Your success at any show starts with an effective course walk. This is one of the most crucial skills for competitive riders to master because it gives you a plan for how you are going to ride your course.
Why Your Course Walk Matters
Learning how to strategically walk courses will help you:
- Better understand what questions the course designer is asking
- Determine if your original plan is feasible based on the course design
- Or, if you’ll need to make adjustments based on your and your horse’s abilities
- Create a mental map of your ride to keep you focused on course and confident in your plan for each element
- Learn how to approach the first fence to start your course off right
- Learn how to establish and maintain rhythm and pace throughout your course
- Identify various track options on bending lines
But, before you walk into the ring, it’s essential to have a goal in mind.
- Are you trying to win the class?
- Is your only goal to have a double clear, to help qualify for second rounds?
- Are you going to let an inexperienced horse or pony learn his job, even if it means having a couple of poles down?
All of the above points will change the way you walk the course and the risks you’re willing to take in terms of approach, turns and distances.
First-Fence Approach
Your approach to the first fence on course sets the tone for your entire round, so make it count.
Does it make a difference if the first jump is going towards home or away?
Horses are naturally more drawn to home, where you come into the ring, they tend to be a little stickier, less forward, green horses especially, if they’re going away from home, particularly if they’re heading up to a spooky corner of the ring. Irrespective of what kind of jump it is, you need to think about whether it’s better to be positive, or if you can canter to it softly. That also depends on your horse. Some horses are shy of the first, and you need to ride to it more positively, some are hot and bold, and you can probably give it a soft ride.
After you’ve planned your approach to the first fence, you need to immediately focus on your landing and where you’re going next. If you’re turning left after the first fence, for example, you should already be zoned in on the track you determined during your course walk.
Related distances
The next part in our course walk is determining the number of strides between fences in a connected straight line.
In order to walk a course correctly, you must be able to count strides and translate them into human steps. A horse’s stride is twelve feet, which is four big human steps. It is wise to practice your “stride steps” so that they consistently reach 3 feet. This will give you the most accurate course walk when you are at the show.
By understanding the distances between jumps, you will know if the course designer set a jump distance a little short (requiring you to shorten your horse’s canter stride) or a little long. If it is a little long, it would require you to either add a stride or ask your horse for a more forward canter to help your horse reach a good take-off point. Courses get more complex as you progress through the competitive ranks; not just in terms of obstacle height and spread, but in terms of distances, too. Expect more obstacles with quarter, half, or three-quarter strides added, testing how well you know and communicate with your horse. You’ll need to be able to quickly and easily shorten or lengthen your horse’s stride to ensure a smooth approach.
Distances Guide
Remember this is just a very general guideline. A horse may have a longer or shorter stride depending on its conformation and athletic ability, and your own stride may be a bit more or less than 3 feet.
The best thing to do is to measure your stride and your horse’s stride at home, so you’ll be able to make more accurate estimates when walking the course.
Navigating Bending Lines
Another important element of your course walk is assessing bending lines. This is crucial because bending lines can present multiple track options. Stride counts become a little trickier when lines aren’t straight so, depending on your horse and what best suits his rhythm, pace and how do you want to arrive from the first fence to the second, you can stay on the inside track for a shorter distance, follow a true track for a medium distance or take the outside track for a longer distance. And remember that your horse often will shorten their stride a little while turning so you must keep a forward canter.
Assess your turns
Walk the turn that you want to ride. The smoothness of the turn is important, you want to create a nice smooth track because that enables you to create rhythm. If your line is suddenly broken and the horse has to quicken his pace to maintain his balance and the rhythm changes, then your distance changes. Even if you’re riding against the clock or within the time allowed, just riding lines that have an even curve in them, even if they’re very tight, is really critical. That’s what creates rhythm and distance.
Understand What the Horse Sees at Each Jump
As you walk towards each fence assess not only the type of jump it is, but also consider the visual impact for your horse too. Each horse is unique when it comes to what makes it spook or need extra reassurance from its rider. A major part of the course walk is anticipating what might give your horse a fright.
Potentially frightening or distracting things on the course that athletes look out for include:
- Water jumps with reflections
- Banners and buntings that move in the breeze
- The location of the in and out gates
- Where the course runs close to the audience
- Sunlight, artificial stadium light, and shadows
- Jumps that blend into the background
Walking a course can be intimidating the first time. If you can, invite your coach or an experienced rider to walk the course with you until you’re comfortable.
Remember to stay calm, focused, and consider your course options rather than just obstacles. The perfect round you imagine while walking will soon be your reality when jumping.
