HINTS, TIPS & RECOMMENDED READING

Dress tidily and cleanly, wear gloves and carry a stick or whip.

Arrive at the Test centre in plenty of time to walk the Cross Country and Show Jumping Courses

Keep your stirrups to a practical workmanlike length.

Don’t fiddle with spurs, taking them off and putting them on again. If you are confident that you can use them correctly, it is acceptable for you to wear them. However, their misuse can be dangerous.

When you first get on a strange horse and start riding, look about you and ‘feel’ how the horse is going. This is more relaxing and more reliable than looking at it’s head.

If you don’t know something, say so.

If you make a mistake, admit it.

If you get in a muddle when explaining something, say so, stop, and start again.

Look at the horse before you get on him; check the tack, look at the teeth; conformation and outlook may tell you something about the horse before you ride him.

Avoid the ‘pat’ or ‘book’ answer. Don’t try to display all your knowledge. Instead, think seriously about the horse and then in the simplest terms possible, explain what faults there are and how you would go about overcoming them.

For example:

Q. What do you think about the way the horse is going?

A. He is on his forehand and lazy.

Q. How would you go about improving him?

A. The real problem is laziness; he doesn’t respond to my leg aids.

This is the first thing I would correct. I would re-inforce my leg aids with my stick until he became obedient. When he learns to go with more energy , I can expect more activity from his hindlegs and hind-quarters; he should then become a more balanced ride. It should then be possible to work to improve him.

The ‘pat’ reply might have been:

A. He needs more schooling. I would do a lot of turns, circles and transitions. Riding over undulating country might help.

This reply is not incorrect, but it does not show real knowledge.

In the indoor riding, don’t be afraid of riding the trained horse in a positive way. The trained horse is often a clever horse and knows better than most how to pull the rider’s leg.

• The Manual of Horsemanship
• A Young Persons Guide to Eventing
• Breeding, Backing and Bringing on Young Horses

• British Dressage Rules (FEI Definitions of Paces and movements)
• The Complete Trainng of Horse and Rider - Alois Podhajsky
• Manual of Equitation - BHS
• Dressage Riding - Richard Watjen
• BSJA - notes for Course Builders

• Top Rider Parts 1 and 2
• BHS Training Films:
• Horsemaster 1, 2 & 3