Accurate jumping with Mike Jackson

It’s easy to watch top riders at major events and think that a lot of what they’re doing is a world away from your own training goals – but it’s not. While you might not be keen to pop over Badminton’s Vicarage Vee any time soon, you can develop the same skills that professionals use to navigate wafer-thin skinny combinations – whatever your level.

There are so many reasons to add accuracy exercises into your schooling regime. If you event, you’ll use them to build your skills for cross-country courses, where you’ll find skinny fences, corners and angled profiles at every level. If you prefer to stay in the ring, learning to plan exact lines and jump fences on clever angles can help you shave valuable fractions of seconds off the clock. And if you just want to enjoy your horse at home? This is the kind of work that’ll make him a responsive, rideable partner, no matter what you get up to together.

Exercise

This exercise establishes – and tests – two essential skills that you’ll need out on the cross-country course: setting up early for a turn and picking a line to a jump and sticking to it. Nailing these skills won’t just help you make light work of tricky combinations, it’ll also help you ride through any occasional hairy moments.

How to ride it: This exercise is a great way to get your horse paying attention to your cues. Rather than popping straight down the line of fences – which can encourage an eager horse to rush through the grid – you’ll tackle an S-bend through three of the five elements. You’ll ride over the first, middle and last fences, tackling each one on an angle before making a 90° turn around the wing of the spare jump.

Approach in an active, engaged canter to help you keep your horse straight and even between your aids. However, don’t mistake a tearaway pace for an active one – you don’t need speed here, rather a bouncy, adjustable and responsive gait. Find your line to the first fence, aiming to cross the centre of the pole or plank at a 45° angle. As you pop the jump, look ahead to your next target to indicate to your horse where he’s going next. Keep your upper body still and tall to encourage him to come back to you and ride a crisp, smooth turn around the wing of the second fence. Your horse will need to be perfectly balanced to pull off this exercise correctly, so check his canter lead on landing and bring him back to trot to change it if you need to. Repeat the process as you find and ride your next line.

For more great exercises using this grid set-up, pick up a copy of June Horse&Rider, on sale 29 April.