PONY Magazine – April 20

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11 March – 7 April 2020

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April 2020 £3.99 Issue 863

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Perfect

PREP Get your fave pony ready for a cross-country competition

G

oing cross-country with your fave pony’s awesome! It’s a real test of your partnership and it’s super-fun to canter through the countryside and fly over natural fences.

However, to make sure both you and your pony enjoy the experience, it’s really important to make sure you’re both properly prepared. Here’s what you need to know...

Top tip

To make sure your pony’s ready for action, follow the fitness plan in the Spring issue of PONY mag!

Getting active

Jumping round a course of 12-16 cross-country fences is physically demanding, and your pony needs to be very fit to be able to do this. Spend time improving his fitness gradually, starting at least five or six weeks ahead of your competition.

Begin by hacking out in walk, then introduce some short bursts of trot, before building up to canter work.

Your own fitness is important, too, so you can stay light and balanced in the saddle and support your pony around the course. So, think about getting more active in the run-up to your XC comp, too!

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PONY magazine

Fitness hacks

Back to school

Start prepping for your cross-country comp in the arena! It’s the perfect place to introduce tricky fences such as corners and skinnies, and build your own and your pony’s confidence. Creating these fences out of poles and jump wings or blocks means you can start with them super-low and easy. Plus, they’ll knock down, so they’ll be less daunting for you both.

Hacking’s super-useful for getting your fave pony XC ready! As well as helping improve his fitness, you’ll become more confident riding in open spaces, and he’ll get used to being worked over different terrain. You may even find some logs or ditches to pop over, too, but only do this if the ground’s suitable and you’ve checked the take-off and landing sides first.

Some hunter trial courses include a gate you have to open and close from your pony!

Hacking along routes that have bridleway gates can help you practise this skill.

FORWARD THINK

ING

Top tip

If your pony’s lacking energy, ask an equine nutritionist to review his diet, to make sure his food’s giving him enough fuel for the work he’s doing.

Your pony needs to h ave a forw cross-cou ard cante ntry, to giv r for e him eno over the fe ugh powe nces. This r to soar is especia want to ju lly import mp higher ant if you fences, be able to po cause he p over the w on’t be m some extr from a slo a oomph, w trot. If h there are e needs encourag a few way e him to b s you can e more en • practis ergetic... e making his canter arena, by adjustable opening u in the p his strid side, then e down th asking him e long to take sh the short orter step s s on • take him ide to a gallo ps where room to le you’ll hav ngthen his e more stride, an should en d the ope courage h n space im some extr to go forw a help, follo ard. If you need w a friend forward-g who has a oing pony • go on a more fun ride, w hich can a to have m lso inspire ore impuls a pony ion in his help impro canter an ve his end d will urance

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jump to it Part two of Pony Nuts’ lesson with event rider Ben Hobday!

Ben Hobday

Ben’s one of the UK’s mo popular event riders, and st year competed at Badmin last ton Burghley on Harelaw Wiz and ard.

Pony Nuts

Photos: Trevor Meeks

k Pony Nuts, aka Gracie, has 140 followers on Insta. She rides five-year-old mare Bella, who . she’s owned since last summer

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L

ast month, Ben helped Gracie and Bella develop an awesome jumping canter!

They used ground poles to create a balanced, adjustable pace, and now Gracie’s putting what she learned into practice over fences!

A recipe for success

According to Ben, jumping’s just like baking a cake. If you want to make a bigger cake, you use the same ingredients, but add more of them! With jumping, the three things you should always focus on are power, control and straightness. So, to jump bigger fences you need more power and control, and it’s even more important to stay straight.

Get in line

Your pony needs to be super-straight when he approaches a fence because it’ll give him a better chance of clearing it. If his body’s crooked he’ll struggle to push off the ground evenly with both hindlegs and propel himself up and over the fence.

Top tip

If you can’t see th e stride into a fenc e, ask your pony to wait for half a stride. This’ll giv e you extra time to find the perfect take-off point.

Exercise 1: stride guide

This easy exercise will help you practise seeing the correct stride into a fence.

Set it up Build a double of cross-poles four canter strides apart (approx 16-18m).

How to ride it 1. Create a showjumping canter where your pony’s moving forward with lots 16-18m of energy.

2. Approach the double and help him stay in a rhythm by repeating da da dum, da da dum to yourself.

3. Count how many strides he takes between the fences. If it’s an even four strides that’s great! But if he took off too close or far away from fence two, ask yourself if you need more energy or to wait for half a stride to help you see the perfect spot.

4. Come again and try for the four strides.

Exercise 2: Round a nd about canter rhythm

Now try keeping th e

Set up Make a square by adding a second double of cross-po les, also 16-18m apart. If you’ve on ly got a small arena you’ll need to reduce the distance between both doubles to three canter strid es (12-14m).

over more fences .

How to ride it 1. Ride over your first double, then turn right and jum p through the second pair of cros s-poles.

2. Change your po ny’s canter lead, make a left turn an d go over the first double ag ain. You can either ask your po ny to pick up the new lead over the previous fenc e, or bring him ba ck to trot, then give him the aids for a canter trans ition.

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