11 showjumping training tips from three-time Hickstead Derby winner John Ledingham and youth medallist Tabitha Kyle

Youth and experience combined to bring some great showjumping training tips to the audience for the Sunday (22 December) Lemieux masterclass at London International Horse Show as 2024 drew to a close.

John Ledingham, a three-time winner of the Hickstead Derby and frequent Nations Cup rider for Ireland who is now a top coach, led the session, with 17-year-old Tabitha Kyle – already a four-time team bronze medallist in children-on-horses and junior ranks  for Britain – as the demo rider. Read on for some great advice from the pair’s session at ExCeL…

1. It may be a good idea to move into canter early in the session if a horse starts out tense. Tabitha’s ride Morginto (known as Gin) is a little on edge as he moves from the warm-up to the public arena.

“Let him go forward to canter nice and slowly, let him have a look around at all these people,” says John. “It’s nice to see a horse that’s alive and he’s curious as to what’s happening.

“It’s important as a coach to constantly be assessing the horse’s way of going. This horse started out fresh, aware and sharp but as he settles into his work, I’m quite happy with him.”

2. John likes to assess a horse’s conformation too.

He says: “We look at static conformation – the shape of the head, the neck, the position of the shoulder, the length of back, the position of the hindleg and what the model is like. This horse is pleasing to the eye, he’s in proportion, his neck fits his body.

“We also look at conformation in movement – you can have a very correct horse in static conformation, but then you find restrictions in the shoulder or the hindleg is behind or they lack quality in movement. But we don’t see any of those things with this horse.”

3. Riders and coaches should also explore the training scale in the warm-up phase before jumping.

“We’re always thinking about the training scale,” says John. “What is this horse’s rhythm like? We think about suppleness and relaxation – he looks like a very supple horse now that he has relaxed. And we consider acceptance of the contact – his transitions have been very nice.”

4. Balance is vital.

“We are looking for an understanding of the horse finding his own balance – the horse has to travel in balance and carry himself before he can carry the rider,” says John, who emphasises it’s important not to shorten the neck too much so the horse can use it for balance.

“The neck muscles are the first group of muscles to get tired – it’s important to give them a rest frequently, even if it’s just 15 seconds of stretch, then the horse is ready to work again and carry themselves.”

When Tabitha rides a transition to walk, John tells her to ask Gin to walk forward off the leg, establish balance in walk, vary the flexion, move him off the leg and then let him stretch, rather than just falling into walk and straight into a stretch.

5. Another of John’s showjumping training tips is that a horse might trot over 40 or 50 poles on the ground before he starts jumping, using various exercises.

“We are working on the horse’s proprioception – his awareness of where he puts his feet, how does he make that judgement? Additionally, we’re buliding engagement of the core, self-carriage and the horse finding his own balance. And there’s also a rotation of the spine in trot, so working over poles warms up the big long back muscles,” says John, who instructs Tabitha to ride in a light seat over the poles.

John says Tabitha “rides beautifully”, just encouraging her to put her foot more into the stirrup so it sits under the ball of her foot rather than her toes, a position point she’s already working on correcting.

6. Straightness is critical.

“Don’t have too much bend when riding a small circle,” advises John. “The most difficult horse to ride is a horse that’s not straight – a forward, straight, light horse is a beautiful horse to ride.”

7. It’s a constant dialogue.

“If you ride five times a week for an hour, that’s only 20 hours a month – that’s the only time the horse is being educated, learning from you,” says John. “It’s important from the minute you sit on the horse that there’s an ongoing discussion and education. The horse won’t be sitting in his stable reading a book on jumping or dressage or transitions in between!”

8. Make it easy initially.

John prefers to start an exercise on the horse’s softer side – left rein, in Gin’s case – and then progress to the trickier rein.

“This horse isn’t as straight on the right rein, he likes to cut in with his quarters,” says John. “He needs hours more dressage – dressage for jumpers, which is all about the training scale – suppleness, rhythm, acceptance of contact.”

9. Don’t just jump a fence and stop.

John says: “Find the balance in the trot or canter, move it towards medium and back to collected, let the horse carry himself – straight, forward, light. Then go to walk and establish walk, have your back loose. Ask yourself, is he tracking over? Is he still round and good in frame?

“When you’re happy, let him stretch. He’s not finished with self carriage and attention to detail until you say so. That attention to detail is vital in the grand prix ring over there.”

10. Use gears and flexion.

“It’s important to explore the power of the canter – moving between medium and collected, not just staying in working canter – so you always have the gears you need and transitions in the pace,” says John. “And every time you ride, teach the horse flexion and moving off the leg to relax them, then if a horse gets tense halfway through a round, you can use flexion to counteract that.”

11. Rider position and weight distribution matters.

John and Tabitha discuss the fact that if she leans an inch to one side, 100% of her weight goes there; if she leans forward too much, 100% of her weight goes forward. This point was also made in the Dickie Waygood masterclass earlier in the week in London.

“It’s so important where we sit and how strong the rider has to be in their core to hold that balance,” says John, as the pair wrap up their masterclass of showjumping training tips.

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