jumping exercise

Michel teaches Sélène and her 7 year old horse, Amore. The rider learns that she needs to keep a relaxed position in harmony with the movement of her horse. The slightest tension can disturb her horse’s movements and prevent her from executing the exercise perfectly. The challenge is to give enough freedom to the horse while controlling the steering and the canter rhythm. A challenge that Sélène masters after a few tries. You will be able to get the feel for the ideal position just by watching the slow motion included in the video that you can, then, recreate when you will practise the exercise.

At the beginning, don’t hesitate to practise over ground poles only to set the correct reflexes before raising the bar.

They start the session with some trot work. It is recommended for less experimented riders or horses to pratise it first at a walk. It would allow the horse to discover the set up and not be surprised.

Charlotte doesn’t have any problem performing the exercise as long as she stays mentally concentrated and focused on her position. However, as soon as she glances down, even for a fraction of a second, she loses her focus and position. The response is immediate: the horse gets out of the track, modifies his rhythm or even steps on the flexy jumps. The rider needs to control the situation at any moment in her position but also in her mind.

It will help Charlotte find a good balance between too much control at the canter and a horse who gets above the bit and rushes. The goal is to obtain a steady cadence throughout the exercise especially before and after the flexy-jumps.

Once again, we can notice the importance of anticipating and preparing for each action to be successful throughout the exercise.

First part: Flat work

Michel begins with a rider’s position check-up to improve the rider’s ability to follow his horse movements. Pierre has to unblock his legs and keep his hands steady in order to reach a constant contact.
He also has to pay attention to his path. For that, Michel asks him to perform a circle in an imaginary corridor. The simple fact of having a precise path enables Pierre to get a better connection with Quatmandou.
Pierre will then look to get his horse on the bit. The goal is the reach a position that would be less closed in, less forced up. For that, Michel encourages him to test his feelings and his horse reactions in the opposite position….i.e. very open. By working in the 2 extreme positions, Pierre and his horse will find a comfortable in-between position.
The training on the flat work continues with some transitions at different gaits, still staying on a precise path. This work goes toward the goal of this session which is to be able to accelerate or slow down while keeping a responsive horse.
The canter work is done on a large oval shape allowing Pierre to work on a succession of straight lines and turns to simulate the conditions of a course. All this work has to be done still observing a precise cadence.



Second part: jumping

The training continues with some ground poles along the 2 diagonal-lines of the indoor arena. In the approach of each pole, Pierre has to imagine he’s coming toward a huge fence. In order to not impair his body movements, Pierre has to keep breathing, especially while approaching fences.
Then, Michel sets-up a vertical on one of the diagonals. Very fast, he realises that Quatmanda has a tendency  to lose his pushing power, particularly when the take-off stride is not at the ideal spot. So, Michel arranges a set-up that will solve this issue.
Pierre has a tendency to assist his horse by preventing him to do the fault. On the contrary he has to make his horse aware of his responsibilities by letting him find the solution to jump correctly. It implies that the rider
The session moves on with some lines and combinations of fences. Pierre has to memorise the feeling of a good quality canter on the ground poles and has  to try  to maintain it at all time on the course.
 

First part: Flat work

Michel begins with a rider’s position check-up to improve the rider’s ability to follow his horse movements. Pierre has to unblock his legs and keep his hands steady in order to reach a constant contact.
He also has to pay attention to his path. For that, Michel asks him to perform a circle in an imaginary corridor. The simple fact of having a precise path enables Pierre to get a better connection with Quatmandou.
Pierre will then look to get his horse on the bit. The goal is the reach a position that would be less closed in, less forced up. For that, Michel encourages him to test his feelings and his horse reactions in the opposite position….i.e. very open. By working in the 2 extreme positions, Pierre and his horse will find a comfortable in-between position.
The training on the flat work continues with some transitions at different gaits, still staying on a precise path. This work goes toward the goal of this session which is to be able to accelerate or slow down while keeping a responsive horse.
The canter work is done on a large oval shape allowing Pierre to work on a succession of straight lines and turns to simulate the conditions of a course. All this work has to be done still observing a precise cadence.



Second part: jumping

The training continues with some ground poles along the 2 diagonal-lines of the indoor arena. In the approach of each pole, Pierre has to imagine he’s coming toward a huge fence. In order to not impair his body movements, Pierre has to keep breathing, especially while approaching fences.
Then, Michel sets-up a vertical on one of the diagonals. Very fast, he realises that Quatmanda has a tendency  to lose his pushing power, particularly when the take-off stride is not at the ideal spot. So, Michel arranges a set-up that will solve this issue.
Pierre has a tendency to assist his horse by preventing him to do the fault. On the contrary he has to make his horse aware of his responsibilities by letting him find the solution to jump correctly. It implies that the rider
The session moves on with some lines and combinations of fences. Pierre has to memorise the feeling of a good quality canter on the ground poles and has  to try  to maintain it at all time on the course.
 

First part: Flat work

Michel begins with a rider’s position check-up to improve the rider’s ability to follow his horse movements. Pierre has to unblock his legs and keep his hands steady in order to reach a constant contact.
He also has to pay attention to his path. For that, Michel asks him to perform a circle in an imaginary corridor. The simple fact of having a precise path enables Pierre to get a better connection with Quatmandou.
Pierre will then look to get his horse on the bit. The goal is the reach a position that would be less closed in, less forced up. For that, Michel encourages him to test his feelings and his horse reactions in the opposite position….i.e. very open. By working in the 2 extreme positions, Pierre and his horse will find a comfortable in-between position.
The training on the flat work continues with some transitions at different gaits, still staying on a precise path. This work goes toward the goal of this session which is to be able to accelerate or slow down while keeping a responsive horse.
The canter work is done on a large oval shape allowing Pierre to work on a succession of straight lines and turns to simulate the conditions of a course. All this work has to be done still observing a precise cadence.



Second part: jumping

The training continues with some ground poles along the 2 diagonal-lines of the indoor arena. In the approach of each pole, Pierre has to imagine he’s coming toward a huge fence. In order to not impair his body movements, Pierre has to keep breathing, especially while approaching fences.
Then, Michel sets-up a vertical on one of the diagonals. Very fast, he realises that Quatmanda has a tendency  to lose his pushing power, particularly when the take-off stride is not at the ideal spot. So, Michel arranges a set-up that will solve this issue.
Pierre has a tendency to assist his horse by preventing him to do the fault. On the contrary he has to make his horse aware of his responsibilities by letting him find the solution to jump correctly. It implies that the rider
The session moves on with some lines and combinations of fences. Pierre has to memorise the feeling of a good quality canter on the ground poles and has  to try  to maintain it at all time on the course.
 

First part: Flat work

Michel begins with a rider’s position check-up to improve the rider’s ability to follow his horse movements. Pierre has to unblock his legs and keep his hands steady in order to reach a constant contact.
He also has to pay attention to his path. For that, Michel asks him to perform a circle in an imaginary corridor. The simple fact of having a precise path enables Pierre to get a better connection with Quatmandou.
Pierre will then look to get his horse on the bit. The goal is the reach a position that would be less closed in, less forced up. For that, Michel encourages him to test his feelings and his horse reactions in the opposite position….i.e. very open. By working in the 2 extreme positions, Pierre and his horse will find a comfortable in-between position.
The training on the flat work continues with some transitions at different gaits, still staying on a precise path. This work goes toward the goal of this session which is to be able to accelerate or slow down while keeping a responsive horse.
The canter work is done on a large oval shape allowing Pierre to work on a succession of straight lines and turns to simulate the conditions of a course. All this work has to be done still observing a precise cadence.



Second part: jumping

The training continues with some ground poles along the 2 diagonal-lines of the indoor arena. In the approach of each pole, Pierre has to imagine he’s coming toward a huge fence. In order to not impair his body movements, Pierre has to keep breathing, especially while approaching fences.
Then, Michel sets-up a vertical on one of the diagonals. Very fast, he realises that Quatmanda has a tendency  to lose his pushing power, particularly when the take-off stride is not at the ideal spot. So, Michel arranges a set-up that will solve this issue.
Pierre has a tendency to assist his horse by preventing him to do the fault. On the contrary he has to make his horse aware of his responsibilities by letting him find the solution to jump correctly. It implies that the rider
The session moves on with some lines and combinations of fences. Pierre has to memorise the feeling of a good quality canter on the ground poles and has  to try  to maintain it at all time on the course.
 

In this session, Michel teaches Alice and her mare Quiria. He arranged a cavaletti set-up representing all the questions the rider may encounter on a course: skinny fences, combinations with short distances, tight turns, “scary” looking fences (wall, brush…). This set-up requires the rider to be fully aware and in control of each of her actions to direct the horse with precision. The short distances between fences require the rider to stay in control of the canter rhythm while guiding the shoulders of the horse to jump in the centre of these skinny fences.
 This is another example where the rider has to focus and stay centred on her horse. The slightest loss of concentration or the slightest fault in the rider’s position disturbs the communication with the horse which will make it impossible to stay on the track.

 

Alice completes the exercise successfully thanks to her centred position. The slow motion parts of the video will help you visualise the correct position over each part of the exercise.

 

In this session, Michel rides Undiams, a talended 7 year-old gelding out of Diamant de Semilly. He has been training this horse for several months now and making him gain some experience over some 1m35 courses in competition.

Michel warmed up the horse previously with some flat work and then over a few small fences. Going over smaller fences at first allows for all the joints and muscles of the horse to warm up.

When the horse is loosened up and connected with his rider, Michel starts jumping the line of fences. The fences are raised up progressively. With a horse like Undiams, it’s important to channel his energy and his desire to jump. Michel has to keep him under control while making him jump in the centre of the fences. Training on this kind of line encourages the horses to jump in a calmly manner and to apply himself for each jump.

This video gives you also the opportunity to watch Michel’s wonderful position over every single jump, especially his hands that are moving forward during the take-off stride. It gives you the correct mental image to memorise and reproduce.

The goal is not to jump high. The first fence of the grid should not exceed 50 cm (about 20 inches) and the fence out of the grid should not exceed one meter (Three feet high).

The grid should be approached at a trot or a collected canter.

Michel rides Tosca. He previously did a warm-up including jumping her over some cavaletttis.

The first two or three times you go over the grid, the height should not exceed 80cm. You can raise the height of the fences only if the horse has understood the exercise perfectly and if the rider is able to keep him straight over the line and follow perfectly the movement of his horse over the jump. Once again, the rider’s position is essential to follow the flow of the movement: not preceding or not late compared to the jumping movement. The lateral balance needs to be addressed as well to avoid encouraging the horse to deviate from the fences’ line. Indeed, the cross rails half-way through the grid are useful to keep the horse in line as well as the rider’s eyes focusing beyond the grid rather than on the fences.

In this session, Michel Robert is teaching Marine and her mare Amanda. The first step of the exercise consists of a set-up of flexy-jumps placed on the ground. The set-up consists of an easy path but encourages the rider to quickly alternate between turns and straight lines. For the second step, the ground poles are replaced by fences which height can be modified depending on the outcome and the level of the rider and horse.

We can notice how influential the rider’s weight is, on the quality of the precision of the path. The capability of the rider to let the movement go through is essential to pulling this exercise together nicely. Michel offers solutions that the rider can use on this exercise but also on a full course or in shows.