Tom Rowland is an international event rider, completing Burghley Horse Trials in 2018 with Possible Mission.  Tom is making a name for himself in the Eventing world from his base at Ampney Knowle Farm, near Cirencester.  From an outstanding equestrian facility, Team Rowland professionally run a team of talented horses, from four-year-olds through to 4*.· 

The winter months are the perfect time to practice all the skills you need for the summer competition season.   Tom has a great Grid exercise, that can be adapted to suit any level of horse and rider.

 

Always make sure you spend time warming your horse up.   Transitions help to get them thinking forwards and become sharper off your aids.   Working your horse over poles before jumping can really improve their rhythm and balance.   Remember, just because we are working on a ‘grid’ exercise, doesn’t mean that you always have to jump one fence after the other.   I sometimes like to start off with the middle fence, so that the horse remains ‘thinking’ and not ‘locking on’ and assuming that they will jump in a straight line.

Grids don’t have to be jumped in straight lines!  We can teach our horses to be active thinkers by jumping fences on the angle, and not always taking the obvious route to a fence.

 

Missing out the middle element and jumping on an ‘S’ shaped line is a great exercise for a bold or onward bound horse.   Changing up the lines to a fence and creating an ‘obstacle’ course is a super way to improve obedience and encourage the horse to sit back in the canter, instead of locking onto a fence and becoming flat and long.

Make a course up out of your grid, so that the horse does not jump his 3 fences and then think he is finished and become bossy.   It is a good habit to get into to keep riding every step of the course; the approach, the fences, in between fences and the getaway.   Insisting on correct rhythm and approach in all phases.

 

We would love to hear how this worked for you!