Cross-country schooling
How to give every session focus to help you succeed on competition day
BEFORE YOU ZOOM out of the start box, your horse needs to be equipped to do the job in hand. Whether you’re visiting a crosscountry venue to school for the first time this year or as a refresher in between competitions, your session needs to have purpose and an end goal. Karen Nicholas, a BHSII who trains riders from Pony Club level up to CCI4*, advises that you do as much preparation at home beforehand as you can. “You can achieve an awful lot with simulated training, even through the winter, to prepare for going cross-country,” she explains. “Think of off-season training as being your classroom. Then you transfer to the playground to put it into practice. “Many venues run arena eventing competitions, which is a useful way to learn about riding different types of fences.” Event rider Franky Reid-Warrilow, who contested her first CCI4* in Pau, France, last autumn, agrees. She says that with all horses, but particularly those who are young or inexperienced, it’s important they’ve learned to ‘go’ before venturing out on to a cross-country course. “I do lots of work at home with a horse before they go schooling. I make sure they’re forward off my leg and understand the aid to ‘go’,” she says. For some of the trickier fence types, such as ditches, water and skinnies, all of the preparation is done at home, too. A subsequent cross-country schooling session is the tool for solidifying what the horse has been working on over the real thing. “I never teach a horse about skinnies away from home – they have to be in a familiar environment where they feel confident to begin with,” she reasons. “Start with a narrow pole on the ground in the arena and walk and trot over it before raising it to a small 50cm fence. Then build up slowly from there. “For a combination with a ditch I have a treble of showjumps and the middle fence is two poles parallel on the ground. A water tray is five or six poles pushed together.”
A helping hand
Karen feels strongly that you should never go cross-country schooling alone. In fact, many venues won’t allow it for health and safety reasons. “It doesn’t matter whether you have someone on foot or on a horse, just having someone there will give you confidence,” explains Karen. “You can ride negatively if you go alone, even if it is subconsciously.” Another pair of eyes can also be helpful in other ways. From identifying fences to
link together, through to helping pinpoint the cause of a problem should you have one, another perspective can be useful. If your companion is on a horse, you have someone to give you a lead, too. This is a particularly good idea if your horse is young or inexperienced. “Horses are herd animals, so if they’re lacking confidence — perhaps through water or over a ditch — they will follow a leader and grow in confidence that way,” adds Karen. Karen emphasises that a good trainer will help you get the most out of a cross-country training session. “I like to see people ride on the flat and over showjumps first. That way I can assess both horse and rider before we are in an open space,” she says. Jonty Evans, individual ninth at the Rio Olympics and the reigning Lycetts Grantham Cup winner, likes to watch horses ridden away from him in a straight line. “I tell people to focus on something in the distance, such as a tree, and then ride as straight as they can towards that point,” he explains. “Then I can check if their canter is rhythmical, energetic and responsive. It needs to be all of those things before they start jumping and it will help prepare them to ride directly towards a fence.”
Get a good start
Begin your session by warming up on the flat and then incorporating small fences, working on getting your horse thinking forward and establishing a rhythm. “Concentrate on building both yours and your horse’s confidence,” advises Karen. “At this point it’s not about height of the fences, it’s about precision. School below the height you’re competing at and keep your horse in his comfort zone. “Next, move on to bigger fences. As long as your horse understands what you’re asking of him he will try his best for you. That’s why it’s vital to get the foundations right in the first place. Then you can build from there.” Move on to linking a few fences together. “Try not to keep stopping and starting when you’re schooling,” advises Karen. “Once you’ve warmed up, work out a plan of fences to jump and keep going.” Franky concurs. “I trot and canter over the smallest fences and then link a few together to establish a nice rhythm,” she says. “Once horses are doing that happily I’ll move onto something more challenging.” Karen also advises negotiating simple fences off a turn and at an angle, in anticipation of the lines you may ride at a competition. “I like riders to jump a simple fence, like a small log, on an angle off both reins. It helps you prepare for combinations and fences on a curving line.” Karen then moves on to a narrow fence and a simple combination. “Try to jump different types of fences, but don’t worry about the height – stay small to begin with and work your way up,” she adds. “Keep it simple and don’t run before you can walk. Successful cross-country schooling is all about confidence and the right mindset.”
If it goes wrong…
Karen recommends asking yourself the following three questions when you’re schooling: Is your horse physically capable of doing what you’re asking? He must be fit enough and so should you. A tired, unbalanced rider will tire the horse, making it harder for him to do his job. Is your horse mentally capable and able to understand what’s being asked of him? A particularly important consideration for young or green horses. Are you asking him correctly? If you’re unsure or lacking confidence, your signals may not be clear to your horse. These three questions become particularly important to consider in the event of a problem arising, such as a refusal or run-out. To solve the issue, all you need to do is simplify the problem. This might mean
clearing a smaller version of the fence several times before returning to the larger one, or getting a lead from another horse. If you’re running out at a narrow fence, use something to act as a wing, such as flags. “Borrow some flags from a venue if you can [or make your own],” recommends Karen. “Horses read fences better with flags.” How often you school really depends on your horse. Younger, inexperienced horses may benefit from going regularly, whereas older horses probably don’t need to. Alternatively, see if you can visit the venue after a competition where you’ve had an issue, to work on this and help build your horse’s confidence. “Think about the ground conditions,” warns Karen. “To avoid jarring your horse, and making it unpleasant for him, especially if he’s older, don’t overdo it on hard ground. “Don’t be in a rush: wait for the ground to be good – and not too deep, either – because you want your horse’s first cross-country experience after a break to be a good one.”