Horse&Rider Magazine - April 2023

Hot to trot

PART TWO

Keen to unlock your horse’s potential in trot? Matt Hicks is here to help you ace this pace

Our expert

Trot is the pace that can make or break first impressions. It’s a big-moving, expressive gait that can turn heads and really make people pay attention. The good news is, there’s plenty you can do to improve the trot.

Most horses don’t start life with a flashy trot – it takes time, training and strength to achieve. I like to use these three everyday exercises to develop a horse’s trot. The main element they have in common is reactivity. If your horse doesn’t move forward off your leg, there’s little you can do to adjust the pace, which is why testing his listening skills is very important. And, of course, making sure you’re using clear aids that your horse understands forms the basis for harmonious training.

The perfect trot

What do you need to be given a perfect 10 for your trot? It has to show some specific elements, including…

• a clear two-beat rhythm, with the legs moving in diagonal pairs

• tracking up – the hindlegs should land in the imprint of the front feet (or a little in front) to demonstrate an active hindleg

• going forward and in front of the leg

1 2 2

In this feature. . . ➤ Activate your horse’s hindlegs

As told to Keira Boyle. Photos: Jon Stroud

Matt Hicks is an international Grand Prix dressage rider and trainer. Although his original love was eventing, in which he competed up to three-star, he eventually decided that his passion lay in the dressage arena, where he’s enjoyed many years of success.

➤ Improve lateral suppleness ➤ Introduce medium trot

First things first

When you’re warming up, incorporate as much stretching as you can. Widen your hands and lengthen your reins to help encourage relaxation across your horse’s back, which is imperative when working on hindleg activity. Check he’s quick off your aids and reacting well by incorporating flexing and transitions to test his response time.

DID YOU KNOW?

Teaching your horse to work actively and track up – or over track - can take time. A good place to start is by watching him while he’s on the lunge – he should naturally track up when he’s freely trotting around, and it’s easier for you to spot whether he is and send him forward more if he’s not, so he learns the aids on the ground first.

Reintroducing jumping after time off can be nerve-wracking. Eventer Georgie Campbell’s laid-back steps take excitement out of the equation

Ditch the drama W

hatever the reason for his break, if your horse has had some time away from work, you’ll need to think about bringing him back and raising his fitness levels before you plan for that first jump. For professionals, this is par for the course, but it can be intimidating if it’s not something you do every year. The good news? Regardless of your experience – or confidence level – you can implement a step-by-step plan that will allow you to bring your horse back to working over fences, and all without the drama.

TOP TIP

If you’re riding a more advanced horse or finding that your horse is easily taking to the poles, up the ante by taking away or adding a stride between poles to develop the gears in his canter.

As told to Tilly Berendt.

Photos: Jon Stroud

➤ Training towards a calm and confident horse

Our expert

Georgie Campbell (née Strang) is a British team rider and CCI5* competitor. She competes and trains from the family farm outside Tunbridge Wells, Kent, which she shares with husband Jesse, himself a member of the New Zealand squad. In 2022, she took a decisive win in the CCI4*-L at Lignières riding Global Quest.

Our model

Six-year-old Wonder recently joined Georgie’s string on schooling livery and is coming back into work after her holidays with an aim to start showjumping in the 2023 season.

Fit to ride

Photos: Athalens Photography, Jon Stroud

Our expert

Have you ever crossed the finish line at an event or reached the end of a lesson and felt really breathless, to the point that you’re relieved it’s over? If the answer’s yes, you’re certainly not alone. But as riders we should give ourselves more credit – after all, while in the saddle every single part of our body is working hard to control an animal that weighs more than half a tonne and has a mind of its own.

The importance of rider fitness is often underestimated and it’s not uncommon for our horse’s fitness to be put before our own. But it’s not just your horse who’s the athlete. You are, too, so it’s time to focus on your physical ability. I’ve created the perfect cardio workout for riders, along with a warm-up, that’ll boost your fitness in no time. Let’s get going!

Delving deeper

I decided to carry out research into the physical exertion riders experience when training and competing. I wore a heartrate monitor at a one-day event and, as expected, my heart was working at a high intensity (over 90% of my heart rate max) during the cross-country phase. However, I was incredibly surprised to find similar results in the dressage and showjumping phases. In fact, over the course of the day, I would have burnt the same amount of calories if I’d run a marathon. Yes, adrenaline and nerves played a part, but that’s when I decided to start wearing my monitor while training at home. The results were a little lower than when competing, but my heart was still working very hard.

Back to basics

So, where to start? Let’s put it into the perspective of improving your horse’s fitness. It’s likely you incorporate interval training into his routine, and that’s exactly what you should consider doing yourself, too. Regularly taking your levels of exertion beyond your normal comfort zone for a short, realistic and achievable length of time will soon improve your fitness.

Heart to heart

Riding requires your entire muscular system to work together, but your muscles need oxygen to work. The harder you exercise, the faster and stronger your heart needs to beat. The heart is a muscle so can be trained to become more efficient – this means you will be less breathless, your muscles less tired and, as it pumps more oxygen to your brain, you’ll have better focus and will react more quickly to things you’re faced with. Looking at the bigger picture, increasing your cardiovascular fitness will contribute greatly to overall performance levels.

Jo Collins is a Surrey-based, qualified personal trainer and fitness coach to the Lucinda Green XC Academy. As a keen amateur event rider, Jo brings together her riding experience and professional fitness knowledge to create tailored workout programmes to help riders stay fit, strong and flexible.