Better control training in cross-country
1.
As I turn towards the first obstacle, I see a straight corridor through all three obstacles and keep Fernhill Frolic balanced and straight between my aids.
As eventing riders move up to higher levels, the only challenge they face is not just the increase in obstacle size.
The accuracy questions that continuously become more difficult and whose fundamentals are seen from the very Training level on course often surprise riders who have just entered a new level.
They suddenly realize how quickly the obstacles come up and how fast their reactions need to be.
To prepare for angled combinations and turning questions, you don't need to trailer your horse to a cross-country course.
In fact, familiarizing your horse — and yourself — with these difficult questions should start at home in the arena; a place where you can adjust the height of the obstacles and remove the slope of the ground and other complicating factors from the equation.
In an article from Practical Horseman in May 2010 titled "4 Exercises for Better Control in Cross-Country," I introduced four exercises taken from a training video featuring rider's eye; a video I produced with my colleague and coach Jim Wofford.
These exercises simulate cross-country questions; questions that are seen from the Training level to Advanced on courses.
They test your skills, highlight weaknesses, and help you develop a key tool; a tool that can significantly improve your ability to manage difficult directional questions: your eyes.
Learning to look where you want to go — and doing this quickly in complex combinations — helps your horse get on the right track and ensures that you have as much time as possible to prepare for the next obstacle.
As Jim says in that video: "The rider's eyes control the horse's path.
If I can get you to look where you are going, I can almost guarantee that your performance over jumps will improve."
2. Three obstacles at an angle to each other (2 strides).
In this exercise, which is a variation of the fourth exercise from my article in the magazine, you will navigate three obstacles that are set up at right angles to each other in two straight strides.
This exercise simulates questions that typically do not appear until Intermediate and Advanced levels in cross-country.
This exercise is for experienced horses and riders and should not be attempted unless you have mastered all other exercises completely.
Setup First, set up the middle obstacle, then walk 25 feet from the outside of one standard, turn 90 degrees, and place the inner standard of the first obstacle.
Complete the construction of that obstacle so that it is perpendicular to the middle obstacle.
Return to the middle obstacle.
Walk 25 feet from the outside of the other standard, turn 90 degrees, and place the inner standard of the third obstacle.
Complete the construction of that obstacle so that it is also perpendicular to the middle obstacle.
To start, keep the height of the obstacles at least one foot lower than your competition height.
The skills you practice prepare you for the obstacles and reacting to them in situations where the distance between them is much less, improving your horse's responsiveness.
3.
I jump over obstacle 2 and shift my focus to the center of obstacle 3. The way to execute this exercise is to assess the alignment and accuracy of your horse.
With only two strides between the obstacles and the varying angles that tempt the horse to exit the line to the left between obstacles 1 and 2, and to the right between obstacles 2 and 3 (or if you’re not careful, before obstacle 1), your horse should be completely straight and evenly positioned between your hands and legs.
Any deviation to one side or falling onto one shoulder must be corrected in the same stride it occurs; there is no room for major corrections here.
As mentioned in exercise 3, do not turn for the first obstacle until you see a straight path through all three obstacles.
Then be ready to shift your gaze from the center of one obstacle to the center of the next and then the next.
Eye correction: In this exercise, there is no room for error; you cannot afford to be slow with your eyes.
If you do not look for the next obstacle the moment the one you are jumping disappears between your horse's ears, you will not have enough time to realize whether you have exited your line or not, let alone correct it in time.
4.
Over obstacle 3, you can see that Feralik remains completely straight and centered.
Doug Payne competes at the FEI levels in eventing and dressage, and from his current base at Misty Hollow Farm in Oldwick, New Jersey, he focuses on training, exercising, and selling horses.
He is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering and also holds judging licenses and is a technical delegate for the United States Equestrian Federation in eventing.
He recently placed second at the Fair Hill International CCI** with the horse Running Order, owned by Petty Springsteen, one of the horses featured in the rider's eye training video; a joint project with Jim Wofford, an Olympic rider and coach.
For more information, visit www.
dpequestrian.
com.
To purchase this video, check out www.
HorseBooksEtc.
com.
For more exercises to enhance vision and improve horse control, refer to Doug's article "4 Exercises for Better Control in Cross-Country" in the May 2010 issue of Practical Horseman magazine.
Source: Practical Horseman – Training