How does Becky Moody turn Jagerbomb into a dressage champion?
What role do Becky Moody and Jagerbomb play in training a World Cup dressage finalist?
Becky Moody explains how she prepares Jagerbomb for peak performance while maintaining a balance between training, outdoor riding and improving his Grand Prix movements.
Becky does not push Jagerbomb (Bomb) in the school.
She usually works specifically on dressage training two to three times a week.
These sessions usually last 40 to 45 minutes and always begin with an “easy warm-up.”
She said: “That is less than I used to do, because it is not about how much I want to do, it is about the horse.
” She added: “One of the most important things I do is transitions, hundreds of transitions.
It does not matter whether you are riding a young horse or a Grand Prix horse, transitions are key to a good training session, for suppleness and rideability.
“That lovely trot movement that Bomb can do comes from a good walk-to-halt transition.
” It is rare for Becky to do all of the Grand Prix movements in training; she works more on suppleness, flexibility and straightness.
She explains: “For example, instead of doing test pirouettes, I work more on working pirouettes, practicing the adjustability within them, in a bigger frame.
” “So I collect him more, then go more forward – and only do a few tests.
I also work a lot on zigzags because they are our weak point.
” To improve the flying changes, Becky has another tip.
She said: “I do lots of changes along the wall so I am really aware of my straightness – I very rarely do them across the school on the diagonal.
” Becky estimates that in the six weeks leading up to an event, she puts all the movements together every other week to run through the full test.
Becky Moody about Jagerbomb’s non-training days. The other days are devoted to outdoor riding, fitness work and stretching.
Becky said: “Sometimes in the school, he works in a snaffle, does some stretching and basic transitions,” she says Bomb uses a snaffle “half of the time.”
“He loves outdoor riding, so he does a lot of that.
The girls hack him, but I love riding him too, so I sometimes go out because he is such a good boy.
” Although Bomb’s hacks include work on the hills and up and down the Yorkshire hills, because of their location they are limited to road work, so he does extra fitness sessions in the outdoor school.
Becky said: “He is very big and has to watch his weight, so we have to really pay attention to the fitness side to keep him at the right weight, fit and strong.
” “There is nowhere where we can go off at speed, so his fast work is done in the outdoor school.
We do interval training around our 20x60m.
” The large outdoor school where Jagerbomb does his interval training.
Credit: Steve Dawe / Real Time Imaging Becky uses her voice as a training tool, and welcomes British Dressage’s rule change allowing riders to use their voice reasonably.
He said: “With young horses, I always use my voice.
Especially in downward transitions, by saying ‘steady,’ anything that helps them understand without needing to use the reins too much.
It is a useful tool.
” He added: “My bad habit is that I make clicking noises.
I train with Carl Hester and he says: ‘You’re not training dolphins!
’ in his terrible Yorkshire accent!
Stable management in summer, Bomb spends every day in the field.
Becky explained: “In winter, because we live on clay, the ground is awful and we can’t go out on the grass.
We have four sandy paddocks and a horse walker, so all the horses come out of the stable three times a day.
” At over 17.
3hh, Bomb is entitled to have the biggest stable in the yard.
Jagerbomb has the biggest stable in the yard.
Credit: Steve Dawe / Real Time Imaging In terms of nutrition, Bomb’s diet is very simple.
He is fed Saracen’s Competition Fit Mix with hay.
He also has a simple joint supplement and electrolytes when he is in work, plus salt.
At shows, Bomb goes on “food strike” - Becky said: “When you are away for two weeks, this is a little difficult.
” She added: “He prefers a stale mash to a recovery mash, and so that is what we use to help him eat.
The more he does it, the better he gets.
” And not just in terms of appetite, because when it comes to results in the arena, Becky Moody and Jagerbomb are still on an upward trajectory.
Becky Moody and Jagerbomb at the 2023 National Dressage Championships in the Grand Prix Freestyle.
Credit: Kevin Sparrow Becky Moody and Jagerbomb at the London International Horse Show 2024.
Credit: Peter Nixon Jack Whitaker rides Jagerbomb, while Becky Moody, his regular rider, watches.
Credit: Lucy Hoyles / Sheffield Equine Clinic Source: Horse & Hound