United States Eventing Association

Grid Pro Quo with Tim Bourke

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

One of the challenges as an instructor is coming up with exercises that are appropriate for a wide range of horses and riders; and while at first glance this exercise can seem a bit complex and intimidating, it is actually perfect for horses and riders from Elementary level right up through Advanced. I borrowed the base of this exercise from my longtime coach Jimmy Wofford, and then made it a little different to suit the needs of both my horses and my student’s horses.

Another great thing about this exercise is that it is something you can leave set up in your ring for a few weeks and just build on it with each jump school. I especially recommend this for the less experienced horses and riders, as I always prefer to end a jump session a little early, than to push yourself too much past your comfort zone and run into trouble. With so many different options, it is easy to get overwhelmed, so I like to break things up into pieces. And if this means that you need to break this up into a few different jump schools, then that is fine. On the other hand, if you’re a more experienced pair, it can sometimes be good to push yourself a bit and play with all the different options in one jump school at a lower height. And then you can come back the next time and challenge yourself with some bigger fences.

How

To start this exercise, you actually want to take all the jump poles out except for your first ground pole. After you’ve finished your basic flat warm up, you’ll then start by trotting over the pole and through the entire set of standards on the centerline. You want to approach the pole from each direction, but always go through the complete set of standards. Especially for the greener horses, you want them to get the idea of always going straight through the line after a jump. And for the less experienced riders, it’s good to have a goal of staying straight through after the jump, as many riders tend to stop riding on the landing side of a jump. So it’s good to instill the basics early and often!

Once your horses is trotting quietly over the ground pole, you can add in the first jump. Again, depending on your level this first jump can start out as a small cross rail, or you can start right off with a small vertical. Now that you have a jump, don’t change anything about how you’re riding your horse. Keep the same forward trot that you had over the ground pole, look ahead through your line of standards and ride forward and straight. One thing to keep in mind is that there should be one full trot step between the ground pole and the first jump. So if your horse is taking off a bit early, simply sit up taller, steady your trot and give your horse every opportunity to make the right decision with their footwork. If your horse is really trying to rush now that there is a jump in place, you can always come to a halt after the first jump. Ideally you would be able to halt before the set of standards for the first oxer, but if your horse is really trying to run off, this can be your goal that you work on for your first jump session. And then you can come back to the exercise the next day. On the flip side, if your horse is slowing down between the ground pole and first jump, then you know that you need to keep your leg on a big more as you go over the ground pole. And if they are still slowing down, then make sure that as you land over the first jump that you really send them forward through the line of standards.

Assuming that your horse is jumping the first jump quietly and confidently, you can add in your second jump. Unless the horse is really struggling with their straightness, I prefer for this jump to be a vertical. However, you know your horse best, so if you think that this should be another cross rail that’s fine. And the same goes for the remaining two oxers on the centerline. While I prefer for them to be traditional oxers, if the horse or rider is really struggling with straightness, they can be cross rail oxers, where the front set of standards is a cross rail and the back set of standards is a vertical. For the rider more so than the horse, the cross rails give a definite place to focus.

For the greener horses and riders, this centerline gymnastic might be enough for the first day. For the more advanced horses and riders, this is where all the work on straightness starts to pay off because now you have to start adding in the bending lines. Everyone knows that before you start attempting bending lines, you need to make sure that your horse is straight between your aids.

However, with that said, a common problem with this exercise is that once you’ve done the centerline gymnastic a few times, the horse can get a little confused when you try to add in bending lines after the first oxer. For this reason, I will oftentimes leave the outside jumps as ground poles for the first time through each direction. Again, this is just one more way to set yourself and more importantly, your horse, up for success.

As an instructor, I often find that I have to remind my students not to only look where they want to go, but to also put their weight in the stirrup of the direction that they’re going. Not only will your horse naturally want to follow the weight of the rider, but it also mentally gives them a clue as to which direction you want to go while you’re approaching to preceding jump.

One of the greatest things about adding in the bending lines is that for the horses that were rushing at the beginning, this is the perfect way to get them to pay attention. This is also another reason why you always want to change which direction you’re coming from and which direction you’re going to land. For most horses this is enough to get them to really tune into their riders and start listening. So then, it is up to the rider to give their horse the best ride possible to reward them for listening!

As you work through the centerline gymnastic and then the bending line exercises, you are looking for your horse to use their body effectively and efficiently. This is one of the reasons why you always approach the centerline gymnastic at the trot because it is always much easier to get an accurate distance out of the trot than the canter. You also want to remember that it is your horse’s job to jump the jump, so don’t try to help them too much.

After you’ve successfully done the centerline exercise incorporating the oxer 32’ on the left and the vertical 21’ on the right, you can start to canter some single fences. My favorite course is to do the centerline gymnastic, bending right after the first oxer to the vertical 21’ away. Then, canter left all the way around the ring and jump the single vertical 60’ to the oxer and keep turning right to jump the two verticals that are 32’ apart.

As you work through this exercise, whether it is on day or over the course of several days, you need to look at yourself as your coach. If you start to have a runout, you know that you’ve make the exercise a little bit too challenging a little bit too quickly. Most times, if a horse starts to really shut down it is because of a lack of understanding. Horses are not bad creatures by nature, so we need to keep that in mind and take a look at the situation we’ve put them in. As your own coach, you will need to take a step back and figure out where you got ahead of yourself. If this means that you have to put the jumps down at ground poles for a few times through that’s completely fine! You want there to be an understanding between the horse and rider. Sometimes breaking it down to the basics is exactly what you need.

About Tim Bourke

Native of Ireland, Time Bourke has established himself as a top rider and sought-after trainer in the United States after two years of working for Eventing legend Bruce Davidson and another six years with leading rider Sharon White. He has completed numerous three-stars as well as Rolex Kentucky CCI4* with his long-time partner Luckaun Quality. He is currently based out of his wife Marley’s Stone’s Throw Farm in Berryville, Va. To learn more about Tim visit www.bourkeeventing.com