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Whenever I teach and particularly when I take people cross country schooling I always keep in mind the physicians’ Hippocratic oath–“first do no harm.” Cross country schooling can be a tense situation especially for green horses and inexperienced riders. I think it is really important that there is a goal for every schooling session. Is it just to get the horse more mileage? Is it to work on ditches or jumping over a log into water? I will often pick the course to school depending on what we are trying to accomplish, and I also evaluate how the horse is going and what is appropriate to ask of the horse that day. If the horse is not having its best day, we may have to wait for later to introduce something new. If the rider has had a bad day at work or a recent fall, we may have to readjust our goals. It takes a long time to build up confidence, and sometimes only one bad jump to undo it. When I introduce something new, I go to a course where there are some very small options to work on first and then build up to question we came to work on.
If the conditions are poor, we may wait to try something new. If I am taking babies schooling, I try to make sure that we have a “fearless leader” who will give a green horse a lead over the jumps. I also try to make sure that not all the horses in the group are nervous types. Sometimes one “Steady Eddie” in a group can really change the experience for a nervous or young horse. If all of the horses are nervous or tense they can set each other off. I also try to have at least three horses schooling; that way no one horse is left by itself. When choosing the order of who goes first, I try to send the most reliable horse first, that can really set the tone for the school. If horses start struggling early on, it can be demoralizing to the other riders.
Sometimes we get to a course, and the jump we have specifically wanted to school is not jumpable due to footing or it being roped off. We have more than once been unable to accomplish what we hoped, but it is better than jumping something too big and scaring the horse or jumping something with poor footing that injures the horse. It is better to come back another day than it is to do damage to the horse physically or mentally.
If I am helping a rider who is having confidence issues, my goal is to have the school be a good one even if that means we school at a slightly lower level. I think it takes more than one school to repair confidence and often many more than one. If you or the horse are having confidence issues, it is very important to let your instructor know. Your instructor can then understand why you may not be riding up to your capabilities that day and help by adjusting their recommendations.
I have been asked many times “at what level a rider should get their horses shoes tapped for studs?” I was reading one of Jimmy Wofford’s books; his answer to that question is “at what level would you like to stop slipping?” What a great answer! I immediately had all the babies’ shoes tapped. I hate slipping! I have seen many riders and horses confidence hurt by the horses sliding on very dry or wet ground going around turns or setting up for fences. I do know studs are more expensive and it can involve a learning curve, but the confidence of knowing your horse is not going to slip is well worth it.
If I notice that a horse or rider is getting tired, I will often end the school a little early. If a jump doesn’t go well and the horse or rider is tired there may not be enough energy left to fix it. Fatigue does increase the chance of something going wrong. If the horse or rider is just not having a great school , I will find a good note to end on and come back another day. It is always a good idea to give yourself more than one opportunity to cross country school. This gives you time if your horse isn’t going well to come back another day or regroup if the schooling is canceled . If a cross country school has gone badly before a competition, I would either drop the horse back a level or scratch the event. Rarely does an event go well if the school before it has gone poorly.
I do not school the upper level horses very often, maybe once at the beginning of the season or if I have had some trouble with a particular type of fence or I need to introduce something new. I do school the youngsters on a regular basis. They need to get out and see lots of different types of jumps. I enjoy cross country schooling the babies. I find schooling the upper level horses much harder. It is easier for me to jump big fences when my adrenaline is up for the event!
