combination

The session starts with a warm-up on the flat where Michel lets Catapulte move as free as possible. Then, the work session consists of going over several lines of fences that Michel will adjust according to the mare’s reactions.

To start with, Catapulte has a tendency to rush to the rails. As the session progresses, we can notice that Catapulte wonders about it and tries different solutions to feel comfortable jumping these fences. Michel lets her express herself as free as possible. At the end of the session, we can notice that Catapulte made good progress in terms of the quality of her jumps as she manages better her balance and her approaches.

The session starts with some flat work combined with a succession of a few ground poles and cavalettis. These preliminary exercises are particularly profitable especially for riders who have a tendency to get worried in front of fences.
During this warm-up, Michel focuses on the steadiness of the canter and the precision of a set-path. Nenuphar must keep the same behaviour on the flat and over fences. Michel tries hard to maintain the same relaxation and to keep a steady connection at each canter stride with his horse. Even though the reins are slightly long in order to allow the horse a maximum of freedom in his movements, every lead-change, every turn, every jump have been well prepared in the rider’s mind.
The session continues in the same mind-frame with small verticals, and easy and low fences combinations. After each landing Michel reorganises the canter to come back to calm.  As soon as he feels Nenuphar getting tensed, he stops him and let the pressure go down.

While jumping more technical lines and combinations, Michel maintains the same priorities: calm and steadiness. The idea is to let Nenuphar break-down his jumps with some freedom in his neck, especially during the take-off stride.


The session ends by jumping a triple with higher fences. Michel is satisfied with the result: Nenuphar stayed in control with a minimum demands from the rider.
 

The session starts with a warm-up in a varied terrain: transitions, figure-eights, lead changes… Michel takes advantage of the slope of the ground to encourage the mare to find her balance. He’s also trying to place himself in the same conditions as on a course and consequently he works on his position: speeding up, slowing down, wide turns, tight turns….

 At the beginning of the session, lead changes were not always successful. Michel doesn’t focus on that problem, and continues his work calmly. He knows that everything will get back to normal as soon as he has established correct communication between him and Zeta.

 After the warm-up on the flat, he works on several lines of fences. Some cavalettis, some combinations and different kinds of fences, like a water jump and a log oxer. He’s mainly looking for a steady canter. To reach that goal, he’s using, among others, some rubber foam poles to set up the tempo of the canter strides between two fences. He varies the exercises often, still with the idea of not fixating on issues.

During this whole session, Michel adapts his position to cope with the challenge of each exercise, and with the mare’s attitude. A good point of reference for every rider wanting to work on his/her position and looking for references and practical advice in that matter. Towards the end of the session, Zeta is doing good lead changes, and the control in the lines of fences is more than satisfactory.