Two New #GOTD Exercises with Laine Ashker

By on Jan 12, 2017 12:15 pm -

Laine Ashker is back in the saddle after a badly broken arm sidelined her for the fall season. She’s bringing fans along on her journey back to four-star fitness and has been sharing some of her famous grids and exercises of the day.

To start things off, Lainey shares a simple exercise that does wonders to help tune your eye to see a better distance. Begin with a simple raised cavaletti and then move on to course work. This is the perfect exercise to practice with friends during those long winter months in the indoor!

Heads up #LAESQUAD! I wouldn’t necessarily call this week’s video a #GOTD but rather an #EOTMM (exercise of the month and mind)! I figured since many of you are in the same boat as me in regards to just getting back into the swing of things due to the holidays, weather and/or broken apenadages I figured hey, what better time to bring you along on my journey back to four star [mental] fitness? Since I’ve been out of practice for a couple months (as have my ponies) the first thing I want to focus on is re-training my eye to see a better distance. Now as many of you know who have ridden with me I don’t harp on being able to SEE “THE” perfect distance over a perfect balance as I believe they both go hand in hand. But a single pole on the ground, a friend shouting out a random number and a little bit of time can certainly do you wonders over this winter season and make you feel spot on for when you do make it into the show ring this year! All you need to begin this exercise is a single pole (I like to elevate mine with boxes or cavalettis to help both the horse and myself gage the distance easier). Start off with seeing one stride out, followed by two, three, four and even up to six strides. Obviously the further away and more consistent you become, the better you’re training your eye for a distance! To add a little fun and challenge to the drill have a friend shout a random number before you approach the pole to continue to change the striding up and not allow your mind to affix to a certain striding! Once you’ve mastered the pole, take the exercise to simple courses! You’ll find it does miracles for your overall pace, balance and picture when manuevering your show jump course! Enjoy guys! (Shout out to my dear friend @jenniebrannigan for giving me this idea a couple months ago when she coached my student @hkateseventing for a long weekend at her farm in PA…it’s helped us WONDROUSLY) #respect #eyesontheprize #vision @camboxhorse

A video posted by Lainey Ashker (@laineyea) on

Next up we have an awesome jumping exercise that combines gymnastics with coursework. Laine said: “I came up with this gem to work on some fancy footwork for the horses and strengthen our core as their riders! What’s even cooler is that gives a totally different feel depending on which direction you tackle it! Feel free to screen shot and use at your own will!

“You’ll notice my distances for the two and one strides are shorter in the grid as your horse’s canter will naturally be compacted because of the bounces‼️ Many thanks to @carina.eventing WONDER PONY Digby for being my grid model as my horses anxiously await the farrier for their Air Jordans next week.”

Watch Laine and the awesome pony Digby (who might literally have springs for legs) demonstrate this exercise in the video below. (Warning: language alert)

Here’s the #GOTD diagram:

#GOTD diagram (feel free to screen shot my loves) #gototown #shareaway #LAESQUAD

A photo posted by Lainey Ashker (@laineyea) on

Thanks for sharing this great exercise, Laine!