight on his front legs (on the forehand). This makes it very difficult to jump properly. By getting your horse into an outline you have managed to get your horse to push his back legs further forward and taking more of his weight. When your horse pushes its hindlegs forward it is a bit like an archer pulling back the string and arrow before releasing it. You create potential energy.
While giving great praise for what you have achieved with your horse I do have a warning. The outline must be a true outline and not a false outline. Too many riders try to get their horse into an outline by pulling their heads in, rather than teaching them to push their hind end through. Their horses have their heads in an outline but their back-ends still trail out behind. The best way in my opinion to get an outline, is by doing the same exercises that I suggested in the answer to the question given by Nancy Olsen. To me the head carriage comes when everything else is done correctly.
Keep up the good work Nik and best of luck with your horse.
Regards
Edward
Hi Edward We have a 8yr TB Mare who has not really done a lot of Show Jumping. She is more than happy to accept the jump but gets very excited coming off the jump and tends to go sideways.
How can I control her better?
There are many reasons for your horse to start going sideways after the jump, but without seeing your mare it will be hard to pinpoint the reason. However the solutions I will give you will at worst be some help in general. It involves an approach that I find works on the most difficult horses, although may appear a little unorthodox to some.
Usually this going sideways happens when you have a horse that is likely to be a little hot and sensitive and wants to go faster than what their rider will allow them. When you try to steady your mare with your hands she is likely to feel claustrophobic with this restriction and look for another avenue to go to. In other words, if she can't go forwards, she will either go sideways of up! Luckily your mare chooses to go sideways.
Many trainers will simply tell you to use more leg and less hand. Others may say to sit quieter. Unfortunately the quieter you sit the more sensitive your mare will get and if you stop using your hands and put your leg on you may find that she will fly across to the other side of Auckland in three seconds. So what do you do? These puritanical solutions, while impractical at the start are actually what you need to do, but you need to train your horse to allow you to this. My solution to this starts on the flat. As your mare is likely to be over sensitive to your leg, you need to firstly desensitise her. Start on small circles and flex her neck to the inside a little and push her outwards with your inside leg. What we are teaching her are the sideways aids from your legs. She needs to learn that your legs are not just accelerators. The small circles allow you to keep her under control without you having to hold onto her with your hands. Your inside leg asks your mare to make the circle bigger. This may take a few days or possibly weeks if she has never been taught lateral leg aids. Be patient. When she learns to move away from your inside leg, it is likely she will then go to the other extreme and start escaping out through her shoulder. When this starts to happen, do the opposite. Flex her head to the outside and ask her to turn by listening to your outside leg. Your outside leg asks your horse to make the circle smaller. You may have to do these exercises at walk first until she gets the hang of it. Then do it in trot and finally at a canter.
These exercises of flexing your mares head in and out help to create straightness. On a straight line straightness is simply going straight. On a circle, straightness is the correct amount of bend depending on the diameter of the circle. Your horse should form an arc of this circle. Flexing-in helps to increase bend, while flexing-out decreases bend. If you achieve this you should notice that your horse will then round its neck and accept the bit. Your horse will relax as well. When your does this, it is essential that you soften your hand contact as much as you can. This is a reward for your mare.
After establishing these exercises you should now be ready to introduce your mare to jumps again. Start with poles on the ground and jump the pole as if it is part of a circle. When your mare gets excited and goes sideways flex your horse’s neck in the direction she is going and use your leg on that same side to ask her to go straight. If she has learnt this on the flat she should respond after a few attempts. When she is going over the pole on the ground and keeping a perfect circle at canter try the same exercise over a small jump. You may find that you will again need to flex her in the same way to again to relax her. When you can get her to go over a small jump in a relaxed manner then try a small course of jumps. If things turn to custard just put her on a small circle and flex her in then out until she relaxes.
This process involves teaching your horse to move away from your leg. You can also begin to introduce your horse to more complex exercises on the flat such as leg-yield and shoulder-in. These also give you great tools to help while you do your jumping.
Hope this may be of help to you regards
Edward
Hi, Just wondering what exercises, tips you can recommend to get a great lower leg. I tend to have a swinging lower leg and grip with the knee, even when the stirrup is in the correct position under the ball of my foot. I do a fair amount of two point and have tried various stirrup lengths, but it still swings. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks, Lisa.
Hi Lisa
To get a good solid lower leg requires three main factors: balance, technique and strength. I like to start with balance as regardless on how correct your position may be at the start it is impossible to maintain it, once your horse starts moving if your balance is all wrong. In most situations your weight should be evenly distributed down each lower leg and down through to your heels. If you are riding in three point position some of this weight is also put into your seat, but not necessarily all your weight, as some dressage trainers may imply. Your centre of gravity, which is usually in your stomach, should be directly above your stirrups.
To have your weight directly above your stirrups requires the correct technique. While the word position is widely used in equestrian circles, I prefer to use the word technique. To achieve an ideal position requires you to move with your horse's motion while absorbing the extra movement, so that you create a visual appearance of sitting still. That is assuming that you get it right. Have your stirrups at a medium length, short enough so that you can push your heels down without losing the bend in your knee, but not so short that can't use you leg effectively and making you top heavy. Many trainers advocate having toes straight and parallel to your horse's sides, but in shorter stirrups I you should have your toes pointing out 15 - 30 degrees from your horse's belly. They should be on the same angle as your thighs. By having your toes pointing out a little allows you to wrap you whole leg around your horse's barrel, but having your toe point out too much like ninety degrees may encourage your leg to slip forward. To test your leg positions try standing up from a sitting position. If you do this easily then your lower leg is in the right place. When riding in two-point position you backside should be back a little so that your midriff is directly over your stirrups, but in three point-position your seat should be in the front of the saddle and moving with your horses back motion.
While riding in two-point you should then relax your ankles so that your heels take your weight. This may start to hurt your calf muscles after a short while. Try repeating this until it hurts over a period of time to strengthen your calf muscles. It may take a bit of time, so be patient. As you get stronger you can then use your calf muscles as if to point your toes down, while your heels are down. This should then press your lower leg into your horse's sides and thus giving a more stable and solid lower leg.
If you are still having trouble, have a look at the fitting of your saddle. A saddle that is high in front and slips your seat into the back will make it almost impossible to keep a solid lower leg. Leather riding boots can be notoriously slippery on your horse’s sides. If this is the case there different types of resins available at saddlery stores that improve your lower leg grip.
Best of luck and let me know how you get on.
Edward
Hi, I have a 2yr old pinto fillie who will be 3 on 15 august, she is my upcoming showjumper. I see alot of horses out there for sale that are jumping at 1.20m at 4 years old, what is a good age to start teaching my fille, without damaging her? Nikita
Hi Nikita
This is a hard question to answer without seeing your filly as some horses are ready to start jumping as early as three years of age while others may need to wait until they are old as six or even seven before you start. If she is to be your upcoming showjumper it is better to take a more patient approach as opposed to a rushed one.
In my opinion, you should focus on the basics in your flatwork. Teach your horse to respond to your hands and legs, so that she slows when you give her a half-halt and speeds up when you push her on. Then teach her to move sideways off each leg. Once you do this your horse should be able to bend on a turn and perform movements like leg-yields. Your horse will very likely take your contact down and make the first steps of going on the bit (I hate that term "on the bit"). It astounds me that I come across so many horses that don't get taught these basics first, even by experienced trainers. Far too many riders focus on strengthening rather than teaching their horses. Once you have your horse going nicely round in at least walk and trot you may then introduce to some small fences.
I recommend that you only do poles on the ground or very small fences for the next year, no bigger than 60cm (if even that). Focus on the approach and leaving the fence rather than getting her to jump bigger. If you do this you will save yourself a lot of heartache in the future. When the canter becomes balanced you can also teach her to canter over poles and small fences while keeping a rhythm. Only when she gets stronger should you start to introduce her to bigger fences, but that should be a year away at least.
Try not to look at other young horses jumping at a young age as that will only put pressure on yourself and your filly. Remember that is not a race on how quickly you can train your horse. It is about getting your horse to reach her full potential.
Best of luck and hope to see you riding her at shows in a year or two.
Edward
Please describe the purpose of the bit in realtion to the riders legs and hands. Thanks
Ayla Peters
Hi Ayla
The bit is in relation to the rider’s hands and legs
This is a very interesting question and one that has racked my brains for the last week. That is the reason for my belated reply. It is an issue that I want to explain well, although to fully answer this question would take a whole book, but here I hope to give you at least a basic outline. In short the bit is simply the device that your horse receives communication from you the rider. It is a media for communication. It is like our ears are used to receive verbal communication from other people. You horse feels increases, decreases and sometimes an absence of pressure onto the corners and the bars of their mouths.
In relation to your hands the bit has just three basic functions. They are to slow your horse down, raise its head and to position its head left or right. That is all they do. Both hands are used to slow or steady your horse and raise its head, while one rein is used to turn its head and neck. These are usually done in a firm pull followed by a release or softening, and often known as a half-halt. In contrast your leg increases speed both forwards and laterally and bends your horse’s body behind its shoulder.
When it comes to your hands and bit in relationship to your leg, the bit is used a regulator. It controls the amount of response from your leg. If you push your horse forward, your hands will control the increase the pace and stops it going to fast. This creates greater accuracy with all your movements. It is the opposite when you want to slow down. Your half-halt ask your horse to slow down, while your legs regulate how much it slows down. Have you heard your dressage instructor tell you to ride forward into a walk from a trot or canter?
These regulator aids are also used to perform more precise movements. With a leg-yield your inside leg is used to ask for the sideways movement, while your hands control the forward speed, to indicate that you want your horse to go sideways. Your hands along with your outside leg also regulate the straightness of your horse and the amount of sideways movement.
Complex movements require a cocktail of different hand, leg, seat and weight distribution aids at the same time. Even to ride on a circle with the correct bend requires you to have your horse:
1. Going forward with both legs
2. Under control with both hands
3. With sufficient neck bend created by your inside hand
4. Have its shoulder out pushed out onto the track of the circle with your inside leg
5. This front leg track or shoulder positioning is controlled by your outside hand as too much neck bend will allow your horse to take its shoulder outside the circle track
6. And finally have its hind legs in and onto the circle track so that they follow the front legs
And this is just for a circle. The right amount of pressure for each leg and hand aid and is critical for response, harmony and accuracy. When your horse deviates from what you want an increase in pressure in the opposite direction is used to get your horse back to what you want. Now this may sound awfully complex, but fortunately you don’t have to ride around analysing every step of your ride, as most riders do this instinctively. Even moderately experienced riders will get this right most of the time or some of the time at least. It is however essential to know what you are doing, even if you cannot explain why you are doing it. Some of the best riders have no reasoning, other than, “It works.” Often when I try too hard I find myself kicking my horse ineffectually and pulling on its face. But when I let my mind go and relax I find that my contact on the bit lightens and my leg aids get more precise. I also have a happier horse! Funny that.
Now all this complexity may have bamboozled you, but I have explained this for a reason. Most riders automatically ride with both driving and regulator aids at the same time, without thinking. With experienced and well-trained horses this is no problem. But take a thought of how young or green horses will take a mixture of contradictory commands. The practice of riding strongly into your hands, while an accepted method for achieving collection and engagement only confuses a young horse, as you will be pushing it on and holding it back. With a young horse it is essential that you give it only one command at a time. Those regulator or opposite commands should only be introduced gradually over a long period of time. If your aids are hard to understand, how do you expect a young horse to know what you want? Be realistic.
The relationship of the bit to the hands and leg is as I said before a media of communication, where your horse receives some of your messages. Your legs are the other main source of communication. The bit is used to control pace and the positioning of its head. It is used to make adjustments or as a regulator to your leg aids. Complex movements are a complicated mixture of these commands.
I hope this has helped you with your understanding of the bit and your aids. Think about what you are doing when riding, especially with what you do instinctively and remember to simplify your messages for a young horse.
Hi Edward, My appy pony Rags's saddle slips when i do show jumping the girth is tight enough and i was fitted to his back when i purchased it, It is a wintic 500 gp. I also use a brestplate which also fits corrIctly. Julia
Hi Julia,
Some horse's backs have a particular shape that make it very difficult for any saddle to stay on without it slipping. After Rags begins to get hot, the sweat makes your ponies back as slippery as a greasy pig. My natural answers would normally be to check the fitting of the saddle and to make sure the girth is tight. But as you have stated, you have already tried these. A few years ago, when I was in England I remember the rider I worked for fitting a a square sheet of chamios leather underneath the saddle blanket. This was used to stop the saddle from slipping back. Another variation is to use a thin sheet of wetsuit material under the saddle blanket. As your horse begins to sweat these thin sheets will stick to your horses back instead of making it more slippery.
Try these at home and see how they work.
Best of luck
Edward
Hi, I have been riding my whole life (I am now 20) but only really on farm land and beaches etc and have only really learned how to stay on a horse but never really learned the finer points of horse riding. Recently I have become interested in getting some proper riding lessons (as I have never had any) and I would love to eventually compete in jumping and dressage. My question is how do i begin to compete? I have heard and read that to compete you need to be registered with the NZEF or something like that also the whole novice, preliminary etc thing confuses me. Could you help explain all of this to me and tell me where I would begin? Thanks. Monique
Hi Monique
Here is the link to the the page on the NZEF (now Equestrian Sports New Zealand ESNZ) website that gives you the required information to register: http://www.nzequestrian.org.nz/Article.aspx?ID=839. There is a wealth of information about when and where show will be placed. You will need to be registered to compete at the bigger shows next season, starting in September. However there are some shows that hold a training (non registered) ring for beginner riders and young horses.
Around Auckland there are lots of non-registered winter dressage and showjumping shows. There is no registration required, for these shows. Showjumping Waitemata also holds a mini-circuit of non-registered Showjumping shows. These can give you an excellent grounding before progressing on to the ESNZ shows next season. In showjumping, most of these shows start at 70cm and go up to 1.10m. In dressage they will have preliminary tests for you to begin with.
In showjumping there are no grades at all. Classes are stated with a height of the fences in the course. It is up to you decide what height suits you. I usually reccommend that you start at a comfortable height and only when you are feeling confident do you try a higher height. In dressage the grades are a little more complex, each grade has name. These names indicate the level of difficulty in the dressage test. The lowest level is Preliminary, followed by Novice, Elementry, Medium, Open Medium and going through to Grand Prix.
Regards
Edward Bullock