Are you preparing for any of the numerous and upcoming World Championship Shows? If so, you already know how different the big shows are from the state level horse show. The anticipation is built into everything surrounding the show and somehow, every little detail just feels special. This is the show you have prepared all year for, excitement fills the air making expectations run high.
This is the time you need a strategy for your preparation. Whether or not you show in Horsemanship, Equitation or Showmanship, the core skills learned in these areas are the skills you need to hone to be on top of your game come show day. The best teams, the horse and rider kind, are the most practiced, the strongest and have a clear link to one another – an almost uncanny perception – one relies on the other, reads the other and responds accordingly and correctly.
If ever there is a time for a great ride, that time is at the “Big One.” Commit to becoming the best partner you can for your horse by honing the basic skills that allow you to ride in harmony with your horse. Pro golfer Tiger Woods practices the basic elements of his swing for two hours every day. He follows that with two hours on the putting range and finally plays a round or three of golf a day.
While many of you will not have the seven or eight hours Tiger Woods has to dedicate to practice, make the best use of your time by implementing the following exercises. Work hard enough early in every week of practice to make your muscles sore on your day of rest. Use muscle memory to your advantage and you won’t have to think about keeping your heels down, or holding your lead hand in the correct position or having your reins short enough.
Quickly reread the Boot Camp article and make sure you have everything you need in place to build a successful practice. Stick to your schedule, push your limits at home in practice and treat each practice session with respect. Approach your practice like a professional.
Good luck and have fun. Dream big and enjoy every moment.
Boot Camp Practice – Week One
Showmanship: The Set Up
- Walk-stop-set up. Count to 30
- Trot-stop-set up. Count to 30
- Back-stop-set up. Count to 30
- Walk-stop-set up. Count to 30
- Walk-stop-do not set up; continue to face forward without setting up. Count to 30
- Trot-stop-set up. Count to 30
- Walk-stop-face your horse but do not set up. Count to 30
You get it – this week you concentrate on setting up. Repeat the above every time you practice for one week. Practice no more than 15 minutes a day. It is important to follow through with the 30 second count. This allows your horse to understand the set up is a comfortable place to be. Your horse will understand that setting up is a safe resting place. Add turns on day three or four:
- Walk-stop-set up. Count to 30
- 180, 270 or 360-set up. Count to 30
- Trot-stop-set up. Count to 30
- Repeat from Number 1
Do not school patterns during week one. This week you fine tune your set up. This is the time to perfect your foot work in your cross overs, control your upper body through your set up, your cross overs and between stops while walking and trotting. This is the week you take an in depth look at the most minute details of your position.
Horsemanship: Position Perfecting
Use the forward position, standing in your stirrups with weight deep into heel and seat elevated from seat of saddle no more than three or four inches, to increase the depth of your heel and ensure your leg is in the proper position. You will not be able to maintain a proper forward position if you do not have closed hip angles, bent knees and flexed ankles.
Think of standing on the ground, lifting your toes then going down into a squat as if shouldering weights. Push your seat out behind you and maintain a tall upper body.
- Start every ride in a forward position while warming your horse up at the walk: 5 minutes.
- Jog without stirrups: 1 lap each way or 5 minutes
- Alternate between seated jog and forward position at jog without stirrups: 1 lap each way/5 min
Remain in forward position during transitions
- Pick up stirrups & return to forward position at jog stretching heel deep into stirrup: ½ lap
- Lope with stirrups alternating between circles and riding around the arena: 5 min
- Walk in forward position: ½ lap
- Lope either direction alternating between forward position around ends, seated down long rail: 5 min/rest at walk ½ lap/5 min opposite direction
- Return to jog and drop stirrups: 5 min add a circle to the long side of each rail
- Return to rail at jog, pick up stirrups then get into forward position and walk: 5 min
Start the above exercises along the rail. Test your balance by circling while riding in the forward position and without stirrups as the week progresses. It is imperative to develop strength in your leg muscles. The time it takes your muscles to develop and build strength depends on how often you get to ride. Muscles develop during the resting phase that follows a workout.
Equitation: Position Perfecting
Whether you show in Hunter Under Saddle, Equitation or the over fence classes, everyone who rides in a hunt saddle can benefit from strengthening their position. The following exercises will increase your feel on your horse, strengthen and keep your position correct.
Many of the exercises are simply not possible to do if you are out of position. Always remember the straight lines: from your elbow to the horse’s mouth and from your shoulder through your hip to your heel. With that in mind, saddle up….
- Ride without your irons at the walk hold your toe up, heel down: 1 lap
- Ride without your irons at the sitting trot (not a jog): 1 lap each direction/5 min
- Rising trot without irons: 1 lap each direction/5 minutes
- Walk with stirrups in two-point: 1 lap/2.5 min
- Working trot rising for five strides then in two-point for five strides (10 beats): 5 min
- Back to rising trot with irons: 1 lap
- Drop your irons continue in rising trot: 1 lap each direction/5-7 minutes or until fatigued
- Return to walk and let your foot and ankle rest: 1 lap
- Pick up your irons and return to trot in two-point: 1 lap each direction/2.5 min
- Alternate between a sit trot, rising trot and two-point: 5 min
- Practice transitioning from walk to trot in two-point: 1 lap/2 min
- Return to walk and walk without irons alternating between rotating your ankle and holding your foot in the correct position.
On off days follow the exercises below to start and end your ride and just ride on the off days. Keep in mind your horse needs a break from difficult training maneuvers as well. The workout above builds strength for you and your horse without taxing either of you mentally.
- Walk with irons in the two-point: 2.5 minutes
- Begin at a trot and alternate between the rising trot and the two-point: 5 min
To finish your ride:
- Sit trot circles without irons alternating directions and putting your horse back on a straight line between circles: 5 min
- Walk with irons in two-point: 1 lap
- Walk without irons letting your legs rest then holding your leg in the correct position on a long rein: 1 lap each way/5 min
Congratulations, you made it – you are done with week one! One down, three to go…
About Stephanie Lynn: Professional Horseman Stephanie Lynn coached her first AQHA World Champion in 1988. She has since coached, trained and shown World, Congress and Honor Roll horses across disciplines. She is a judge for AQHA, NSBA and APHA and has judged World Championship shows for each association. Most recently, Stephanie is the author of The Good Rider Series and A Lifetime Affair: Lessons Learned Living My Passion. The Good Rider Series is a library of resource material that is both practical and applicable in the barn and show ring for riders. Stephanie can always be reached through her website: http://www.stephanielynn.net to answer your questions, schedule a clinic or lesson.
