Before you even begin to jump, you need to make sure you have done the groundwork to establish the foundation for success. I'm not talking about pure dressage; I'm talking about the basic skills that are vitally important to a show jumper.

There are 5 basics that will provide an excellent foundation for show jumping. Build them into your schooling program and you will see the results.

Today I will talk about the first three basics.


1. Rider Position

I train my riders to have a vertical stirrup leather. I often see riders riding with their legs too far forward, but this will affect your centre of gravity and how effectively you can use your seat and lower leg.

The vertical or straight stirrup leather allows you to put more weight into your heel. It lessens the weight impact on the seat and puts it more into the lower leg. It puts your centre of gravity closer to your horse's.

The position of your hands is also vital. I often see riders with straight arms and hands right down on the withers. It is important that you don't block the top half of your body with too straight an arm position as this will inhibit your ability to move your hands. You need to have a nice open shoulder, creating an L shape at the elbow and a straight line from your elbow to your horse's mouth.

2. Flexion and Suppleness

It is important for a show jumper to be very soft and supple through his head and neck. He has got to be able to look in one direction with his whole body following. Before I ask my horse to do any real work, I introduce this exercise into my warm up: Walk your horse in a straight line along the fence line or down the long side of the school and ask him to flex his head and neck GENTLY to either side, two or three strides for each side. Think of it being like a conversation with two people where you turn your head to either speak or listen, not your whole body.

The results when you first start this exercise may well surprise you - your horse will probably move his whole body in the direction you ask him to flex - a demonstration of stiffness. Build this exercise into your flatwork routine and later try it without the support of the fence line. When you can do this at a trot and canter, you really will have improved your horse's flexion.

3. Moving Away from the Leg

It is very important that your horse moves away from your leg as soon as you ask him. This is fundamental to show jumping and will help you improve the way you ride turns and approach jumps. Leg yielding is a very effective basic exercise that will show whether your horse is responsive to your leg. Start in walk and build up until you are confident that you can do it at all paces. Again, build it into every schooling session and you will soon see the benefit. You can also ask your horse to move away from your leg through a turn, to help you balance him.

Next week: Rhythm and Flying Changes

Tim Stockdale