Sally Cousins — Walking the Show Jumping

Sally Cousins is a well known rider and coach here in the US and Sally has been a good friend of Eventing Nation from our early days.  To learn more about Sally, check out her website.  Sally will be guest writing a series of short posts on various eventing topics for Eventing Nation over the next few weeks.  This is the second of her posts and it covers the walking and preparation for show jumping.  Our East coast readers are used to seeing Sally at one-day events with 49 horses and most of them typically finish in the top 2.  Sally’s experience provides great advice for planning and preparedness for riders from the beginners to the pros.  Thanks for writing this Sally and thank you for reading.
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When I first walk up to the show jumping course, I first try to get a impression of the layout.  Are we on grass?  How much of a grade is there?  How filled-in do the jumps look?  Is the ring small?  All of these factors will be very important when planning my ride.  Next, I find the course map and figure out where the start and finish flags are.  I have been in a situation where the in-gate is near the start flags, which meant that I had to stop quickly when I entered so I wouldn’t go through the flags as I started my circle.  
There are many things that affect how we ride the jumps: grade, turns, direction toward or away from the ingate/trailers, and the footing.  I  also need to take into account how experienced my horse is and how big a stride he has. For example, it is easier to balance a horse going uphill but it is much harder to keep its engine going. A downhill grade means I have to balance the horse earlier and sometimes using stronger aids.  The steeper the grade the harder it is.  If the footing is on grass, slick grass is often harder to turn on and mud can be harder for the horse to jump out of.  Heavy sand can also cause the horses to labor off the ground, so the rider might have to use more leg. The tighter the turn the easier it is to organize but it is harder to keep the energy and straightness to the jump. Most horses tend to be brighter going toward the ingate or trailers.  For example, if I  have a green horse and the first fence is a roll-top oxer away from the ingate I am likely to have to ride more forward than a vertical towards the gate. If the course is really well decorated it can really help a slightly careless jumper try harder.  On the other hand, it might make a green horse be very backed off.
    I do believe that all riders can and should learn about distances. Paying attention to distances will really improve the planning and execution of the ride. It is not that hard to practice walking a 3 foot step and then learning the distances used in course design.  When I set up a combination or line I always tell my students the feet between the jumps and how that will affect the ride–mostly for perspective.  If in practice you find that a 34 foot two stride feels long, when you get to the competition you can then have a point of reference for the distance set up by the course designer.  I do realize that there are many other factors at the competition but distances are a good place to start.  For more information on distances, I recommend Linda Allen’s book 101 Jumping Exercises.  
     I also take into account several factors including which lead my horse jumps better off of, which way she/he turns better, and which turns I might be at risk for losing the horse’s shoulder. This will help me decide on which lead to jump the first fence (if  I have a  choice). If there is a combination off of my horse’s more difficult lead, I may make a slightly larger turn in the approach. If I have a long distance down a line off a tight turn, I may decide to add a stride down that line. 
  When I warm up for the show jumping, I always think about how the course walks. If it is a really tight course, I have to focus on getting the horse thinking forward because of the small area. I also might gallop into the ring to make sure I get the horse in front of my leg. Also, be careful who you watch ride in an attempt to learn how the course is riding because their horse might be very different from yours. I do pay attention if people are having trouble with the time allowed.  You can make the time easier by moving along a bit in the turns or moving forward through the finish flags. Talking to your coach or trainer about the course is very important. If for some reason you can’t talk with them, stick with your plan.
   This article might make it sound as if all my rides go according to plan, unfortunately that is not the case. I think that the most successful event riders are not necessarily the most skillful, but those that can get to plan B the quickest.  Sometimes I am in the warm up and think “Uh Oh!” Sometimes I go through the ingate and realize that I have left 50% of my training at the trailer.  We need to make sure that if we are not having a great day that we have enough flexibility in our training to be adaptable.  
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