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Well known showjumper Melissa Froesch.

© Derek O'Leary

Showjump training with Gilbert Bockmann - part 2

with Gillie Böckmann

READ PART ONE HERE

Work with individual exercises and then join them so that you are piecing a course together

A large emphasis was placed on training exercises to improve the control of the ride after the jump. As the degree of difficulty of height, lines and turns increases so too does the need for ride-ability.

‘Many horses with a natural jump can cope with jumping courses up to about 1.30 m without correct degrees of training and responsiveness between the fences. Higher courses become a lot more difficult and this is where the difference between making national and international horses becomes evident. Early training must be done so that by the time you get to 1.20 m it is second nature for the horse to be adjustable.’

Landing and control after the jump

Gillie explained why he uses the circle upon landing to assist in the horse being able to re-balance and return to a good canter pace without the interference of the rider’s hand. The riders were encouraged to sit straight and use their upper bodies – to sit deeper in the saddle and to use the inside leg more to outside rein on the circle to re-establish their canter.

‘The correct landing and continuation of the pace after the obstacle, is an important part of schooling. Don’t let the horse run away after the jump. Create a circle to control the horse and ride through the paces to walk at first and then gradually move to continuing the canter on the circle and on again – the horse should be more responsive to controlling the pace.’

During schooling, the horse becomes stronger and his muscles develop. Some horses play after finishing their jump which shows that they are enjoying their work.

‘Don’t let it become a habit that the horse plays around so much that you can’t readily get their concentration back quickly. Some horses may try to run off for a few strides after landing. This is quite natural, because when the horse is landing his centre of gravity shifts to the forehand. When in balance the horse will automatically slow down. The more the horse develops the loin muscles and quarters the sooner it will be able to slow down in fewer strides after landing – some young horses take ten or more canter strides to regain balance. That is why you don’t make related distances too short for young horses.’

The normal reaction is for the rider is to pull on the reins to slow – the horse resists and has no chance to re-balance itself in a natural manner. Instead it will come onto the forehand and lean on the rider’s hands. This not only ruins the horse’s mouth, but lets the horse know that when they jump the fence there is a good chance that they will get a pull on the mouth for their efforts. This can make them pull harder and run off faster.

‘When you land, absorb the impact through the legs not the seat, stay in the forward seat and take one stride before you sit back down and take your body back. Use the circle here to slow them. As they become more experienced, the slight shift in the rider’s upper body position will be enough to adjust the speed and canter stride.’

Work with individual exercises and then join them together so that you are piecing a course together. A couple of the horses on the clinic were a bit ‘hot’ by nature. Gillie had riders dissect the ride in each exercise to include the preparation of the canter pace, approach, jump over, land and get away.

‘Concentrate on each part of the ride and be happy with improvements at each part. When things go wrong try not to fall apart yourself – always make the start and finish of the ride good so that the horse canters correctly and in the right frame. Use the circle post jump to ensure that the horse finishes correctly and reward your horse. The idea is to improve each part of the ride for both the horse and rider and for you to understand where it was good and where improvement is needed. Remember, when things go wrong create a ‘no stress’ situation with the horse – it may have been your fault or theirs and you want them to come again and try to do it correctly. If they are stressed then the likelihood of things going wrong again will be increased.’

Exercise one

Trot Poles in warm up used to get horses to bend knees, lift through shoulder and to encourage development of hindquarters.

Show Jumper Chris Chugg

Exercise two

Placing pole, vertical, bounce, vertical. The horse is encouraged to take a more collected shortened stride. Designed to encourage the horses to develop strength in quarters and to lift the front end off the ground quickly with knees up, raising through the shoulder and encouraging the use of the wither.

Exercise Two – Andrew Lamb with young horse

During schooling the horse becomes stronger and his muscles develop. Some horses play after finishing their jump which shows that they are enjoying their work.

Exercise three

To help the horse regain balance and correct the stride between fences without interference from the rider. The placing pole between the two fences is set there to assist the horse to land and keep the stride short.

Exercise Three – Adam Johnson on his stallion ‘Woodleigh Don Juan’

A straight approach was important, a good even canter stride to a good take-off point. Important to maintain rider’s position keeping upper body tall and not folding too early over the horse’s neck, hands still and down allowing the horse to jump into the bridle. Peak the jump directly over the fence and not after the fence.

Exercise four

Riding the Corner

Tactics for riding to a fence out of a corner should be analysed when you walk the course. Have you just completed jumping a fence before the corner or have you had more time to stabilise the canter and approach going into the corner? Your eyes should always be on the fence that you are approaching, yet you need to be mindful of the line you are riding, making sure that you use every inch of room to ride deep into the corner.

On a curved line a rider always has a choice between cutting the corner a little to shorten the distance, or going a little wide to lengthen the distance. A rider also has to consider that most horses will be shortening their stride a little while turning.

The use of outside leg and hand in unison with the inside leg is important when riding the corner whilst maintaining the inside flexion. Keep in mind how stiff or flexible your horse is on each side and make suitable adjustments to cater for this, i.e. whether your horse is likely to bulge out on the corner or drop its shoulder in. Riding jumping corners demands a lot of control.

‘Coming out of the corner, the most important thing is to be straight upon approach to the fence. You cannot rely on speed to get you over the fence. If your horse is at all wavering in holding a line you will need to have him at a pace in which you have plenty of control and you want the horse to be truly between your hand and leg. Even so, make sure that you come in strongly and keep the forward momentum. Make sure that you are straight to the fence two strides out as jumping across the fence often results in having the rail down. Many people worry about corners so much that they over-check, then the horse loses his rhythm coming into the fence and starts to think backwards. Ride through your corner, then sit up and straighten and ride to the fence.’

Maintain an even rhythm and tempo through the corner so that the horse can maintain its balance. 

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