Post-Competition Jump School

Every wondered what to do at your first jump school following a competition? I've got a Sally exercise for you.

Most likely you've finished your horse trial with cross country as the final phase. That means your horse is galloping in a long stride and jumping flatter over the fences. Sally always recommends re-establishing the horse's jumping form in the next jump school, which should be 4 days after a competition. The focus should be on footwork and the exercises should encourage a horse to use his body, improve his bascule and overall carefulness.

You don't need a lot of fences - just six sets of standards - and the smaller the ring the better. A smaller ring will help you contain your horse's stride with less effort. If you have heavy poles, like square 4x4s, use those. Heavy planks also work well. Hitting a heavy rail will sting a little more than normal and your horse will be more careful the next time.

These are the jumps you need:

• A single vertical
• A hogsback: This is a variation of a triple bar - the middle rail is the tallest and the front and back rails should be lower and match in height.
• A one-stride in-and-out of verticals with raised cavalettis / placing poles throughout

You can set the fences up in a lot of different ways in your ring. Sally typically has them set up as they are drawn above. When I set them up, I will often place the vertical and hogsback on opposite diagonal lines. Sometimes Becca sets the vertical on the short side of the ring so that I don't have a long approach to the fence. Sally's hogsback is the scariest jump I have ever seen. It's typically huge and always has a liverpool under it. At home, I use flower box fillers to make this fence more impressive. Leo always respects it and gives it a great jumping effort. 

STEP 1 - Warm-Up with the Vertical 

Start by jumping the vertical and build that up to or above competition height. Jump it both straight and on angles. The angles will require your horse to sharpen up. 

STEP 2 - Practice the Grid

Then proceed to the grid. The raised cavalettis encourage precise footwork. 21 feet is a comfortable distance but coming back from cross country, this can feel short. The distance, combined with the cavaletti, require the horse to be quick with his feet.  The poles will also help back the horse off the jumps so you don't have to hold onto his mouth. (Another nice rider correction following a cross country round!) I'm actually always surprised how much leg this grid exercise requires. 

STEP 3 - Put it all together

Jump the grid off both leads. Following a trip through the grid, proceed directly to the hogsback. The hogsback will encourage a proper bascule and no doubt your horse will give a nice effort. They always do! You should notice that following the grid, your horse won't run at the hogsback. The grid gets them in a thinking-mode and the set up of the rails on the hogsback should continue to encourage the horse to carefully consider the fence. Following the hogsback, rollback to the vertical on an angle. 

Continue this process making sure you are jumping all the fences off both leads so the horse builds muscles evenly on both sides. You can vary the order of the fences as well. If your horse is too forward and too strong at the hogsback, proceed directly to the in-and-out so the poles can set him back without the rider having to do too much. Read your horse's jump at each fence and select the next in the sequence to help correct any issues you might be having. 

I keep these jump schools pretty short. The cavaletti grid is hard work for a horse. But the exercises work like a charm every time! Leo jumps great during these schools and I can focus on my own skills - like my position through the grid. The exercises are very low pressure, so it's something I'm totally comfortable doing without a lesson with Becca or Sally.