For event riders, cross country jumping is all too often practised at competitions, instead of perfected! Horse Hero provides training on the basics in the school and offers techniques for riding safely and effectively across county on a course. Top eventers including Emily Llewellyn and Louisa Lockwood share their simulated cross country techniques at home on a variety of horses, and Alex Peternell and Shane Breen demonstrate riding a course. Whether you are perfecting your skills at mastering skinnies, arrowheads, drops, ditches or water, let our experts show you how! |
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Shane Breen schools a youngster cross country |
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| Show jumper Shane Breen introduces a 5 year old potential eventer to cross country obstacles at home at the famous Hickstead show ground. The young horse is green but bold and shows a lovely attitude. Shane tells us his aim is for horse to be brave, balanced and straight and to take him to the fence. Starting in the school over a skinny, Shane then jumps in and out of the arena before moving on to a water splash which he links to a hedge. Having allowed the horse to jump freely across country, the next step in his education will be to focus on more technical questions in the school for a while, including bounces, related distances and some trickier skinnies. |
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Topstar jumps across cross country for the first time |
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| In Topstar's first cross country outing, South African 4* eventer Alex Peternell focuses on the two main 'rider frighteners', ditches and water. The aim is to build Topstar's confidence and Alex demonstrates some useful tips for familiarising the horse to the obstacle before jumping it. He also shows how to make the ditch easy for Topstar, who responds to the challenge! Alex works progressively in the water complex, starting by splashing through it and building up to jumping in and out. He stresses the importance of allowing the horse to learn from his mistakes and enjoy himself, and says the rider must remain relaxed at all times! |
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Alex Peternell trains Doni in the water jump |
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| Four star eventer Alex Peternell takes the 9 year old Intermediate Doni cross country schooling. The aim is to dust off the cobwebs before his first event of the year and build confidence. Starting with a ditch complex, Alex says, "forget the ditch and jump the jump". He moves on to a pair of corners on a related distance and has to remind himself not to over-fiddle on the approach, especially the last 2 strides which are the "golden strides". At the lake, Alex works on rhythm and energy riding through the water . "A jump in water is like any other but jumping into the sun adds complexity due to the way the water shimmers". |
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Cross country jumping for the more advanced horse |
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| Four star eventer Alex Peternell takes his favourite horse for pre-season cross country schooling. Uprising is a 9 year old advanced eventer who knows his job, so Alex focuses on just a few technical questions to minimise wear and tear. After warming up, he starts with a bank complex to a skinny. Alex offers a clear explanation of the best way to ride this, stressing the importance of rhythm and line. He then adds a coffin and provides feedback on his riding of the whole sequence. Moving on to the water fence, Alex chooses the bounce in followed by a jump in the water. The key to the bounce he says is, "to think forwards without travelling forwards". |
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Alex Peternell uses show jumps for cross country training |
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| The six year old home-bred stallion has completed his first season eventing and according to 4* eventer Alex Peternell, "is a bit too relaxed and still a little green". Alex uses a show jumping warm-up in preparation for some cross country jumping exercises in the school, ensuring the horse is in front of the leg, the only difference is that the pace is a little quicker and the horse takes off a bit further from the fence. Alex introduces a skinny within a combination, and moves onto angled fences that can be bounced or jumped on one stride. He says, "these exercises surprise the horses a little, just like going cross country, and keep him thinking ahead." |
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Show jumping for cross country, with Emily Llewellyn |
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| Having shown us her warm-up routine in a previous video, Emily Llewellyn (double gold medallist, European Champs' 08) takes us through a session of simulated cross country jumping in her school with 7 year old, Junior. Starting small, Emily 'plays' with an arrangement of fences to establish balance and obedience, including arrow-heads, a coffin, corner, bounce and angled rails. She also explains how to ride them when going cross-country. Emily stresses the importance of building up gradually, particularly with complex fences such as the coffin. She does a terrific job with a spooky Junior and is a star to continue in heavy rain! |
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Building a horse's confidence in jumping skinny fences |
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4* eventer Louisa Lockwood creates an exercise to help the Intermediate horse Penultimate Vision build his confidence with arrowheads and skinnies, as he's had a few run-outs cross country. He's a big horse and still a little weak and unbalanced, so he finds it hard to fully engage his hind quarters. He's also sensitive, so keeping him relaxed is vital. Starting with an angled cross pole, Louisa works on the quality of the canter and ensures the rhythm remains the same to the fence. She moves on to two skinnies, which are then angled on a related distance. Finally, Louisa jumps a double on a curving line to a skinny and explains how she adjusts the line and the stride. |
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Louisa Lockwood demonstrates how to jump an arrowhead |
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Four star eventer Louisa Lockwood trains her talented Advanced 8 year old to jump a tricky arrowhead. In the warm-up she explains how she deals with over-enthusiasm, gets the horse between hand and leg and focused on the job. "He must be totally on my aids before I attempt to jump anything technical", says Louisa. Starting with one barrel on it's side with jump wings and 'V' poles on the ground, Louisa progresses to jumping a single barrel on it's end. She says, "the horse must understand every step of the exercise and take you to the fence. You must keep him completely channelled. The point is never to let him think he can run out!" |
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