With this exercise, judge the speed of Chaharnal more accurately.
Determining the correct speed in cross-country is often not easy.
This depends on the type of terrain, slope, weather conditions, obstacles, and the type of horse you are riding.
However, if you don't have a good sense of the appropriate tempo, achieving the ideal time can somewhat depend on luck.
This exercise helps you make more accurate judgments about distance and speed and develop the necessary sense for the correct speed.
At the same time, it also strengthens physical fitness and endurance and gets you accustomed to working with a stopwatch.
This was an exercise I used with my eventing horses at all levels up to intermediate with interest to better assess our cross-country speed, especially when we were supposed to move up a level.
Since I only had one horse at a time and participated in few competitions throughout the year, it was difficult for me to develop that necessary judgment and sense sufficiently.
This exercise gave me more practice opportunities and added variety to our fitness program.
Goals Develop the correct sense for riding at the appropriate cross-country speed according to your level Enhance physical fitness, speed, and endurance Setting up the exercise For this Chaharnal exercise, you need enough space to cover at least 500 meters in a straight path on suitable and safe ground.
Usually, the same place where you do your regular fitness exercises is suitable.
This space can be a gallop track, around a large field, or part of set-aside land; provided you have the landowner's permission.
You need a measuring wheel and a stopwatch to measure the distance.
If your regular watch has an accurate digital timer and you can easily see and work with its numbers, that is sufficient; or you can use a special eventing watch.
According to the level you are riding at, measure and mark the distance according to the chart above.
For example, if you are riding at the BE80 level, measure 435 meters and mark the start and end points; if bushes or fence posts are sufficiently distinct and memorable, you can use them.
You should have enough space both before and after this section to maintain a consistent canter throughout the measured distance.
This provides enough space for starting and also for slowing down and stopping safely.
How to perform this exercise Set a 1-minute countdown on your watch so it's ready and you can press the start button at the right moment.
Warm up the horse's body with walk, trot, and canter to prepare for a fitness session.
Long before reaching the starting marker you have set, establish a suitable canter or gallop rhythm at the speed you feel is right for your competition level.
When you pass the starting marker at a canter, start the watch.
Maintain this canter tempo until you reach the end marker and be aware of when the end-of-minute beep sounds.
Are you exactly at the end marker or far from it?
For recovery, bring the horse to a walk or trot, then repeat the exercise and adjust your rhythm depending on whether you were too fast or slow.
Tips and troubleshooting 1.
Don't forget that when obstacles are added in competitions, this slows down your overall rhythm; therefore, ideally, your time should be well under a minute in the measured distance.
However, this exercise establishes a suitable rhythm in your mind to aim for.
2.
Get help from a friend If you don't have a watch, or if working with buttons while galloping is difficult for you, ask a friend to time you.
However, practicing with a stopwatch is useful because its use is allowed at all levels.
3.
Variety You can also practice starting from a standstill; just like when you are in the start box.
When you find the right rhythm for your level starting from a gallop, this shows how much time you lose at the beginning of the course; if any time is lost at all.
4.
Keep it up Not everyone has such a space available, but if you have access to a long or circular gallop track, the best scenario is to measure several consecutive 1-minute distances so you can maintain the gallop for a longer period according to your horse's level and physical readiness.
This shows whether you lose time after the first minute or not, while also helping to improve your horse's endurance.
5.
Go a level higher If you're thinking about moving up a level, measure the distance for the higher level as well; for example, you can measure both 435 meters for BE80 and 450 meters for BE90 and try to ride both distances in one minute to see how much you need to increase the rhythm for this task.
Source: Horse & Hound