HAIRY HOPEFULS
Whatever your horse’s breed or type, trainer Alison Short has targeted exercises to help you get the best out of him in our new series. Here, Alison works with a traditional cob to work through from behind and lift the forehand
Clever training strategies, whatever your horse’s size or shape
WseriesWWELCOME TO THE first part of our exciting new – Hairy Hopefuls. With the help of our expert trainer, Alison Short, you’ll learn how to improve your horse’s way of going whatever his breed or temperament. Using the right exercises to work on your horse’s weaker areas is the key to progressing, but knowing what exercises to ride can be confusing. Correct training and riding will see you excel in the competition arena, or if competing isn’t your thing, it’ll mean you have a horse that’s obedient and a pleasure to ride. Each issue, our Hairy Hopefuls trainer, Alison, will work with a different horse and rider combination, with a variety of different horse types (see the planner, left), to identify three key exercises you can use at home to improve your horse’s way of going. It doesn’t matter what breed your horse is – Alison explains why each exercise is helpful for you and how to do it. The exercises will help: Conformation This will focus on how your horse’s is put together and how it influences his training. Temperament This is your horse’s mental attitude to training and how to deal with it. Biomechanics This considers the combination of both you and your horse, and how you work together. In this issue Alison works with traditional coloured cob, Martini, who tends to pull from her shoulder onto her forehand because of her conformation and type. For this reason, Martini is schooled in a three-ring bit to encourage flexion at the poll, giving Kim a lighter feel to the rein. Each exercise will help your horse to lighten his forehand and take more weight on his hocks. Try these exercises and you’ll see an improvement of your horse’s self-carriage. In some exercises we refer to arena markers, if you don’t have one, mark out a 20m x 40m area in your fifield.