We enjoyed blazing sunshine for this showjumping training clinic with some great pony clubbers.
These riders have upcoming shows to prepare for, and are competing at between 70cm and 90cm. They have quite well-established positions, so after a warm up over a single fence, I concentrated on course riding skills, including related distances, riding accurate lines through turns and dogleg combinations, as well as tackling scary fillers.
Horses Lose Confidence too
I haven’t taught these combinations before, but was told one pony has had an issue with confidence. Sure enough, he was stopping or running out at the beginning of the session. If he wasn’t on a perfect stride, he wouldn’t take off, even over small fences. His canter was forward and active, and he is generally a very willing chap. But when he started panicking, he would rush into a fence and then stop when he arrived on a wrong stride.
Working on the Solution
The rider was great, she never became frustrated, and has a good, secure seat. I advised her to take her time between fences. ‘Let the fence come to you’ is an old favourite of mine. But it works by preventing the rider getting even slightly in front of the movement. Once the pony had a bit more time to think, and felt able to chip in a short stride if need be, he started popping round the course easily. His tendency, as I added more fences to make longer courses, was to start rushing again. I reminded the rider to rebalance him throughout, but with her leg on, to maintain the energy in the canter and a consistent canter rhythm that meant he always felt able to take off.
Success!
He was completing full courses by the end of the session, at a slightly lower height than the combination have competed at before. It was important for them to take a step back today, and work on developing confidence, to have a firmer grounding to build on for the future.
Big thanks to the newly-opened CCR Equestrian for providing a fantastic course of jumps and superb surface. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.
