Emma Mason – Are you ready for a young horse? Part 3

Emma Mason looks at the highs and lows of taking on a youngster. This month, Emma and Harley go showjumping with Andrew Barnett…

Photos: Peter Stoop

I don’t think many would argue that a child’s early education shapes their attitude to learning and desire to work in their future years, and I think the same can be said for the young horse.  And just as children come in a range of shapes, sizes and personalities, from class clown to shy computer geek to moody little turd (my maternal instincts have yet to kick in), so too do horses, so the ‘right’ approach to their training will not always be the same.

My showjumping coach, Andrew Barnett, has had the benefit of training with two of the country’s best in Jamie Coman and Rod Brown, and has a talent for coming up with exercises that suit each individual horse:  I have training sessions on a number of different horses, and while we want a similar result – that good shape, smooth way of travelling and a healthy respect for the coloured poles – the content of the lessons can be quite different.

This makes it a bit difficult for me to write a generic article about jumping the young horse!  But there are some broad ideas that I keep in mind when starting any horse, and this month’s article will go through these.  We’ll then focus on the exercises that have been useful in the training of cheeky young Harley.

General principles

The importance of good flatwork doesn’t end after you and your horse have left the 20 x 60.  All the things we talked about in last month’s article – the respect for the leg, the transitions within the pace, the rhythm – are just as critical in the jumping arena.  Be prepared to spend as much time as necessary on the horse’s flatwork before even pointing him in the direction of a jump – after all, if he’s not responsive to the aids, working in a nice frame and relaxed, how can we expect him to travel sweetly between fences and produce a soft jump?

I have poles randomly lying about the jump paddock, and I incorporate them into the flatwork in the warm up.  I want the horse to learn to trot and canter over these poles calmly and in a rhythm.  The presence of a pole should not make him burst with excitement, and if it does, the exercise needs to be repeated until travelling over the poles is almost boring to him.

Ideally, the jumping should be a bit of a game for the young horse.  It’s important that we don’t put the horse through too long a session, in which he becomes tired and begins to despise the coloured poles.  The whole experience should be something he enjoys.  Having said that, I’ll also be careful to lay the ‘ground rules’ early on:  If I present him at a jump, he needs to make every effort to get to the other side, without questioning me or coming up with reasons why he shouldn’t jump it.

This can happen only if the horse is confident.  To develop this, I begin with the fences quite low, particularly if there is a spooky filler such as a brick wall or dazzleboard underneath.  In this case, I’ll even put one end of the top pole on the ground to make the fence as inviting as possible, and low enough that he doesn’t scare himself (or me) if he makes an awkward leap over it.

In the beginning, the young horse won’t be very adjustable – in other words, we can’t really come through the turn, see a waiting distance and expect the horse to be able to sit on his haunches and collect his canter.  What we can do is have the horse in front of the leg in a good, active canter, keep an even rhythm, and make sure that our own position is helping him produce his best jump.

The importance of the rider’s position over a fence cannot be overemphasised, and Andrew is a stickler for it (either that or he just likes to nag).  If we’re too low over the horse’s neck, throw our body forward on take-off, or have our eyes down, we contribute to the horse being a little too heavy on his forehand, and interfere with his ability to be ‘quick off the floor’.  If we sit up too quickly, we prevent him from finishing off his jump, from letting go’ behind.  If we don’t give enough rein over the fence, we risk him becoming tight in the neck, hollow and worried…  And the list goes on.  Thus, whatever your level of experience, you can always benefit from a pair of eyes on the ground, be it your coach or a knowledgeable friend.  I am very lucky to be riding in a Vega jump saddle, courtesy of Brighton Saddleworld, which is beautifully made, comfortable and designed in a way that makes it very easy to get my lower leg on the horse.  The only downside is that if my position isn’t up to scratch, I can no longer blame my saddle…

Hone in on Harley

By the jumping stallion, Wirragulla Hamlet, Harley loves spending time in the air.  But he can get a little untidy in front, a little ‘long’ in his jump and has a tendency to drift if I’m not on the job.

Andrew has assured me from the very beginning that the looseness in front will eventually improve, and sure enough, Harley is now much neater, much more together with his forelegs.  We haven’t gone crazy putting him through difficult grids – at most, we have had 3 fences in a row, with just a bounce distance between them.  It’s a difficult exercise for Harley, so it’s not something we do too often.

To address the length of the jump, we have done quite a bit of work with a placing pole on either side of the fence.  The distance is a little short, ie. 8 feet on either side, to encourage Harley to jump ‘up’ more than ‘out’ (see diagram).   We also tend to have the distances slightly shorter in combinations or related lines, so that Harley takes off from a deeper distance and has to ‘use’ himself, rather than becoming long and flat.

Any drift in the air needs to be targeted early on, as it can quickly develop into a habit and really affects the quality of the jump.  The solution isn’t rocket science – if he drifts a little to the right over a fence, I’ll adjust my approach slightly so that I’m heading a little right to left.  In other words, the horse will take off from slightly right of centre and land slightly left of centre.  And vice versa for a left drift.  Another good, simple way to teach the horse to stay straight is to have ‘tramlines’ (see diagram) either side of the jump.  I remember working on this with Jamie Coman, and it was really effective, as the poles (rather than too much interference of the rider) encourage the horse to stay straight.

The cross country

The horse’s confidence and obedience in this phase is absolutely critical, and this comes down to schooling.  I am very fortunate to be sponsored by Over the Top Equipment, who build and supply terrific cross country fences, so my horses have the advantage of becoming very familiar with the types of jumps they’ll come across in competition.  But if you don’t have cross country jumps at home, there are still ways of giving your horse a proper preparation.

Firstly, there may be cross country jumps in your area, whether part of a pony club course or owned privately.  Make enquiries of your local instructors and professional riders – you can be sure that they will have sussed out the best places to go and school!  Most venues will insist that you have a qualified instructor with you, and you can also expect to pay a small fee to use the facilities, but it’s well worth it.  Or you can attend a cross country clinic, which is fun and social as well as beneficial to you and the horse.

Secondly, be creative with what you have available at home.  It’s not too difficult to buy or steal 44-gallon drums or those big blue plastic drums, and combined with a couple of rails, you have yourself an arrowhead and apex to school over!

For the arrowhead, I place 2 poles at the edges of the barrel, sloping outward in sort of a ‘V’.  The most inviting approach for the horse is where the rails slope toward him as he canters up to the fence, framing the barrel.  At least in this way, if he is slightly off-centre, he still has to jump.  When he’s confidently jumping from this direction, you can approach from the other side, which has the illusion of just a barrel on its own – a true arrowhead.

Your apex, in the beginning, can be more like an oxer, and as the horse grows in confidence, you can make it more and more apex-like.  Be very disciplined about your approach – choose a line and stick to it!  I had a really good cross country session with Prue Barrett not long ago, and Prue reminded me that, although a few centimetres off here and there doesn’t seem that significant at the time, if the horse jumps 50 fences like this, he learns that he doesn’t have to stay exactly straight.  We get away with it for a while, but when the fences start getting big and ugly-looking, the run-outs start to sneak in.

Schooling your horse in water is a very important part of your cross country preparation.  The water jump is a fence that is guaranteed to come up, sometimes twice, on course, and you’ll come unstuck if the horse has water issues.  Fortunately, Harley finds the water intriguing, rather than frightening, and has been willing to take it on from the very start.

Don’t wait until the competition to see if your horse doesn’t like getting his feet wet:  Chances are, you’ll be full of adrenaline, desperate to avoid having 20 penalties next to your name, and your horse won’t get the patient introduction to water that he deserves.  Make plans to attend a clinic or a local facility, perhaps more than once, before competition day.  I always make sure there’s another horse present that is confident in water – it can save a lot of time and stress if your youngster is able to take a lead from the other.  The old adage “if your friend jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?” can in fact be answered in the affirmative when it comes to horses.