As part of British Eventing’s commitment to improving safety for horse and rider on cross-country, the organization’s leaders have produced a cross-country riding video as part of their Safety Manifesto to visually show how to—and how not to—ride on the cross-country phase.
BE Chief Executive Mike Etherington-Smith said: “We recognized there was a wish for a visual instructional aid accessible to any rider who wanted to start or improve his or her cross-country riding technique. The short film highlights common rider faults that can be addressed with training, such as cross-country riding speed, approach to fences and jumping techniques over a variety of fences.”
BE’s performance manager, Yogi Breisner, was involved in choreographing the training video, which clearly shows a rider riding correctly and in balance, as well as riding with common flaws such as too fast, ahead of the motion, and loss of position.
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“Riding across country is very different to riding a show jumping course and needs to be practiced before attempting your first event,” explained Breisner. “It’s important to build you and your horse’s confidence over a variety of different types of fences that you may meet at an event.”
The video is available online at www.britisheventing.com, by following the link from the Safety icon on the homepage, and is free to view.
