PONY Magazine – March 2016

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u l t im a t e guide to gridwork

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Your

March 2016 £3.49 Issue 809

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Great gr

What’s it all about?

Gridwork consists of a row of poles and fences set out at the correct distances, allowing your pony to jump them on a good stride.

Basic grids have fences with one or two nonjumping strides between them. More advanced grids may include jumps without any strides in between (bounce fences).

If you’re wondering what the benefits of gridwork are, here’s just a few.

Gridwork helps: l your pony to become more supple and agile. l you to see a stride into fences more easily – we all struggle with that from time to time! l to make schooling way more fun for you and your pony. l to teach your pony to think more quickly about what he’s doing. l improve your own confidence over jumps. l your pony to become more balanced.

Start with the basics...

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Start simple

If you or your pony have never tried gridwork, it’s best to keep things easy at first. Ideally, have someone on the ground to put up the fences for you. That way, you won’t have to keep getting on and off!

Why not book a lesson with a jumping instructor so they can teach you all about gridwork? It’s best to have someone on the ground to set up and adjust grids for you to begin with.

Begin by setting out three, four or five trotting poles approximately 1.2 metres apart. Trot over the poles to check whether the distance is right for your pony. He should be able to trot comfortably over them. If he has to lengthen or shorten his stride to make the distance, move the poles a bit closer together or further apart. Place your poles on the centre line of the arena so you have room to turn into the grid from both reins.

Once you’re confident, add a small crosspole at the end of the poles. Place the fence 2.7 metres away from the last pole and approach in rising trot. Your pony may pick up canter as he goes over the jump, and that’s fine.

ridwork!

If you love jumping, why not have a go at gridwork? Not only is it good fun for riders, but your pony will love it, and your jumping technique is bound to improve. Check out our gridwork ideas.

Tougher stuff

Add in more elements to make grids more tricky

Turn over for more gridwork!

Once your pony is happy going over the poles and a single fence, you can start to add more jumps to your grid. Place another small cross-pole 5.5 metres after the first one. This makes it a one-stride distance in between the two fences.

Then, try adding another fence approximately six metres after the second cross-pole and finish by including a third fence another six metres after the second one. You can make all the fences cross-poles or build the last one into an upright or a spread.

It’s entirely up to you.

Your pony should approach the grid in trot, but he’s likely to pick up canter over the first jump and continue in canter, taking one non-jumping stride between each fence. As with the trotting poles, you may have to move the fences to make the distances more comfortable for your pony if they are a bit too close together or far apart for him.

Remember to praise your pony at the end, as this will keep him motivated and build up his confidence.

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Pop ponies DJ Fresh

DJ Fresh is always the life of the party and raring to get going!

A pony like him will come out of his stable snorting and on his toes. Most commonly seen in the winter, ponies like Fresh will most definitely have a spring in their step and will undoubtedly throw in a few bucks!

But before you get cross, understand that Fresh isn’t naughty or nasty – he’s just so full of energy he doesn’t know what to do with it! The best thing is to give him something interesting to do. Sit quietly and make sure you ask him with gentle aids. Keep him moving with lots of transitions, changes of rein and shapes. And feel lucky that you get to ride a pony who loves his work so much!

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Do you ride a pony who shares personality traits with a famous pop star? Find out if your pony has a pop star personality with our guide!

Taylor Swift

She’s a mare on a mission! Taylor doesn’t just go places – she goes places with purpose. A pony like Taylor is likely to take the bit between her teeth and go at full speed wherever she wants! Anyone who isn’t cool, calm and collected will wind her up so she’ll never stop!

Riding a pony like Taylor isn’t tricky, providing you don’t get freaked out by her speed. The main points to remember are to stay calm, breathe, and sit quietly and loosely. If you tense up, Taylor pony will, too. And remember not to scream – it will only make her go faster!

The thing about Swifty is she’s usually owned by a rider who encourages her to go everywhere at top speed. This might be fun if you’re an adrenaline junkie, but it’s also lazy, and not a course of action that will improve your riding. When you can get Swifty to walk not jog, go everywhere calmly and not rush off at 100mph when you ask for canter, you’re a real rider.

One Direction

Ariana Grande

Tinie Tempah

Dizzee Rascal

One Direction have their eyes on the prize. And if you ride a pony like One Direction, most often the prize is home! It’s as though One Direction is magnetic, and home is made of metal. He will creep out of the yard when you go for a hack (that’s once you get him to actually leave the yard – he’s also pretty nappy!), until you turn for home, when he suddenly takes an interest and ploughs on home with his neck fixed. 1D is determined – once he’s set on home, he’s going to get there!

The good thing about 1D is that he will teach you to use your legs to get him going, and your seat and hands to steady him up when he turns for home. Once you can get him to keep to the same speed all the way around a ride, you’ll know your riding is improving.

This pint-sized pony has a real attitude problem – he’s got a temper! Riding him will often bring out this trait. If he doesn’t want to walk on, he won’t. If he’d rather not canter, he’ll shake his head and won’t think twice about bucking you off!

He knows all the tricks – dropping a shoulder to put you on the floor, diving into a patch of grass to give you a flying lesson, and threatening to rear if you want to go somewhere he doesn’t.

The trick to riding a pony like Tinie Tempah is not to join in with his antics. Ignore all the tantrums. Pretend not to notice his grumpy behaviour, just quietly insist on doing things your way. Confrontation is not the answer – you’ll just make him more angry and unwilling to co-operate.

Try to think around the problem and you’ll reach a solution that works for both of you!

Big hair, big eyes – that’s Ariana Grande, and her pony alter ego is no different. Grande means big, and Grande is no tiny pony! She’s a horse – and everything is a bit bigger than you’re used to.

Don’t worry, going up in the world isn’t such a big deal, but you will need to adapt to Grande’s longer paces.

Everything will seem in slow motion compared to the shorter-striding ponies you’re used to riding. Give it some time and you’ll soon get used to her style – she’s got that in bucket loads!

Having a longer rein to start with will feel odd (you’ll need it to allow for Grande’s long neck), but remember to keep your contact. When you ride a horse like Grande, it might take you a while to get used to the movement, but don’t be discouraged, as it’s good practice for when you’re older and move onto horses altogether.

Dizzee loves to spin. It’s Dizzee pony’s go-to move. He can turn on a sixpence – the only trouble is, he’ll do it only when you least expect it!

What’s in that hedge? Without waiting to find out Dizzee has spun around and is off in the opposite direction (if you’re lucky, you’ll still be with him)! Is that patch of grass a different shade of green to the rest? Dizzee thinks so, and before you’ve even noticed he’s spun and gone!

Tiresome, and even a bit scary? Yes. But if you can stand it, Dizzee will teach you stickability, big time. If you suspect Dizzee might be about to spin, push your heels down, grip with your knees and sit up.

In the long run, giving Dizzee the confidence to trust in you will help. You can do it!

Good luck riding the pop ponies at your yard!

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! e k a Mny treats Po

iling our o p s e v o l We all not make y h w o s , ponies ts? Follow a e r t b a f some guides p e t s y b our step cks for a n s y m to yum ! your pony

1. Grate the carrot and apple..

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dy to pat It may be han rrot and the grated ca h some it apple dry w remove kitchen roll to re. excess moistu

ients: rated Ingred ium apple, g ated r d g e , t m l1 ny’s carro edium ul of your po m 1 l f d n ha arge ff lL syrup ha c e olden v g fa s n o blespo l 3 ta ts l Min d: ill nee You w er dients l Grat o mix ingre lt l Bow ing pin ll o R l

2. Add the chaff and m ix with the carrot and ap ple. using a s t n i m a few ix...

3. Crush nd add to the m na rolling pi

f nfuls o o o p s essert d ture.. x i r u m o f e h n t o 4. Spo rup to bind sy golden

alls.. b ll a m s ture into ix m e h t 5. Shape 6. Feed to your po ny – no baking needed !

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Baked carrot canter snacks!!

Ingredients: l 1 medium carro t, grated l 85g porridge oa ts l 4 tablespoons go lden syrup l 2 tablespoons wa ter

1. Grate the carrot and apple.

2. Add the porridge oats to the grated carrot and mix together in a bowl.

You will need: l Grater l Baking tray l Bowl to mix ing redients l Scales

3.Spoon in four tablespoons of golden syrup and two tablespoons of water. evenly o t in ll o R .

4 lls. shaped ba

5. Bake at 1800C for about 25 minutes, until golden brown..

Watch point! sugar ntain lots of Treats that co y ne ho p, syru in the form of in d fe be ld ou sh or molasses e on an o more th d moderation (n fe be t no should per day), and om fr g in er ff su are to ponies who om ve suffered fr ha or , is it in lam . st pa e laminitis in th

6. Allow to cool and serve to your pony.!

! y o j n E

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