Measure your speed
Go clear and shave precious seconds off your cross-country time with advice from event rider Flora Young
Flora Young helps you shave valuable seconds off your cross-country time
ASINGLE TIME FAULT can mean the difference between taking home a shiny red rosette and dropping outside the top 10. Particularly as you progress, set new goals and want to be increasingly competitive, it will be just seconds that separate you and other riders on the final leaderboard. Of course there’s a physical limit to how fast your horse can go, but there are ways to shave seconds off your time in a safe way. “There’s little things that you can do as you’re going around a course that make a big difference,” explains event rider Flora Young. “For example, jumping a let-up fence at an angle can cut a second off your time. If there’s 10 fences that you can jump on an angle and you shave a second off for each, that saves 10 seconds.”
Up the ante at home
As well as little tricks that you can employ while out on the cross-country course, there’s plenty you can do at home to prepare. “Your horse needs to be fit to perform at his best,” says Flora. “Interval training is a great way to boost your horse’s fitness. I use an app called ClockItEQ to measure my horse’s heart rate and its recovery. This app tells you how long your horse’s heart rate is in certain zones and helps you to gauge how well his fitness is improving.” With or without an app, you can easily boost your horse’s fitness and work on his average speed at home. “Understanding how many metres your horse covers in a minute helps you know what time you can achieve on the day,” says Flora, who, over the page, explains three exercises she uses to track her horse’s speed and minimise time penalties on competition day.
Measure your horse’s canter
Measuring your horse’s canter between two points will let you know how fast he’s able to travel, giving you a good indication of the time you could achieve on the day. Do this exercise regularly and you’ll notice that the fitter your horse becomes, the quicker he’ll be able to cover the ground.
How to ride it
SET IT UP: Use two cones or markers to measure a 100m distance. Alternatively, choose two points to canter between (for example, when out hacking, choose two trees to canter between). You’ll need a stop watch or timer — and possibly a calculator!
a) Ask your horse to canter. b) At the first marker, start your stop watch. c) Canter to the second marker in a light seat, just as you would during a cross-country round. d) Stop your watch at the second marker. e) To calculate your horse’s speed, divide the distance your horse has travelled in metres by the time taken in seconds. f) This will give you your horse’s metres per second.
TRY THIS: This time trial is a great way to measure your horse’s progress in terms of his fitness. Try doing this once a week, in between the rest of his schooling plan, and making a note of his speed. As his fitness improves, you may notice him get quicker.
Control his shoulder to achieve tighter lines
Being able to ride tighter lines while out on cross-country courses is a sure-fire way to edge ahead of your fellow competitors who may need to take longer approaches to fences. This exercise is ridden on a circle and helps your horse practise riding shorter lines and also ensures you have control of his outside shoulder. This will minimise the likelihood of run-outs, which will cost you not only time, but jumping faults too. “Don’t worry about how many strides you get between each pole in this exercise,” says Flora. “Focus on getting your horse straight to the fence and not losing him through the outside shoulder.”
How to ride it
SET IT UP: Place four poles on the inside track of your school, at equal points on a circle (like a clock face).
a) Go large around the school in canter on the left rein. b) Come on to your circle, riding towards your first pole in a light seat. c) As you go over the first pole, look ahead to the next. d) When you land, turn and ride towards the next pole. Keep your horse straight to maintain control of his outside shoulder. e) Ride over the remaining poles in a steady rhythm. f) Go around the circle twice and then change onto the right rein and repeat.
THE NEXT LEVEL: Bring your poles in closer together so that you’re riding a tighter circle. You can also raise the poles into small upright fences.
Jump at an angle
Jumping at an angle is a useful skill to master. It boosts your horse’s confidence, can get you out of sticky spots if your stride isn’t quite right and helps you beat the clock. “If you’ve got a let-up fence on the cross-country, being able to jump it on an angle will save you a bit of time,” says Flora. “It’s all about minimal gains, so when you’re walking a course, think about which fences you could shave seconds off. “Keep the fence low in this exercise so you can concentrate on your technique.”
How to ride it
SET IT UP: In the middle of your school or paddock, place a small upright fence.
a) Go large around the outside of your school or paddock. b) Look ahead for your fence and canter up the centre line, heading straight for the jump. c) Jump the fence and ride straight back to the track, staying on the same rein. d) Next time round, come off the track slightly after the centre line, increasing your angle towards the jump. e) Repeat the exercise, gradually increasing the angle that you approach the fence. f) Repeat on the other rein.