{"id":5620,"date":"2021-03-10T04:45:39","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T17:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=5620"},"modified":"2021-03-10T17:25:24","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T06:25:24","slug":"cross-country-training-with-kevin-mcnab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2021\/03\/cross-country-training-with-kevin-mcnab\/","title":{"rendered":"Cross country training with Kevin McNab"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Good basics never change, Kevin McNab talks about successful, and safe, cross country riding.<\/h1>\n

Finding a good coach is like selecting the right stallion \u2013 the proof is in the progeny, or in this case, the students. There are stallions, who despite their talent and beauty, don\u2019t seem to pass on their attributes to their offspring, just as there are gifted riders who struggle to transfer their skills to a pupil.<\/p>\n

It therefore makes sense to examine the trainers top riders have trained with. Like 2010 WEG representative, and one of Australia\u2019s most admired eventers, Christopher Burton. Back in Chris\u2019 early days he spent a year as Kevin McNab\u2019s first working pupil.<\/p>\n

Another WEG representative, and the rider everyone was talking about at Kentucky, New Zealand\u2019s Jonathan Paget, literally learnt to ride at Kevin\u2019s Kelecyn Equestrian Centre. Having started his life as a bricklayer, Kevin took him from tradie to three star in just two years.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Emma Dougall, member of the Australian Eventing Talent Squad, and winner of just about every event in Queensland for the last few years \u2013 also mentored by Kevin. In fact, if you go to any eventing competition in Queensland and question the place getters, you\u2019ll be hard pressed to find one who hasn\u2019t benefited from Kevin\u2019s teaching at one point or another.<\/p>\n

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Emma is now Kevin’s wife – and she represented Australia at the most recent WEG, Tryon in 2018. Here she is on course with Fernhill Tabasco – Digishots\u00a0<\/em>image\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Kevin is known for his straightforward approach to schooling, so he was the perfect man to assist both horse and rider in getting fit to compete, and back in touch with the basics, at a Fig Tree Pocket eventing clinic in Queensland.<\/p>\n

Story continues below the advertisement<\/em><\/p>\n

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As the group popped over the warm-up fences, Kevin assessed them like fresh pieces of meat, throwing out phrases like, \u2018That approach was a little underdone\u2019, \u2018She\u2019s fresh, so don\u2019t leave her hanging\u2019, and \u2018That\u2019s looking overcooked, come again and think about the rhythm\u2019.<\/p>\n

While trying to decipher the deeper meaning of these expressions, Kathy Humphrey was working up an appetite to attack the bigger fences. Kathy has been competing at pre-novice level on her seven-year-old mare, Oxlea Alla Bache, but is hoping to have her first one star start this year. Kathy bred her for dressage, by Jaybee Alabaster out of a Thoroughbred mare, but grew bored and turned to jumping. Kevin had to get them back in the swing of things with some simple reminders:<\/p>\n

\u201cGet the canter organised before the jump, think about the rhythm, canter, canter, jump, canter, canter, jump. Trust your canter, you don\u2019t have to get the prefect distance. If you\u2019re a little away, she can jump out of that, she\u2019s got plenty of scope. If she\u2019s in too deep, she can back up. Set yourself up early and then let her read the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Learning to trust the canter \u2013 Kathy Humphrey & Oxlea Alla Bache<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eventers aren\u2019t always known for their strict regimen, but being disciplined certainly comes into play when assessing your ride \u2013 separate yourself from the crowd by keeping the little things in check: \u201cKeep your leg on in the approach, the jump, and the departure, don\u2019t slack off, focus on what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This requires multi-tasking: \u201cDon\u2019t stop to make a correction, make the change within the pace, that\u2019s what you would have to do if this were a competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a few small logs to warm-up, the big fences took the riders by surprise: \u201cPrepare! Make sure when you start jumping the bigger stuff, you don\u2019t all-of-a-sudden hit him with a big shot of adrenalin, just come with more canter, look to the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re out of practice you forget how quickly the next jump comes up: \u201cDon\u2019t land with nothing and then take five strides and go, oh I better get organised<\/em>, it\u2019s too late.\u00a0 Land waiting for the next fence.\u201d<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t be half-arsed about it: \u201cWater jumps are made to be attacked, that ride was a little wishy washy, be more definite in your approach. Focus, have a plan, and get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

story continues below the advertisement<\/em><\/p>\n

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Monique Searle was losing faith after a stop on her seven year-old gelding, Jawarra Faith Hill, a Connemara Warmblood cross competing at pre-novice level. Kevin worked out where they went wrong:<\/p>\n

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Allowing the horse to read the fence \u2013 Monique Searle & Jawarra Faith Hill<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou chased her to the fence and held her at the same time, so when she got there she either had to leave the ground a mile away, or she had to stop, she didn\u2019t have the option to back up or chip over the fence, you didn\u2019t give her that option. Don\u2019t dominate her to the fence.\u201d Try this approach instead: \u201cIncrease the tempo and sit still, have the canter, but stay soft, then they can back up if they have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact is, there\u2019s no perfect distance to a fence, but by reading the horse\u2019s approach, you can allow them to work it out and jump themselves: \u201cIf you find you\u2019re going to come in too deep or too far off, don\u2019t chase the horse into nothing, give it the option to back up and operate out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When putting a few jumps together, it became clear it was the fences with a longer approach that had this affect. Often the rider wasn\u2019t sure how the distance would work out, and in their uncertainty, would send mixed messages to the horse: \u201cRiders are not sure what the horse is going to do, so they grab with their legs and hold with their hands at the same time. If the horse wants to drop his neck and back up to make the jump, they can\u2019t, they simply can\u2019t do it, because the rider won\u2019t let them. It\u2019s no problem off a short run, it\u2019s the longer approach that makes them uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin knows that lines teach horses and riders, so the next few fences he chose were on lines that kept both horse and rider on their toes. A triple combination with apexes caused problems, with two riders in the group having unplanned dismounts, and another horse getting stuck in the middle.<\/p>\n

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Kathy learns the hard way\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kevin deduced the cause of their descent: \u201cIt\u2019s not a forgiving fence, you can\u2019t slide one way or the other, because the slightest deviation from your line makes a huge difference to your distance, and if that leads them to the wide end of the apex, the horse won\u2019t read the fence right and they\u2019ll stop, or they\u2019ll take it as a bounce and get stuck, we had both happen, and the others got away with it because their horses were good to them. Riders have to nail the line, if that\u2019s not spot on, then they\u2019ll run into problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

story continues below the advertisement<\/em><\/p>\n

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A wing helps guide Trudy Freeman & Room to Zoom over the apex<\/strong><\/p>\n

The downhill bank combination taught a similar lesson: \u201cWhen you come down the hill, imagine you\u2019re in a channel, stay in the middle. It doesn\u2019t matter if you get a beautiful distance or not, you still have to stay straight. That\u2019s what went wrong with the verticals and apexes, every time someone didn\u2019t get a perfect distance they compromised with their line, but there isn\u2019t any room to compromise with your line, you have to jump straight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Monique rides keeps Jawarra Faith Hill \u2018in the channel\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Riders have a tendency to hold back when they\u2019re approaching a big drop into the water, but Kevin prefers to make a splash: \u201cRemember, a water fence is designed to be attacked, so you always come positive to it, even if you\u2019re going to land and wait, you have to actually come positive to it. You never want to come to a water fence being backwards, you want to get there attacking, and when you land, and if you want to wait, wait, if you want to move, move.\u201d<\/p>\n

A good rider makes it look easy, even when it\u2019s a struggle: \u201cWhen everything goes perfectly it looks really nice, I\u2019d like it to look just as nice when it doesn\u2019t go perfectly, so you can make a mess of it, and they just hold their line and go straight down the middle. That\u2019s what you should teach the horse to do, they have to hold their line, because you\u2019re not always going to find the perfect distance, it\u2019s nice when the horse is eager to take you to the fence, but you still have to have the final say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Making the jumps look easy \u2013 Linda Perkins & Cait by Kings<\/strong><\/p>\n

I get the feeling Kevin is yet to have his final say on the International eventing scene, whether he\u2019s coaching or riding, he\u2019s a natural talent, and proves the path to progress is paved not with quick fixes, but hard work. These are the trainers that stick around, and I for one can\u2019t wait to see what he does next\u2026<\/p>\n

Photo update on Emma and Kevin who are now based overseas<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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At Aachen in 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

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Kevin and Scuderia 18 Don Quidam, at Hartbury, currently rated no 1 on the WBFSH rankings FEI photo – Celeste Wilkens<\/em><\/p>\n

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Kevin competing in Vitara du Causse at the World Young Horse Championships in Lion d’Angers<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Emma and Fernhill Tabasco at the Aachen selection trial for the Tryon WEG<\/em><\/p>\n

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Kevin and Scuderia competing at Four-Star level in the UK image Trevor Holt\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Original story by Shannon Makauskas, pics Alex Makauskas and photo archive<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eventing rider \/ trainer, Kevin McNab takes a cross country clinic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,5],"tags":[816,73,428],"class_list":["post-5620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-eventing","tag-cross-country-training","tag-eventing-training","tag-kevin-mcnab"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5620"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57744,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5620\/revisions\/57744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}