Absolutely, positively Blyth!

Cross-country training should be all about building up the horse’s confidence and requires a patient and progressive approach, as Blyth Tait explains in a clinic at Puhinui. Images by Libby Law

For this clinic, our riders are Ruby Sattler and Intrepid, Anna Guy and Quick Draw, Alena Dorotich and Donner XS, Brittany Newman and Boot Scoot N Boogie, and Lisa Chapple and Stiloso Whataretheodds.

Blyth asks the riders to show him a safe cross-country position in their warm-up, as Anna shows below. 

“Nine times out of 10 things are going to go perfectly well, but the one time out of 10 it doesn’t, I want you to stay on. My rule is eyes up, shoulders up, heels down.”

Blyth gets a couple of the riders to shorten their stirrup leathers a notch, saying that even though he doesn’t have the longest legs on the planet himself, he goes up two holes between show jumping and cross-country. “It’s so you can stay in balance as the centre of gravity moves forward and the stride opens, but it’s also so we can absorb the impact of landing down a drop,” he explains.

“People think that long stirrups will give them security – it won’t. It will make you loose and it will move you around. You’ve got to have a good angle in your knee.”

From halt, Blyth asks Anna to take her legs off her horse’s side so there is daylight showing and ask him to walk on with her seat: she can’t. “I’m trying to show you that your seat doesn’t make the horse go forward. I’ve heard other instructors say ‘sit down and ride that horse forward with your seat.’ Well, it just doesn’t work, in my opinion. I want you nice and light with the seat, and the lower leg on.”

Blyth also reminds everybody to keep their eyes up and look ahead. “We don’t need to look at the horse’s head – they are attached to their necks and hopefully they’ll still be there at the end of the session! Look where you are going. It will make you much more prepared and extroverted as a rider.”

Honesty – the best policy

Blyth tells the riders they should bear in mind that today is a learning day, not a competition, and he won’t be dishing out any prizes.

The first fence of the day is small and straightforward (below).

Blyth gets the riders to jump this on its own at first, before adding on a brush fence afterwards so they jump two fences in a row.

The simple rail fence is inviting and doesn’t require maximum impulsion as it is only small, says Blyth. “If you stand right off, you’re probably doing something wrong; if you speed up, you’re probably doing something wrong; if you slow down, you’re doing something wrong. If it just fits into your canter, you’re probably doing something right. I’m looking for that preparation and correct way of travelling, so the jump just becomes part of your canter.”

As the riders approach the brush fence (below), which is a spread with a nice sloping profile, Blyth wants them to move up to third gear, to meet it on a lengthening stride. “Let’s get the horses a little bit more in front of the leg, building the impulsion and sailing nicely over.”

After watching the group tackle the fences a few times, Blyth calls them into the middle for a debrief. 

“Would you like me to be nice, or would you like me to be honest?” he asks. 

“This is a bit chaotic. There’s way too much attacking the fences and you wonder why you’re out of control by the time you get to the second one. Some of you are riding way too fast. 

“You’ve got to create what you want and then allow the fence to come to you. The stride is changing in front of the jumps and that’s a bad thing. You should set up the canter in the turn and then maintain the balance and the impulsion, so the jumps fit into your canter, rather than you isolating the jump.”

Blyth explains that he wants to see the riders in second gear to the first fence, moving up to third gear over the brush. “I want you to be a little bit more prepared and proactive and owning the gears, rather than just being a passenger.”

A controlled canter

The next task consists of cantering up quite a steep hill to jump this little log on the top before cantering down the other side again, as demonstrated by Brittany below.

Blyth wants the riders to approach in a much more controlled and engaged canter than before, but they must maintain that springy canter all the way – he doesn’t want any ‘trantering’ up the hill. “The horses haven’t walked the course and they don’t know that they are going to be jumping off into space, so we’ve got to give them time to assess. Speed won’t be your friend. We’ve got to be patient and keep them together. Our shoulders need to be up and I want to see you cantering nicely away as though there’s a skinny jump at the bottom of the hill. 

“My concern is if I take the speed out of the recipe, what’s left? We’ve got to have impulsion, control and rhythm. Anyone can gallop fast over a jump.”

All the riders manage this fence in a smooth and controlled fashion and Blyth is delighted, giving them a big thumbs up. “You people were just pretending to be useless before!” he jokes. “Now we have the horses in balance, they’re in front of the leg and you’re looking like superstars.”

Coping with a hot horse

Ruby’s lovely thoroughbred gelding (above) is a touch on the exuberant side and Blyth has plenty of hints about how to handle him. He advises Ruby to relax and soften, and not be tempted to fight with her horse in front of the fence. “He is what he is – a feisty, quality, thoroughbred. You’re doing great, as he is a hot horse and he’s got a big engine. You don’t have to complain about lack of impulsion, he’s got oodles of that!”

When Ruby sets off to jump after standing around, Blyth tells her to do some rising trot first. “Just talk to him and let him relax before picking up canter. If he was lazy, I’d go walk to canter, but he’s not, so we have to go walk, trot, then canter, to keep him smooth and flowing.

“He’s like a Ferrari. But if you’ve ever watched Formula 1, they change their tyres when it rains, and they don’t just slam on the brakes. They brake a little bit, then a little bit, then a little bit more. You’ve got to ride him like it’s wet weather – you can’t ask him to stop in one stride. You have to be more progressive and subtle, because he’s very sensitive.”

Riding a corner

Although this corner is a relatively small one for these riders, Blyth feels it’s a perfect training exercise. “If I was preparing to go to Badminton, I wouldn’t necessarily be practising over Badminton-size fences. I’d be working on my straightness, accuracy, control, rhythm.”

The normal way to approach a corner is to take the two angles and dissect them, then jump perpendicular to that line, Blyth explains. He asks the riders how fast their canter should be coming to the corner – they guess high second or third gear.

“I’d say low second towards first gear quite frankly,” says Blyth. “It’s actually an upright and there’s a chance of a run-out. If I was the course designer, I would give you a really nice ground rail here, because for me this corner has a bit of a nasty profile. So I think it’s really important that you sit up and keep the horse together – don’t get them long, fast and flat.

“My first wish is you go over the corner and my second wish is you stop. I don’t have a third wish. I hate, hate, hate run-outs. It shows the horse is in charge and that you’ve lost accuracy and control.”

If the horse does happen to run out, the rider should stop immediately and bring him back to face the problem without circling away. The horse has to understand he must look for a way over the problem, not a way around, says Blyth.

Anna manages the corner pretty accurately, but Blyth would like to see her own more of a first gear canter . “I love your guts and determination, but he’s a bit wooden and strung out. When you get more of this elasticity and control of your gears, you’ll be great.”

Alena jumps the corner absolutely beautifully (below) and Blyth is impressed. “I’m really excited – this is proper riding.”

Two strides or nothing

Blyth is keen for the riders to tackle this two-stride combination, but it will require them to start riding in a solid rhythm. “Three strides here would be very unattractive and one stride would be very unattractive, so we’ve got to ride the correct rhythm to make it flow easily beneath us. We’ve got a spread on the way in, and an upright with no ground rail on the way out, so we have to make sure that we’re sitting up. But we have to be travelling forward first, because if we’re a bit hesitant, we’re going to have to suddenly accelerate to get the two strides. So you’ve got to build up a bit of engine in the turn, close the leg and come in as if you mean business – it’s a positive ride.”

Ruby does a brilliant job here of setting up the correct stride on the approach and her horse flows through beautifully as a result (below)

A matter of trust

Jumping water is an extreme test of your horse’s trust and confidence, says Blyth. “I have no doubt that if I rode my horses up to a bank and asked them to jump off and land in a 20’ deep swollen river, they would. But of course they would only do it for me once, because I would destroy their trust!

“We’re going to develop that trust today and walk away with our horses thinking it was a fun experience. I don’t own a water jump and never have. I’ve had some horses in my career that have been very nervous about water and with patience and progressive training they have happily gone into the most challenging four-star fences. You just have to put the work in.”

Blyth begins the water jump training by getting all the horses to walk, trot and then canter through the water until they are all happily splashing through (below).

He then asks the riders what they would like to do, and most want to start with the Pre-Novice level vertical rails, off the bank into the water (below).

Anna’s horse is a little hesitant, but Blyth urges her to be patient with him (below).“I think he’s genuine, he’s just a bit nervous.” He also reminds Anna not to go too fast. 

“It sounds very Irish, but in fact the slower she goes, the quicker she’s going to be, because when you fluster your horse, he gets anxious and goes into reverse. When you are supportive and holding his hand, he’s much happier. When horses are spooky, the more we chase them, the spookier they get.”

The next level up of the same fence is more daunting for the horses, with the rails much closer to the water. Then interestingly, those who choose to tackle the Intermediate jump into the water have no issues at all.

“That’s because the Intermediate fence is not technical; it’s purely and simply a test of bravery, whereas the one-star fence is also a test of balance and control and engagement,” says Blyth. “You’re all brave – in fact I’m scared of your guts and determination! But it’s those basic elements I’d be working on.”

Nailing the triple brush

This fence is a test of accuracy, but the major difficulty is that it also involves a bit of spread, explains Blyth. “We know with a spread we should really be meeting it on a forward stride so we’ve got enough oomph, but that’s where the lack of control and potential run-out comes from.”

To help the riders stay on their line Blyth tells them to ride a square turn to the triple brush. By bringing the horse’s shoulders around, they can stay organised and are able to ride positively forward with confidence.  

“If you come wheeling through and try to get organised in front of the fence, anything could happen. I want you to set up the success of the jump by riding a quality turn and ride forward as if you’re going down the centreline of the dressage arena.”

This was the type of fence Lisa felt she needed to practice the most, but under Blyth’s tutelage she has no problems nailing this one. “I think she just wanted to show us how good she is!” says Blyth.

  • This article was first published in the March 2019 issue of NZ Horse & Pony

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