A Course for All Seasons
Riding my grand prix partner Captain in this fall’s $100,000 Truman Homes Cup CSI*** in Calgary, Alberta, I was faced with a striding decision. One line was a wall followed by six strides to a triple combination. Captain jumped the wall great, but when he landed I felt the need to add a stride in the line. I held him for seven strides, and he ended up being the first horse in the class to jump clear. (We eventually finished seventh.) Decisions like this don’t always work out, but by training your instincts at home, you will be better able to make split-second corrections.
One of the courses I use at home to help hone rider instincts may sound a bit simple: a small gymnastic, a diagonal line, a bending line and an in-and-out. But I love its versatility. You can leave it in your ring for many days without running out of new ways to use it. And there are so few jumps that you can do your flatwork around them on days when you’re not jumping.
This setup offers a few single fences to get your horse going, yet it has enough jumps to put together a course or work on specific skills. Its many options give you the flexibility to safely increase or decrease the challenge depending on your and your horse’s level. Plus, it gives you both new skills to work on daily. You can do as little or as much as you or your horse need during each session and increase the difficulty when you’re ready.
