Slim line

When it comes to teaching a horse something new, it’s important that you work to improve his confidence as well as his skillset – the two go hand in hand. Simple steps, repetitions and plenty of rewards are the three key things to have in your mind whenever you’re training.

Skinny fences, found on almost every cross-country course and occasionally in showjumping rounds, are often considered to be challenging because a higher level of accuracy is required. But by gradually introducing your horse to the idea of jumping a narrower fence, you’ll soon be flying over them every time.

So, whether you have a young event prospect who’s new to the game, you often run into trouble with skinnies out on course, or you’re yet to give them a go, my guide will help you and your horse tackle them confidently.

What you need

To introduce your horse to skinnies, you’ll need a pair of wings, two flags, a short pole and two longer poles to use as guide rails on the approach. You can add two more poles on the landing if you think your horse may benefit from having the extra support.

Warm up

While you’re warming up, spend time checking your controls, as well as getting your horse’s muscles ready for the exercise. Ask yourself, ‘Is he listening to my aids? Do I have control of his shoulders? Can I adjust his paces? How rideable is he?’

In my warm-up, I like to ride lots of leg-yields in both directions, especially before working over skinnies, because it then means I can adjust my horse easily and effectively should he start to drift on the approach.

Flag focus

The aim of this process is to teach your horse to focus on the flags so he starts to understand that he is expected to jump in between them. When you’re travelling at speed on the cross-country course, you need your horse to pay attention to them as soon as he’s been set up on the line. But jumping skinnies is all about straightness and accuracy on the approach, which will directly impact how successful your jump is, so it’s your job to set him up correctly.

Top tip

I never progress to the next step until I feel my horse is confident and happy. It doesn’t matter how many times it takes to get it right – some will pick things up quickly, while others will need a number of repetitions before it clicks.

Discover the rest of Laura’s tips for jumping skinnies in November Horse&Rider – out now!