United States Eventing Association

Grid Pro Quo with Jan Byyny

Don't let winter weather get you down. Use the off season as an opportunity to fine tune your riding! In this winter weekly web series, we will revive past Grid Pro Quo articles from our magazine, Eventing USA, to help you brainstorm ways to keep you and your horse in tip-top shape even if you only have access to an indoor arena.

Why:

There are several reasons why I love this jumping exercise. While it looks simple on paper, it can be quite challenging when set up in your arena. It is also great for a variety of horses and riders, which is why I often use it when teaching. Over the years, I have found that a lot of riders are uncomfortable with a distance that is long, or feels long, and subsequently end up out of balance. Since it is impossible to have that ‘perfect distance’ every time, this is a great exercise for practicing how to stay with the motion of your horse through a variety of distances. Additionally, the bounces are great for teaching riders how to move their hands forward independently, while staying nice and tall through their bodies.

The key to getting the most out of this exercise for your horse is to not help them too much. And like most riders, I can tell you that this is often the hardest thing to do! As a rider you have to create the right canter, and then trust that your horse can cover the distances. You’ll need to focus on your own position so that you’re able to let your horse figure things out on their own, without hindering them in any way.

For the green horse that is still working on learning how to go from a big, loose canter to a smaller canter, the 12-foot bounces will teach them how to rock back a bit and balance themselves while still covering a long distance. Older horses will typically not have trouble with the bounces, but will quickly remember that they need to be adjustable when they get into the 18-foot one-stride of verticals.

Please note that if you don’t have cavelettis, that isn’t a problem. You will just have to get creative. I often use flower boxes or mini brick walls that add a degree of difficulty because they are so narrow. And if you don’t have any type of caveletti or boxes, you can simply use additional standards and jump rails, and just keep the jumps to 18” or so.

Finally, when setting up this exercise in your ring at home, I like to try to place it in a spot where you can approach it from both directions. I think it’s really important to be able to practice an exercise like this from both directions, as some horses are more confident on one lead than the other. So it’s best to practice exercises like this on both leads, so you can work on your weaknesses, as this is the only way to get better!

How:

When I’m teaching, I always work with my students on their horse’s rideability prior to sending them over their first jump. I want to make sure they are able to easily and confidently send their horses forward and then bring them back. They should also be able to turn in both directions while staying in balance and not changing their rhythm. For my more advanced students, I will challenge them to throw in some lateral work and even a bit of counter canter into their warmup. My end goal for the warm-up session is for my students to be able to go from a working canter on a 12-foot stride to a canter on a 14-foot stride from their leg aid, and then be able to shorten back to their 12-foot canter by simply sitting up and using their seat.

I always stress to my students that the more responsive and relaxed their horse is, the better chance they will jump a clean round. It is our job as riders to set our horses up for success, regardless of what we’re doing. So this is why I put so much emphasis on a proper flat warm-up before jumping.

Depending on the experience level of the horse and rider, I start this exercise in a few ways. For the sake of this article, I’m going to pretend that we’re dealing with a younger, less experienced horse and a lower-level amateur rider.

To start, I will put the first cavelleti to the side, so there is just the one cavelleti with 12 feet to a small vertical, and then the second jump and cavelleti can be on the ground. This simply allows the horse and rider to get used to the distances, while establishing their rhythm so they can really attack the grid with confidence once all the pieces are put into place. Confidence, in both the horse and rider, is a huge part of this exercise, so I am always sure to take my time when setting up the pieces of this exercise.

Once both the horse and rider are comfortable with this first part of the grid, I will add in the first caveletti to complete the double bounce portion of the exercise. For more experienced horses, you can actually begin the exercise here, as a double bounce should not be a surprise for a Training level or above horse. However, for the younger horses, don’t be surprised if they back off when they first see the additional cavelleti. As a rider, all you should do is simply put your leg on and encourage your horse to go confidently forward through the jumps.

Finally, you can add in your second vertical and eventually you can then raise your final caveletti. The final cavelleti is very key for this grid, as it forces the horse and rider to “finish” the exercise. I often see riders collapsing in their positions when they think they are done with an exercise, so this forces them to stay tall and keep riding. For the horses, this final cavelleti forces them to think about their scope and not rush flat through the jumps.

While working through the exercise I like to think about what the horse needs to work on when deciding on the fence height. If I’m working with a horse that isn’t always the best about using their scope or figuring out how to back off of the jumps, I will raise the verticals rather quickly to competition height. This really encourages horses to not jump past their distance and be smart with their feet. However, if I need to build confidence in the horse, I will keep the verticals on the small side and concentrate on making sure they have a positive ride through the exercise.

Throughout the jump school, I work with my students to make sure they are maintaining their own balance so that they are able to maintain a steady contact with their horse’s mouth. As riders it is our job to let our horses do their job, and one of the most important jobs we have is setting a good rhythm. If you have a good rhythm, then you will be able to adjust your horses stride so that they can comfortably cover any distance you put in front of them.

About Jan Byyny

Owner of Surefire Farm in Purcellville, Va., Jan Byyny's focus is selecting, training and competing event horses. She has represented the U.S. numerous times and her career highlights includes team gold and individual bronze at the Pan American Games, being a member of the Aachen World Equestrian Games squad, competing on teams in Malmo, Sweden and Luhmuhlen, Germany, and being selected as a team alternate for the Athens Olympics. Byyny also has numerous top ten placings at three and four-star events and has competed at Burghley, Badminton and Blenheim in England, and Pau in France. Byyny is quite active in the USEA as co-chair of the Young Riders Committee, and serves on both the USEF's Eventing High Performance and Eligible Athletes Committees. To learn more about Jan, please visit her website http://www.surefireeventing.com/.