30-minute workout

Ensuring your horse is paying attention to your aids is key to jumping clear, says international showjumper Joe Clayton, whose 30-minute workout will get your horse listening

Joe Clayton shares two exercises to help keep your horse focused

WHEN JUMPING A course of showjumps, it’s vital that your horse can collect and move forwards off your leg when asked. You should be able to make subtle adjustments and your horse should respond straightaway, especially in a jump-off when every second counts. Being able to shorten and lengthen your horse’s stride between fences is an essential ingredient in achieving a clear round. Before starting any exercises, spend time warming up and ensure your horse is loose and switched on, ready for the following exercises.

EXERCISE 1

This exercise gets your horse off your leg and listening to your hand and seat aids. To set it up, build two verticals on a five-stride distance. They only need to be small, as this is a test of your control. Start the exercise by jumping the first vertical followed by a nice, even five strides to the second upright. Concentrate on riding the correct distance of five strides, keeping each stride even in size, balanced and in a controlled canter. Repeat this several times off both reins. When it’s feeling good, ride the same exercise, but shorten the canter a little so you get six strides between the fences. Remember to keep focusing on rhythm and balance. Once your horse finds this easy, aim for four strides. Ask for a bigger canter on the approach so that your horse can jump, land and travel on an even four strides to the second upright.

EXERCISE 2

This exercise keeps your horse straight on the approach and encourages him to slow his jump and not land so far out. It’s very good for horses that like to rush after the fence and have a big landing stride. Build a small vertical and place two poles on the approach to the fence to act as guide lines, funnelling your horse to the middle of the jump. Also set a ground pole on landing, three yards after the fence. In canter, jump the fence a few times to allow your horse to get used to the guide poles and landing pole — you may find your horse slightly lowers his head on landing to look for the pole. As your horse gains in confidence, increase the height of the vertical. You may need to roll the landing pole out by half a yard as the size increases. You can also use this exercise to jump a double, with one ground pole in the middle and another on landing.