I judged this weekend and had a great time watching young people try to guide their ponies and horses around the course. My biggest observation was that the communication was lacking between the kids and their animals.
To set the stage, the show was in a small indoor ring, and the first jump was coming back to the ingate on the diagonal. I was just amazing to me that only a few riders really had a good rhythm to the first jump. So I got to see a lot of bad first jumps. Since the first jump is important to my first impression, we should try to have a nice first fence. There really wasn’t a good way to do a circle in the far end of the ring, so the rider must be able to get the canter and get the rhythm right away. Most of the riders just started and were stuck to ride out the poor rhythm they had, lots of chips because the horse did not have the power to make any distance look good.
The question being asked is: How do I get a good rhythm in a short space? It goes back to having your horse well broke, and responsive. Practice at home doing lengthening and shortening exercises until you can dial in the length of stride you want without worry that you will get too much, or too little power in your canter. Training will teach your horse to listen and respond. Poles on the ground with a set number of strides, practiced in different number of strides will help you feel what your horse’s power and length of stride are.
When I enter the show ring, knowing I must strike off and get to work right away, I plan my entrance to give me the most time CANTERING, so I have more time perfecting my rhythm, before I am aiming at the first jump. The beautiful trot across the diagonal is nice, but if you plop over the first jump, what good was it? After I pick up my canter, I will ask my horse to go a little bit bigger than I want for the jumps, then I will collect him back so that his balance is coming from his backend. This prepares his balance to help make the first jump look good no matter what distance you find. An even rhythm is the most important “look” of the round. Creeping into the line, and zooming out, is not pretty. Running down the last line and eating the last jump, just shows me that your horse is not listening to you, or you are not aware of what is happening with your horse’s stride. Practice , practice, practice, that is the fun of this sport. Have fun, be safe.