Thursday June 14/18
The second day of the clinic was focused on XC. Again, I watched the first 3 groups - Entry, Preliminary, and Training (sorry Pre-Training group!).
Lucinda had riders warm up over a few smaller single XC fences at a canter, asking riders to ensure again that the horses were focusing on the jumps and were given plenty of time to see the jump in front of them to start.
Following this, the riders gathered at a “training ditch” - a telephone pole with a small swale on one side. Lucinda had the riders walk over this, beginning with the direction away from the shadow. It was a beautiful sunny day and so this meant (unlike most of day 1) that light/shadows might play an issue in today’s session.
Horses walked back and forth over the ditch. The horse was allowed to look if it wanted (see yesterday’s notes about slipping the reins and rider remaining back in the driver’s seat). Some of the horses wanted to jump or leap over the pole, despite its very small size. These horses were still asked to come back quickly to walk on the landing side.
The reason for walking new/scary fences is to control the horse’s pace,and to counteract the nervous flight instinct. If the horse is anxious, it may rush over the fence and away instinctively. The rider needs to proceed slowly, and also halt in a straight line after, to calm the horse’s nerves and prevent the flight instinct from taking over. Note the halt is not to be done harshly as a punishment. The rider should soften the reins after the jump as a reward, then proceed to come back calmly to a halt.
After the horses were calm over the “training ditch”, they proceeded to the real ditch, remaining at a walk. In the Entry group, three of the horses were greener. The two more experienced horses were used to give leads to the green horses if they weren’t able to get over the ditch after a few tries. Riders again were to ensure their bodies stayed back over the saddle and not to put any weight onto the horse’s shoulders, which could prevent the horse from lifting itself over. All horses were successful in going over the ditch at the walk, and with each further attempt gained more and more confidence. Very shortly after, even the green horses were trotting and cantering happily over the ditch, including with a pole on top to make a trakehner, and with the ditch as part of a line (coop > ditch > coop).
Horses then proceeded to the bank. To begin, the horses were asked to again walk up to and climb onto the bank. At first, many horses banged their legs on the wood side of the bank while they figured out where to put them, but then within another try or two they were much more careful. Horses then walked up onto, then walked off of the bank. Again, the pace was kept deliberately slow to allow the horse to think and process the question. A line at canter incorporating the bank was next - a small coop to start, then up onto the bank, across the bank to the drop off, 2-3 strides to a coop. The more advanced groups added additional jumps after, including a skinny (Prelim and Training). As well, the initial jump up onto the bank was then followed by one stride to a vertical (stadium jump) for all groups.
After introducing the horses to the water, more questions were asked. For the Entry and Training groups, at the edge of the water, 2 barrels were placed with a gap between them. The horses walked up out of the water and through the gap, then in reverse. They trotted through the gap both ways. Then a line was ridden incorporating the gap. Finally, the barrels were then set together so the horses would jump over them. Using this method, all of the green horses confidently jumped the barrels on the first try.
A small log jump was placed into the water complex. In all groups, the horses were asked to trot and then canter into the water, over the log, and out of the water.
Prelim horses were asked to jump coops into and out of the water complex, in addition to the log in the water and the barrels out.
To finish, each rider was able to create her own course, incorporating jumps that hadn’t yet been used. Riders were wearing earpieces so that Lucinda could assist if really needed, but for the most part she wanted them to think for themselves as if they were on course at a show. As well, riders were told to go as fast as they were comfortable, to allow the horses to “run and jump” and enjoy themselves. However, the riders still had to ensure that they were able to balance the gallop before a fence when needed.
- Lucinda mentioned not to put tape on boots (several riders had taped their horse’s boots). She said it causes rings of pressure, as the tape isn’t as giving. If the boot falls off on course, that is better than it being held in place so firmly by the tape that it would have been better to just come off.
- Flair nasal strips - she thinks they are useless based on research (and discussion with scientist). Even if the nostrils are held open, the interior respiratory system is the same size and has a limit.
- She wants boots removed immediately after XC to allow the legs to cool
- based on study (older? but I think it’s been redone or has been re-looked-at) showing that tendon damage can occur when they get too warm
- Lucinda doesn’t use bell boots - they tend to trip horses up. She herself had an incident at a major competition where her horse nearly went down at the Normandy Bank. She didn’t know at the time what happened but a witness said the horse caught its own bell boot.
- if your horse overreaches, discuss with your farrier to see if the hind feet can have the breakover changed to avoid this
- studs: Lucinda doesn’t ever drill holes for studs until Prelim or after
- if needed, use one on outside of foot
- 2 studs (inside and outside) makes the foot stick and stutter in the turns
- she has reviewed slow motion video of horses with and without studs to see the effect. The un-studded foot has a slight slip (natural) when it contacts the ground. The studs prevent this natural slip and instead cause the foot to catch, which jars the entire body. Around corners, the foot can’t pivot/turn normally - instead she could see it stick-turn-stick-turn-stick-turn which she believes will be quite damaging to the legs
- she believes the horse needs to be responsible for its own feet
- Lucinda discussed the importance of feeding the horse so that you can ride it. Don’t feed them rocket fuel to make them fat, or b/c a feed company rep said you need a certain feed if you’re eventing (real examples she’s seen). There is no point in having a fat horse that you can’t ride. Even if they are a little bit skinny, but they are calm and trainable, that is preferable. She mentioned an upper-level rider whose horses are fed forage only until they are trained to Intermediate level (and therefore have reliable training). At that point, she can then add in extra concentrates as needed for stamina/energy/weight, because the proper training is ingrained. Lucinda said these horses often don’t look all that great (while at lower levels) until suddenly they come out looking like the most wonderful animals (trained perfectly and now also fatter).
- comment made to rider on XC to remember! “Get back! Ride on an American contact and you’ll always be out of the bloody saddle!”. We tend to ride with our reins just a bit (inch or two) short. This prevents us from truly being plugged into the saddle, and also means we can more easily be unseated or our weight shifted forward should the horse need to look at something (or trip, or whatever). We need to lengthen our reins about an inch to allow our bodies to get back into that driver’s seat.
- Some riders try to ride different seats XC and stadium (ie. deeper seat vs. 2-point). Lucinda does not advocate this, because she believes that in a crucial situation, your body may revert to the wrong seat (ie. on XC, something goes wrong. Your body may tip forward, which is the last thing you want to happen). She uses her XC seat in stadium, along with the slightly longer rein as mentioned above.
- Phillip Dutton is the best. Don’t try to copy him! Women aren’t strong enough to stand straight up with a long stirrup on XC! Lucinda noticed a few female (American I think?) upper-level riders try this at Rolex a few years ago, and it did not go well. Phillip is tall and much stronger than we are!
- Tip: when you get in the coffin canter, keep the hind legs moving
She did change some other bits though, and I know the one rider ended up buying the same bit Lucinda put the horse in as it did seem to like it.
