PrintThree top riders explain how they train their horses between shows to keep them at the apex of the sport without compromising their soundness.
A horse who competes at the grand prix level in show jumping has attained the pinnacle of achievement in the sport and, presumably, reached the top of the training scale. So how do you school a jumper at this level in between the rigorous shows in which he performs? Do these horses regularly practice over gargantuan fences at home? Do they take trail rides? Are they turned out? Here’s an overview of how Peter Wylde, Mandy Porter and Will Simpson maintain their top mounts.
Peter Wylde
Home Base: Wellington, Fla.
All of Wylde’s horses are exercised twice a day, six days per week. Every horse is ridden on the flat for approximately 30 minutes, which includes 10 minutes of walking before and 20 minutes of diligent schooling. This routine happens every day, either in the morning or the afternoon.
“Most days I like to have someone take the horse for a 20-minute walk in the woods after I’ve ridden them on the flat,” Wylde added.
If a horse is ridden in the morning, then that horse will do a second activity in the afternoon. Or if the horse is ridden in the afternoon, then it will always do something first in the morning.
Depending on the horse, the second activity (in addition to being ridden) is one of three different choices. Either the horse will go on the walker for an hour, go in the woods at a walk or sometimes trot for 40 minutes, or he’s longed for 30 minutes. The longeing consists of walking by hand for five minutes then at the trot for five minutes left, five minutes right then left then right, followed by another five minutes of walk by hand. The second daily activity for the horse depends on the specific horse’s fitness and training needs.
“Despite the fact that we have beautiful paddocks at our stable, I only allow some of my horses to turn out,” Wylde said. “I think turnout is a great thing in a safe environment, but some of my horses are a little too wild for me to feel comfortable letting them loose. They’re just too valuable, and I’m just afraid of injury.”
Those that don’t get turned out are hand-grazed for 20 to 30 minutes a day. On the horse’s day off, one day per week, each horse is hand-walked twice.
In general, Wylde jumps each horse twice per week but rarely jumps more than 4' at home.
“I would only school over larger fences if the horse had a specific problem that I needed to work on, like a combination issue, or if I had a rideability issue that I needed to improve,” he explained. “Occasionally, I would jump a greener horse over a few fences slightly higher than normal, just to make the horse feel more comfortable with the height at an upcoming show.”
The first school in a given week normally consists of small fences or caveletti. “I like to jump caveletti a lot, maybe three to five in a row or even just two in a line of four or five strides,” said Wylde. “I find by jumping small fences, you can accomplish a lot of things. It’s good for their ligaments, tendons and muscles while not putting too much stress on the joints. You can also work out a lot of rideability issues by doing different numbers of strides down the same line.”
“Also five caveletti in a row [10 feet apart] quickens their jump from the ground,” he continued. “For the second school of the week I might set an oxer-to-vertical combination on a shortish distance, like 33' or 34' for two strides, or a vertical to an oxer in one stride. I’ll usually set these combinations low and then build up to the horse’s respective height. Then I might have a simple line of five strides, again oxer to vertical, which I will also start low and then build up. On a single vertical, I sometimes like to use a placing rail, set 9' before the jump, which I’ll start at 3' and raise to about 4'3".”
As a general rule, Wylde doesn’t jump his grand prix horses the week after a show. If he has a rare five- or six-week break between shows, he might give a grand prix horse two weeks of flatwork before he would start jumping again, two times per week, up to the show.
A horse who competes at the grand prix level in show jumping has attained the pinnacle of achievement in the sport and, presumably, reached the top of the training scale. So how do you school a jumper at this level in between the rigorous shows in which he performs? Do these horses regularly practice over gargantuan fences at home? Do they take trail rides? Are they turned out? Here’s an overview of how Peter Wylde, Mandy Porter and Will Simpson maintain their top mounts.
Peter Wylde
Home Base: Wellington, Fla.
Grand Prix Horses: Campino, 12, gray Holsteiner gelding owned by Peter Wylde and Louisburg Farm; Esplanade, 10, Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Louisburg Farm; and Let’s Fly, 9, Hanoverian gelding owned by Les Ecuries de Meautry.
Peter Wylde has, over the many years of his illustrative career, developed a training regime that virtually all of his horses follow, regardless of their competitive level.
“My show schedule is based on my goals for the year, as well as the current level of horses I have in training,” said Wylde. “This year, my calendar revolves around qualifying and, hopefully, competing in the FEI World Cup Finals and our Olympic selection trials and, hopefully, the Olympics. That means this year I’ll be in Florida from January until the end of March and then I’ll return to Europe where I’ll spend the rest of the year.
“Each year I attend approximately 35 international shows, in addition to a handful of national shows. It’s a very busy schedule for me, but in Europe you can take only three or four horses to any given show, which means that each horse in my stable competes at between 10 and 18 shows a year, depending on the horse,” he explained.
Peter Wylde has, over the many years of his illustrative career, developed a training regime that virtually all of his horses follow, regardless of their competitive level.
“My show schedule is based on my goals for the year, as well as the current level of horses I have in training,” said Wylde. “This year, my calendar revolves around qualifying and, hopefully, competing in the FEI World Cup Finals and our Olympic selection trials and, hopefully, the Olympics. That means this year I’ll be in Florida from January until the end of March and then I’ll return to Europe where I’ll spend the rest of the year.
“Each year I attend approximately 35 international shows, in addition to a handful of national shows. It’s a very busy schedule for me, but in Europe you can take only three or four horses to any given show, which means that each horse in my stable competes at between 10 and 18 shows a year, depending on the horse,” he explained.
All of Wylde’s horses are exercised twice a day, six days per week. Every horse is ridden on the flat for approximately 30 minutes, which includes 10 minutes of walking before and 20 minutes of diligent schooling. This routine happens every day, either in the morning or the afternoon.
“Most days I like to have someone take the horse for a 20-minute walk in the woods after I’ve ridden them on the flat,” Wylde added.
If a horse is ridden in the morning, then that horse will do a second activity in the afternoon. Or if the horse is ridden in the afternoon, then it will always do something first in the morning.
Depending on the horse, the second activity (in addition to being ridden) is one of three different choices. Either the horse will go on the walker for an hour, go in the woods at a walk or sometimes trot for 40 minutes, or he’s longed for 30 minutes. The longeing consists of walking by hand for five minutes then at the trot for five minutes left, five minutes right then left then right, followed by another five minutes of walk by hand. The second daily activity for the horse depends on the specific horse’s fitness and training needs.
“Despite the fact that we have beautiful paddocks at our stable, I only allow some of my horses to turn out,” Wylde said. “I think turnout is a great thing in a safe environment, but some of my horses are a little too wild for me to feel comfortable letting them loose. They’re just too valuable, and I’m just afraid of injury.”
Those that don’t get turned out are hand-grazed for 20 to 30 minutes a day. On the horse’s day off, one day per week, each horse is hand-walked twice.
In general, Wylde jumps each horse twice per week but rarely jumps more than 4' at home.
“I would only school over larger fences if the horse had a specific problem that I needed to work on, like a combination issue, or if I had a rideability issue that I needed to improve,” he explained. “Occasionally, I would jump a greener horse over a few fences slightly higher than normal, just to make the horse feel more comfortable with the height at an upcoming show.”
The first school in a given week normally consists of small fences or caveletti. “I like to jump caveletti a lot, maybe three to five in a row or even just two in a line of four or five strides,” said Wylde. “I find by jumping small fences, you can accomplish a lot of things. It’s good for their ligaments, tendons and muscles while not putting too much stress on the joints. You can also work out a lot of rideability issues by doing different numbers of strides down the same line.”
“Also five caveletti in a row [10 feet apart] quickens their jump from the ground,” he continued. “For the second school of the week I might set an oxer-to-vertical combination on a shortish distance, like 33' or 34' for two strides, or a vertical to an oxer in one stride. I’ll usually set these combinations low and then build up to the horse’s respective height. Then I might have a simple line of five strides, again oxer to vertical, which I will also start low and then build up. On a single vertical, I sometimes like to use a placing rail, set 9' before the jump, which I’ll start at 3' and raise to about 4'3".”
As a general rule, Wylde doesn’t jump his grand prix horses the week after a show. If he has a rare five- or six-week break between shows, he might give a grand prix horse two weeks of flatwork before he would start jumping again, two times per week, up to the show.
