Dutch international, Albert Voorn is known for his wonderful jumping clinics – and for his willingness to tell it like it is. When Rebecca Ashton sat in on one of his clinics, he started his riders with the reins in one hand:
“Circle right in rising trot. Reins in one hand and let your hand go forward. Weight is entirely on your stirrup, no tightness in your upper leg. And you go up and down from the stirrup. Think about your knees. Don’t squeeze them on. The leg is just present. When you slow him down, use your hand with absolutely no leg pressure. Change rein.”
“Riding with your reins in one hand also makes you sit taller and your leg is not so active. The horse is in the pace you want and you can leave him alone. The reason you have to work hard with your leg, is because you use your hand too much. Reins in one hand stops this. Keep the leg straight up and down, don’t let it work backwards. Be tall as well. Don’t close your body when you do something.”
Albert Voorn at the Sydney Games riding Lando into an individual silver medal
“The moment that you go into the canter, try to have as little resistance from the hand as possible. Then the easier it is for them to go into the canter, the less high the head will be. As long as the horse is carrying you forward, it is only your hand that resists when you bring them back. Not leg. Everything else is quiet. The softer you are, the softer the horse will be. If you slow the horse down and he puts the head up, follow his head up because it is easier for that horse to slow down like that. We do not interfere with the head carriage.”
This is how much contact you need…
“Don’t take the outside leg too far back. It should be vertical. It should just be present, not pushing the horse to the inside.”
“You then get to the point that you only think about it and it gets better. Our aids should be very subtle. Riders should always ask themselves, ‘Can I do less?’”
“The more that we push with the seat in the saddle, the more we push the back of the horse down, and the more we open them up, the harder it is for them to sit on their hind leg. The transitions work the horse in its body, and work on the collection, but the amount of collection depends on the horse, not the rider. The concentration as you ride is enormously on yourself. That’s why it’s good to ride for five minutes, and then have a break, because it’s very hard to keep that amount of concentration for longer. The break is also nice for the horse. You can put your phone in your pocket and set it to alarm every five minutes to remind you to break. The problem with that is, after about three times, the horse hears the tone and just walks! They are very clever.”
Want to read the whole article? https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2018/03/albert-voorn-showjumping-clinic-keep-it-simple/
