Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch. Photo by Jenni Autry.
When poles were flying in the Rolex Arena this April, Laine Ashker and her four-star OTTB superstar Anthony Patch were the first pair to deliver a double-clear show jumping round. In fact, fallen rails are few and far between throughout their storied career together.
Results like that don’t happen without doing your homework. Laine might be famous for her selfies, but she works hard to achieve her goals and inspires others along the way. That’s why we’re happy to see she’s sharing some of her secrets on social media!
Laine has been uploading gymnastics exercises she utilizes when schooling at home and explains why they are beneficial to the horse and rider. From Laine’s gymnastics to Phillip Dutton’s OTTB retraining behind-the-scenes to Evention‘s popular how-tos, providing fun and accessible educational mini-clinics like these is definitely a trend we can get behind.
Al demonstrates a fun gymnastic of tall cross rails (they get taller as your horse gets more comfortable) one stride apart separated by a 9 ft bounce pole. The cross rails help with straightness and slowing the horse off the ground and the rider should focus on his or her position in the air over the jump to facilitate a rounder bascule.
A wide oxer to a bounce question is always great to gauge the strength of your position in asking your horse to shorten his stride.
V-poles help the horses learn how to lift their shoulders and wait on the approach to a jump.
A series of verticals and cavaletti separated by 9-foot bounces is a great exercise for teaching the horses to move their feet and strengthen their hind end.
Here’s a fun exercise to aid in the development of a properly balanced canter through a turn: five verticals set at 4-5 ft on the inside and 10 ft on the outside on a turn.
Keep them coming, Lainey! We’ll definitely be setting these exercises up at home.
