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G e t your s ie it ar ch e equin head ar jumping ound ! Real Life Experiences
WAYS TO help
your mind?
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pony read
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Can your
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Cute posters
“Facebook found m y s t o l e n p o n y !“ “I’d lost my very own Black Beauty”
October 2015 £3.49 Issue 804
Ever wanted to try Polocrosse?
t o s t h h t e n o m
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part 1
p t c o e n f y r ! e p
how much you rd o c re to rt a h nother use the c xercises and a e ings’ plan and n n re e o J m e s in is a m rr o Follow L month. Don’t by Christmas! d is e th rm e o v sf ro n p a tr im e ny will b and your pony onth. Your po m t x e n in ll fi chart to
Whether you’re schooling or hacking, your pony should go forward and stop when you ask. But are you remembering to ask?
Work plan If your pony is sharp or nervous work on 1. If he’s lazy work on 2 and 3.
A. Riding forward: 1. Ride between two markers, keeping both legs against your pony’s sides but not kicking. 2. At every marker give him a nudge with both legs to top up his energy levels. 3. If you feel your pony slow down between markers give him a sharp kick with both heels, followed by a tap with a schooling whip behind your leg if he doesn’t react. Do this every time you ride in walk and he’ll soon learn that it’s easier to walk on. Got it in walk? Practise in trot and canter.
Going forwa rd is essential!
In the School
Whatever your pony’s temperament there’s one thing that’s always the same – you! If you keep changing your aids how can he understand what you’re asking him to do? Do the same thing every time you ride and you’ll soon see the difference. All ponies need your legs on: it gives them encouragement if they’re lazy, confidence if they’re nervous and it lets them know you’re in control (even if you don’t feel it!).
How far can you go without having to use your legs or whip?
Slowing down and stopping Can you stop exactly when you want to? Even lazy ponies can be slow to slow down. Make sure you’re balanced to help your pony keep his weight on his hocks, and try this top trick to help you stop without using your reins. Your thighs and knees are a wonderful brake. Press them into the saddle as hard as you can and your pony will slow down. Try it! Walk large, squeezing as hard as you can with your knees and thighs at A and C. When you feel your pony hesitate, tighten your fingers around both reins and he’ll halt.
How are yo ur brakes? 6
How many strides does it take you to stop? Once you’ve mastered walk-to-halt try trot-to-walk or canter-to-trot transitions. Keep up the pressure until you reach the pace you want, then relax your knees and allow your pony to go forward in the new pace. Ride the transitions on the chart at A, C, E and B. Ride 10 on each rein. How many transitions can you do exactly as your body passes each marker?
Get your tra nsitions spot on!
Out hacking Hacking is a great time to practise your work in the school, and your pony won’t even know it! Most ponies are more willing to go forward on a hack – but use transitions to make sure you’re in charge. Ride safely. Whenever you make any change of pace on the road, check there are no cars behind you, and if riding with friends, make sure you warn them!
Work plan
l Slow your paces using your knees and thighs. l Speed up your paces using one nudge or a tap with your whip. l Ride 20 strides of one pace and 20 of another. l Is your pony listening? Count to three when you ask for a transition. How quickly does he respond? Mark it on the chart.
Continue yo ur work out ha ckin
g
week 1 week 2
A. RIDING FORWARD B. STARTING & STOPPING C. TRANSITIONS
week 3
week 4 total
How many markers can you ride between before using your legs? How many strides does it take for your pony to stop?
In the school: How many ( /10) transitions can you do on a marker?
/10
/10
/10
/10
/40
Out hacking: How many ( /10) transitions can you do within three seconds?
/10
/10
/10
/10
/40
HALT TO WALK
In the school and Out Hacking:
/10 /10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/80
walk to halt walk to trot trot to walk trot to canter canter to trot
In the school and Out hacking:
/10 /10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/80
In the school and Out hacking:
/10 /10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/80
In the school and Out hacking:
/10 /10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/80
In the school and Out hacking:
/10 /10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/80
In the school and Out hacking:
/10 /10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/80
A: 4-6 GOOD 6-8 EXCELLENT 8+ AWESOME!!! B: 8 GOOD 6 EXCELLENT 3 AWESOME!!! C: 5 GOOD 6-8 EXCELLENT 8+ AWESOME!!! Total: 40-48/80 GOOD 49-62/80 EXCELLENT 63-80/80 AWESOME!!!
DON’T MISS PART TWO NEXT MONTH! 7
d a e h r u o y t Ge around jumping! Most riders want to jump – but for many, fear holds them back. Follow our ideas and totally get your head around jumping!
Feel the fear
Jumping can be scary. There’s something about getting completely off the ground that makes riders nervous – which is understandable. But at the same time, we all want to be like Mary King or Pippa Funnell! The first thing to get your head around is that everyone starts by being nervous of jumping. Everyone! No-one is born knowing how to do it, and nobody does it right first time. So accept that you will feel nervous – if not scared! And don’t think you’re the only one feeling those nerves. It’s understandable and totally forgivable – so cut yourself some slack!
Be prepared
If you’re nervous of jumping (and even if you’re not) remember to wear the right gear. Start with your approved, correctly fitted riding hat, of course!!! Gloves will give you a good grip on the reins, and a body protector, or an inflatable jacket, will give you confidence. Fit a neck strap on your pony to give you something to grab if you feel the need, and remember to shorten your stirrups two or three holes to allow you to adopt a good jumping position.
Build your skills slowly
Sometimes, riders are offered ponies to ride who may not be as kind or as experienced as the riding school ponies. It’s tempting to leap on anything that’s offered, and head it towards the nearest cross pole! But hold on. Think. If the pony you ride isn’t a safe jumper, or likes to put in a stop, or runs around the jump, or sees a jump and launches at it like a rocket, he’s not the ideal pony for you to learn to jump on. A bad experience early on can make you scared of jumping for life. Lost confidence is hard to regain. So if you’re learning to jump, stick to ponies who will look after you, and know the job. That way, you can concentrate on yourself, and your confidence will soar!
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Oh dear, not enjoying jumping?
how to cope when Things go wrong
Things won’t always go right. Even if you ride safe and suitable ponies, you will still experience discomfort and possibly falls. When this happens, keep a sense of proportion. Okay, you fell off jumping. How many times do you think Mary King and Pippa Funnell have fallen off over jumps? (Lots, is the answer!) It’s easy to panic and think that you’re going to fall off every time you jump – but remember how many times you jumped and DIDN’T fall off! Put the fall to the back of your mind and remember how the good jumps felt. If you feel nervous, lower the jump until you feel confident again. There’s absolutely no shame in that.
equal better Higher doesisn’t it to put that jump up higher
How tempting and higher? You want to log how high you’ve jumped – right? But high doesn’t necessarily mean better! If you want to be a really good showjumping or cross country rider, how you jump is much more important than how high you jump. Consider equitation jumping – the concept of how classically a rider jumps a round of jumps on their pony. It’s judged on the rider’s position, how well they meet the jumps and tackle the entire course, not just how high they jump. If you can hone your jumping position until it is as good as the top show jumpers, you’ll find height will be no problem!
Be a detective
If you’ve ridden for a while, and you still feel fearful of jumping, try to discover why you feel that way. Did something happen? (A fall, a humiliating experience, a change of pony?) Tracing the cause of your fear and locating when things started to go wrong can help you find a solution and move on. When did you last enjoy jumping? What changed? What happened? How can you replicate that situation again, so you can enjoy jumping? Once you’ve identified the cause of your fear, you can take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again, and you can move on with your jumping.
Don’t forget the in-between bits
Sometimes a rider can be so excited or nervous about jumping, they forget about the bits in-between and stop riding! Their pony will notice the difference. Next time the jumps come out, remember to ride between each jump, so your pony doesn’t feel he’s on his own, doing all the work. Choose the pace. Steer. Look where you want to go. Breathe! Think of jumping as flatwork with added fences!
Be someone else!
Imagining you are one of your jumping heroes can give your confidence a boost! The only question is, who do you want to be? Once you have that in your head, you’ll tackle those jumps like a pro. You can do it!
That’s better, you must have read our feature! 9
Lets
Let’s play
Polocrosse! You can play polocrosse!
A brilliant team game, polocrosse is a game which you can play if you have only one pony – unlike polo, where you need a whole herd! Each rider uses a longhandled racquet to carry or pass the ball from player-toplayer. Goals are scored by throwing the ball between the opponent’s goal posts, and the team that scores the most goals is the winner.
Polocrosse explained
l Six players, split into two sections of three, make up a polocrosse team – and three players are on the field while the other three rest. The players play the positions of Number 1 (attack), Number 2 (midfield) and Number 3 (defence). They each play two, three or four chukkas of six to eight minutes. l The field is roughly the same area as a rugby pitch, and white lines split it into three sections. The ball must not be carried over these lines, so a player must either pass to a player in the next section, or bounce it over the line as they cross it. l Not all the players are allowed in all areas of the field. Everyone is allowed in midfield, the attacking player (Number 1) is allowed in their own goalscoring area, and the defensive player (Number 3) is allowed in their opponent’s goal-scoring area. So now you know!
The more high-powered the game, the more highpowered the equipment! Even small ponies can play! pic: Soody Ahmad
Getting started
The Pony Club holds training events and regional competitions, for would-be polocrosse playe rs, leading to The Pony Club Championships. Look out for taster sessions and training days where coaches and equip ment will be available for everyone who wants to try it. You can even work towards your Pony Club Polocrosse badge! The UK Polocrosse Association, the governing body of the sport, lists affiliated polo crosse clubs on its website, so contact one near to you to see how to get started. Their Sports Deve lopment Officer will also be pleased to help you, and equipment is available from the Asso ciation. The website has details of forthcoming even ts, so why not see if there’s a match nearby, and go and see what Polocrosse is all about?
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It’s fast, furious, played on horses and is a cross between polo and lacrosse – it’s polocrosse!
Is Polocrosse for you?
Yes! The great thing about polocrosse is that horses and ponies of all shapes and size s can play, so you and your pon y can do it! You need a good eye for a ball, the ability to catch it in the racquet, and be able to ride with one hand – withou t thinking too much about it!
Fin Bristow has represented England in polocrosse, and started at an early age!
Fin aboard Megan
“Polocrosse is a fast-paced, exhilarating equestrian sport played in teams and I have been addicted to it since I was four years old,” says Fin. “Soon afterwards, family friends contacted us to say that they knew the perfect loan pony for me. Her name was Meg and within a year I could ride, was playing fun practice chukkas at our local polocrosse club and making friends. With some encouragement and club level coaching, I played my first UKPA tournament at six years old. My grandparents, who came to cheer me on, laughed at how slow I was – by the time Meg and I had reached the ball, someone else had picked it up and was back down the pitch with us trailing along behind. I still remember having my very first canter strides on Meg during a game. She was wonderfully patient with me and knew the game well having played with previous owners. After a few years of playing in tournaments and practising at home with my younger sister Tegan (who also caught the bug!) I started to have a few wins, which felt amazing!”
Fin’s sister Tegan in pink bandages!
Emily in action on Pumba!
Emily Goding plays polocrosse for Celyn and for Wales
Players need to be able to bounce the ball
“It seemed impossible that I would ever get the opportunity to learn to play polocrosse as I don’t have my own pony, but luckily my riding school offered lessons,” explains Emily. “I was instantly hooked! At first it is quite difficult to learn racket skills and control the pony, but with a bit of perseverance it all comes together. In 2012 I was selected for a PC Centre team competing at the Pony Club Championships, finishing in 4th place in the Mini’s Division, improving to 3rd place in 2013. After this I knew I wanted to play more, and so I joined the UKPA, and Celyn Polocrosse Club. I have made so many friends thanks to polocrosse – from Scotland to Kent. The atmosphere at the tournaments is fabulous, and as competitive as the matches get, everyone remains very sporting and good natured. In 2015 I have been riding ex-racehorse Ding Dong, and Pumba, an ex-polo pony and fantastic allround polocrosse pony. Polocrosse is a sport where practice makes perfect – I often take my racket and a ball out with me while I walk my dog, and practice throwing, catching and bouncing the ball! If you love horses, are up for a challenge, like being part of a team and enjoy making lots of new friends I can recommend giving polocrosse a try!
Read more from Fin and Emily at ponymag.com. Also, there is much more about polocrosse on The Pony Club website, www.pcuk.org and the UKPA website, www.ukpolocrosse.co.uk
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