Training guides normally begin by discussing how to back and school a horse that may be halter broken and handled, but is otherwise totally green. There are many books that deal with the subject of backing and training the untouched youngster, but the focus of this article is on training a horse that is going under saddle and over jumps.Before I go any further, I’d like to mention the major difference between training the Thoroughbred (TB) and the Warmblood (WB). The WBs generally have more scope (i.e. power) than the TB, as well as better temperaments. The TB needs to do lots of trot work into fences to learn to wait and listen to its rider, while the WB needs to canter to learn about going forward.

However, I believe that the TB handles pressure mentally better that the WB. The TB under pressure will stay in tune and receptive to its rider, whereas a WB can totally switch off from its rider and become unresponsive.

“Many riders are buying WBs as they have been specifi cally bred to show jump (or perform dressage, as the case may be). I would say that almost 90% of competition horses in Johannesburg are WBs – across all height classes.”

Training Show JumpersTraining Show JumpersIn this issue: Training up to 1.20m

In Gonda Betrix’s 33-year career as a top show jumper she has won enough prizes and titles to fi ll a book. Here she shares a

basic training philosophy for the show jumper.

Introducing the Horse to Jumping

Prior to presenting your young horse at a fence, include trotting pole work in your fl atwork training. This gets the horse used to working over and around coloured poles.

To introduce a horse to jumping, these are the exercises I favour.

• Trotting into a small vertical or cross poles (starting at 40 cm and working up to 60 cm) with the centre of the cross no higher than 40 cm / 60cm, with a placing pole two and a half paces in front of the jump. The placing pole will help the horse learn the correct point of take-off.

The rider should keep the young horse as straight as possible and not allow him to jump to one side. Deviation from the straight line over jumps will cause problems at a later stage in lines, combinations and dog’s legs. It will change the striding between the fences (i.e. the deviation would result in the distance between the fences being either too short or too long and put the horse on a half stride to the fence).

• After working over several different vertical jumps and when the horse is feeling confi dent, build a small narrow oxer (again starting at 40 cm and building up to 60 cm) with a placing pole two and a half paces in front of the jump. The distance of the placing pole for this exercise may be shortened to two paces depending on the horse’s length of stride. The front pole of the oxer can be a small

Honey GirlHoney Girl displays her extravagant technique over an oxer during the 1979 Derby which she won with the only clear round.

Watchfi reWatchfi re negotiating a quick turn on their way to winning the Western Province Grand Prix.

Gonda Betrix

“It is diffi cult, however, to get pupils, owners and parents to understand that it’s not all about winning.”

cross or a vertical with the front pole at least two holes lower than the back pole. The oxer must NOT be square (i.e. both poles at the same height) at this stage in the training.

• Build a mix of verticals and oxers in your arena, all with placing poles, and trot the horse around in a little course. Depending on the horse, these exercises can also be jumped from a canter. If jumping from a canter, the placing poles should be three good paces in front of the jump. I also suggest that when you build your jumps you put a pole at the base in front of each jump (a ground line).

• Once the young horse is happy with trotting/cantering into multiple fences, introduce him to “spooky” fences like boxes, picket fences, panels, etc. Keep the height at 60 cm and with placing poles. I recommend that you show the young horse the spooky fence before attempting to jump it.

• Now the young horse is ready to graduate to a double of verticals and a small gymnastic. Build two verticals at 60 cm with six walking paces in-between and a placing pole in front of the fi rst vertical.

Introduce different mixes into the double still at 60 cm – vertical to oxer, then oxer to vertical.

• Repeat all the exercises described above at a canter but ensure the placing pole is positioned for canter and that the double striding is moved out to seven or seven and a half paces in-between the fences.

• The young horse should now be able to trot or canter around a little track with no placing poles in a relaxed manner with confi dence, in good balance and with no rushing. It is vital that the horse and rider learn and practise staying on the middle line to a fence whether this is through a curve or on a straight line for the same reasons they must stay straight over a fence.

• An excellent exercise for the horse whose apex or arch of jump is beyond rather than centred over the jump is to add a placing pole 3m behind the jump, so there is a placing pole both on the take-off and the landing side of the fence. This exercise helps the horse to understand both the correct take-off point as well as the correct landing point. I do not recommend this exercise for

all horses, but fi nd it benefi cial for horses that do not arch in the correct place as well as for horses that rush into and away from fences.

The WB, depending on his temperament and balance, should be doing 80% of his jumping schooling from a canter, while the TB could still be doing much of his work from the trot.

• For a small gymnastic: a placing pole to a vertical or cross pole, then three good paces (3m) to another cross or vertical (a pop distance) then six paces (one horse stride) to another small vertical. This exercise you can build on to – include an additional seven paces (one stride) to a small oxer and then perhaps 15 paces (three strides) to another small vertical.

The distances between the fences is shorter than normal as this exercise is done from a trot. I recommend that a rider does not canter into a gymnastic as the distance is short and the point of the exercise is to encourage a horse not to rush into fences and to develop a good jumping technique.

• The young horse should by this stage be ready to go to his fi rst show. It is important that he be introduced to different venues and the atmosphere of a show which can be pretty overwhelming the fi rst few times! The TB should be jumping from a mix of trot and canter paces, while the WB should be cantering the entire track.

• Over a period of time, increase the height of the fences to 1.10m when schooling. Do not be in a hurry to jump the bigger fences as this basic training is the foundation on which to build the horse’s ability and confi dence, on which the rest of his competition life rests.

Jumping 1.10m

Some horses can cope with a short introduction to being a show jumper before moving up to 1.10m tracks, while others may take considerably longer before they are ready. When I was still competing it wasn’t important for me to be winning at this level as I had my sights set on the 1.50 m classes. I did not jump against the clock or push a horse into anything he was not ready for. This was to ensure that I had a capable and confi dent horse ready to be challenged by the higher fences and more technical tracks.

all horses, but fi nd it benefi cial for horses that do not arch in the correct place as well as for horses that

Before we discuss exercises for the horse ready to jump 1.10m, I’d like to mention that the horse on the fl at – although far from schooled to an advanced level – should now be a responsive and pleasant ride. He has some show experience and his confi dence has improved both at home and in strange surroundings.

• I would continue schooling over the exercises described above, but now introduce jumping a vertical on a circle at the canter on both reins. This will encourage the horse to land leading with the inside foreleg. On the last two strides do not allow your horse to fall inwards or drift outwards on the fi rst two landing strides – try to keep your circle as round as possible! This exercise can then be done over an oxer, also on both reins. If you fi nd it diffi cult to maintain a circle, place markers (for example, cones, drums or uprights) in strategic places on the circle to help guide you.

• When the horse is feeling well balanced on the circle, proceed to jumping fi rst the vertical then the oxer in a fi gure of eight. This means a change of direction each time you jump and will teach the horse to change leg over the fence.

• I would now graduate to jumping a vertical to oxer in a straight line with four or fi ve strides in-between both ways, halting at each end, for straightness and control.

• Another useful exercise is to jump fences set up on a serpentine – see Figure 1 for the layout. This will help both horse and rider to make smooth turns, changing rein each time, into the fences.

Before moving up from 1.10m to 1.20m your horse should be coping with the exercises described above and be well balanced and obedient. The time it takes to move up depends on how confi dent and talented each individual horse is.

When the horse is capable, coping with the correct strides and distances and is having consistent, smooth, clear rounds with fl ying changes as required, it is then time to consider going up to the next height classes.

Jumping 1.20m

In the 1.20 classes, the horse is going to be jumping exactly the same jumps he became acquainted with over 1.10m. However, now the jumps will be higher, the related distances between them will differ and the angle of approach will vary – the entire track becomes progressively more diffi cult.

Distances

The table below lists the recommended distances required in the exercises described above. I recommend that you measure each of these distances and then walk them so you know how many of your own walking strides any distance is. When training at home or in any restricted space (i.e. 70x30m or smaller), I build the distances between fences one pace shorter than what you would see at a show. This is because although the horse might work at a good show jumping pace in a small arena, they tend to “back off the ends”. If exercises are built that don’t accommodate this, the horse can learn to fl atten over his jump and hurry into fences.

Standard Distances

Trotting pole 2.5 paces 2.4m

Canter pole 3 paces 2.8m

Gymnastic 6 paces 5.6m

Gymnastic 7 paces 6.3m

One stride 8 paces 7.3m

Two strides 12 paces 11.0m

Three strides 16 paces 14.6m

Four strides 20 paces 18.3m

Five strides 24 paces 22.0m

Six strides 28 paces 25.6m

Seven strides 32 paces 29.3m

Figure 1This exercise can be jumped in both directions

At a Show

• My preference is to fi rst trot or canter, depending on the horse, over a cross pole two or three times when warming up at a show. If the rider is happy with how the horse feels over a cross, continue warming up by cantering over a vertical fence and then a spread. Don’t jump both fences on the same rein and don’t cut short your approach or landing. Once again, make sure you are straight for at least four to fi ve – if not more! – strides on either side.

• When warming up at a show, don’t overdo it. One often sees riders repeatedly schooling their horse over the warm-up jump – this is not its purpose. Don’t leave the horse’s jump in the practice arena – it’s in the ring that you want him to give his best.

• Do your homework at home! Under normal circumstances a rider cannot change, improve or fi x an issue in a show warm-up arena. However, if a problem is show related, get permission from the show organisers to work in the arena when the competition is fi nished. Now the horse and rider can work at resolving the diffi culty experienced.

How Often to Jump Your Horse

A young horse learning to jump needs to school over fences at least three times a week. As the horse progresses up the grades this would be reduced to twice a week. When jumping in the higher grades (1.30m and higher), jump schooling could be cut back to once a week. The frequency of the jumping is reduced as the horse now understands what is expected of him and fewer jumping sessions help in keeping the horse sound. The frequency of jumping schooling obviously depends on how “easy” or technical and perhaps diffi cult each individual horse is. Canter poles laid out on the ground are often ample work between your jumping session at home and shows. I will discuss canter pole exercises in a future article.

Coaches

A rider needs to have absolute confi dence and faith in their coach. If you don’t believe and trust your coach 100% – change!Riders should, however, stick with a coach and therefore a training philosophy that they are comfortable with. Equally, it is unrealistic to expect riding and competition to always be problem free. Give your coach – and yourself – the time to work through problems or hiccups. As important as it is to have a knowledgeable person on the ground in training, it is just as important for riders to be independent of their coach and insightful about their own riding. After a competition take the time to analyse what you did, what you could do better and what should you absolutely avoid doing in the future. And then try and apply those learnings at home and at the next show. I believe every rider from the higher Junior grades to Adults should be able to cope on their own at a show. At the major shows, though, it is important to have the backup of your coach. Beware of clinics every other week with a different coach/instructor each time or going from person to person at a show for help. Multiple opinions and different approaches can confuse even the most level-headed or experienced rider! Constantly evaluate what you’re told and always be open-minded when hearing things you haven’t heard before.

“I have never stopped learning about how to work with horses.”

Style

I feel very strongly about style – the correct style enables the horse and rider to achieve the best results. For a rider, just like for a golfer, tennis player or most sports, style is vital in achieving optimum performance.On the importance of correct style and a fi rm, independent seat, my mother used to tell me to put a backpack loosely on my back and run down the road. Then tie it down and run down the road again. Which feels better? So, which do you think the horse will prefer?Obviously, style must be combined with effectiveness. Correct style should be the base from which your other riding skills grow – not the focus of your riding forever!

The State of SA Show Jumping

We currently have a lot of depth in our show jumping due mainly, I believe, to the quality of the horses in competition. We also have many good young riders, such as Young Rider Jade Hooke who, at just 19 years old and competing for the fi rst time in the Derby, won the 2009 AVIS Derby after a jump-off on her horse A New Era. An incredible achievement!

IN THE NEXT ISSUE:

• FLAT WORK EXPECTED FROM THE HORSE JUMPING 1.20M• EXERCISES FOR THE HORSE JUMPING 1.30M• FLAT WORK EXPECTED FROM THE HORSE JUMPING 1.30M• HOW TO TAKE CARE OF AND KEEP THE TOP COMPETITION HORSE IN TUNE