![\"AndrewHoy\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/AndrewHoy.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h3>\nWords and photos \u2013 Roz Neave<\/h3>\n
All\u00a0these event riders were dying to get out on the cross country training course at Marcus Oldham College, but Andrew Hoy had other ideas. After lunch the second group was off to the indoor arena for a session on polishing up rider position and more pearls of wisdom on how to train an event horse.<\/p>\n
“To start with we are going to warm up over the poles, then we are going to ride some lines. The contact with the outside rein is the important thing. As you circle, it\u2019s the change of the bend coming to the pole, before you get there establish contact with the new outside rein and use your leg as you get to the pole.”<\/p>\n
“Pole work is a very simple exercise but it has to be executed correctly for it to work, and then that also helps you for the dressage arena, because it teaches you the formula.”<\/p>\n
One rider had a big rangy young horse travelling a bit long and on the forehand\u2026<\/p>\n
“It is okay warming the horse up round and low, but you also need to be able to ride them up. The coming-up-in-front needs to come from the rider\u2019s leg – it\u2019s got to come from the leg first. That is what you see with so many riders, it doesn\u2019t come from the leg, it comes from the hand so the horse doesn\u2019t stay engaged.”<\/p>\n
“You can get away with this riding lower fences at lower levels, but ultimately if you want to ride at a higher level you need to work on engagement. It is something you can\u2019t do all the time with a younger horse but eventually it will become their natural way of going. Some horses do it automatically. When the horse travels naturally up-in-front, then the rider needs to get the horse rounder. Always it needs to come from behind.”<\/p>\n
Another rider was rushing the horse to try to produce bigger strides\u2026<\/p>\n
“When you have a horse like yours that will never produce big strides, you need to learn to go with his rhythm and not be worried about the length of stride and how he compares with other horses. If you\u2019ve got a line where there are five strides between two fences, you can do it best in six, do it – even if it means putting a little bend in the line. It doesn\u2019t matter whether it is five or six strides, it is how you get your horse to that particular fence, and you have to ride the horse in the way that is most suitable for your horse.”<\/p>\n
So we move onto simple jumping lines\u2026<\/p>\n “What I would like you to do now, is just ride the correct striding between the fences. It is a matter of being elastic through the elbows, because if you are riding in a 3 Star competition, you don\u2019t want time penalties but they are designing courses so tight and measuring so tight, and it is one second one penalty. I finished first in a 2 Star the other day. Between me and second place was 0.2 of a mark, between me and third was 0.6. At Burghley this year, I finished in 4th, 1.8 penalties off the lead. You can\u2019t afford to have one time penalty in the showjumping.”<\/p>\n Sure enough one of our guinea pigs is getting the message and the horse is moving much more freely and athletically\u2026<\/p>\n “Now when you are counting the rhythm, you can automatically feel it, but before you were riding a little bit hands then legs as opposed to leg forward to the hands. It\u2019s really important that you keep your reins short enough and elastic through the elbows because it\u2019s got to be leg to hand for the contact, as we discussed at the beginning of this session.”<\/p>\n “Make sure that the horse is clear on the line that you want to ride.”<\/p>\n One horse was hot and being resistant to the rider\u2026<\/p>\n “I can see that this horse is a bit hot and that makes it difficult to get along with him, but it is clear that you have to go with the horse. Going with him doesn\u2019t mean you don\u2019t give him the clear aids to say \u2018whoa slow down\u2019. It means that you say \u2018whoa slow down\u2019 but you remain elastic. You\u2019ve got to take, allow a little, admittedly the next stride he is going to want to run off, so you have to repeat that procedure. Repeat \u2013 whoa, allow, whoa, allow.”<\/p>\n “Cantering from the first fence to the second fence, you are probably going to have to repeat \u2018whoa, allow\u2019 five, six, seven, eight times. At home I was jumping a horse down a little grid, and every time it had its feet on the ground I was saying \u2018whoa\u2019. We were jumping a fence to a pole, a fence to a pole, and every time he had his feet on the ground, I said \u2018whoa\u2019 and softened. It was every stride, a little half halt to say \u2018wait\u2019. But if I\u2019d just sat there holding against him, he just would have leant into my hand and gone faster and faster. So the half halt is exactly what you need to do, it might be every three strides, every two, or even every stride. Then when you allow, and go with your horse and he stays settled that\u2019s where you want him.”<\/p>\n To the rider having trouble getting the right canter lead at the right time\u2026<\/p>\n “To get the correct leading leg in your approach to the fence I\u2019d go a little wider so you can change the bend, change your leg aid \u2013 whereas you just move your weight to the right to make the turn. So what does he do? He puts his right foot down first, and that leaves his left leg free to be the leading leg because you\u2019ve got all your weight on the right. The change has got to come from the use of your leg and the direction.”<\/p>\n More advice on the hot horse\u2026<\/p>\n “You\u2019ve got to be much clearer, much stronger, but then you\u2019ve got to allow a little quicker. What you do by saying, \u2018slow down, whoa, don\u2019t run through my hand, you have to listen to me\u2019, is fine, but then allow him forward. Don\u2019t carry it all the way through, you are holding on too long and too strong and that is why you get an over-reaction from the horse. With the best intentions to get it right, you over-react and carry it too far, and too long. The principle is right, you need to fine tune it.”<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n