PrintOn Day 3 of the 2012 George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session, Jan. 3-7 in Wellington, Fla., it was McLain Ward’s turn to step in and conduct the day’s lessons due to Morris’ continuing illness.
As he got acquainted with each session's participants, Ward sent riders around the ring to get their horses loosened up. However, since the day's school was to include quite a bit of jumping, he limited the flatwork to about 15 minutes.
"When you're in the warm-up arena at a competition, I'm not a huge fan of complicated flatwork, because I think you can irritate the horse," Ward said. "My goals are to get the horse supple, relaxed, and going forward and back. If he's doing those commands, he's going to ride better in the ring than most of the people who are out there. I think people can create a problem by doing too much."
As a refresher from the previous day's gymnastics session with Kent Farrington, Ward asked riders to start cantering on a large circle over a single cross-rail with ground poles set 9 feet from the base on either side. "Ride the first pole, not the jump itself," he explained. "Let the pole come to you. If you focus on the jump, I guarantee you're going to miss. One of the reasons I like this exercise is that not only is it good for the horses, but it's also great for the riders. It really makes you stay disciplined to what you're focusing on. You cannot get anxious. If you get anxious, you're going to screw it up every time."
Moving on to a short serpentine pattern of four to five fences, followed by a second winding course, which included a liverpool, riders quickly discovered that while the jumps weren't huge, there were plenty of questions to answer in the bending lines.
Reiterating the importance of position, Ward described how a lackadaisical attitude to the basics will come back to bite riders when jumps increase in size and frequency. "We have to pay attention to our weaknesses," he warned. "You have to be disciplined. I hear people say all the time, 'Oh well, it's just a cross-rail, I can throw my body forward or not keep my weight in my heels,' but then they just think they'll magically be able to do it when there's five jumps in a row? It doesn't work."
Maintain Your Position
Ward encouraged everyone to be mindful of their horse's rhythm while keeping their hands up and bodies back, maintaining connection between hand and leg, and avoiding any exaggerated movements in the saddle such as leaning too far to the inside. He explained that a rider's position must remain strong and in the correct place whether a jump is 2'6" or 5'6".
One flaw will lead to another. For example, if a rider's wrists are in the wrong place, the elbows soon will be too, followed by the shoulders. "I don't want to see any more motion than that with your upper body—let the horse jump the fence first," he instructed one rider. "I keep harping on this point, but in your mind's eye you've got to see and feel the horse coming up through your chest. Don't overextend your body and jump over your hands. Then your lower leg slips back, the connection is lost, and the horse's hind end is gone, and you lose all your power. You can't give me one good reason why overdoing the balance and jumping up the neck helps the horse, so there's not one good reason to do it.
