Horse & Hound

Nail your warm-up

MANY riders gallop continuously around the showjumping collecting ring, jumping numerous fences, wearing out their horses and getting in everyone’s way. I feel strongly many competitors could improve their performance by planning their warm-up.

Confidence is key. Don’t overpush yourself in the warm-up – you want to go in the ring feeling confident, not that the last fence was a bit big and you held your breath over it.

When I help pupils, I rarely put them over a big fence in the warm-up; everyone needs to get their eye in, but the most important thing is to feel good over a couple of fences.

THE length of your flatwork warm-up at a one-day event will depend on the time since your dressage.

If it’s been a couple of hours since your test and the horse has stood on the lorry, he will need

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