In the second half of her Eventing Classes at Equitana, Mary King played ringmaster as she had riders jumping two fences in a rather small arena. Whilst it was highly entertaining watching the combinations perform under such pressure, the focus was on training and the jumps were kept low. “Don’t be tempted to just jump big fences straight away,” Mary said. It is important to start small and when it does come to jumping bigger, Mary passed on some advice that she once took from Captain Mark Phillips. “The bigger the fence gets, it’s easier to start riding faster but speed doesn’t help the horse,” she said. You want to imagine that you are bouncing a ball, in order to make ball bounce higher you don’t push down faster or slower, you push down with more energy. “The more energy you can create, the easier you get to the fence and the horse will jump more easily.”
Mary explains the excercise
The purpose of jumping these two small fences was to teach the horse to land on the leg that you want them to. You need to indicate to the horse which way you are going after landing and this is something that should be practised at home. Horses are just like humans as they are essentially left or right handed. “If you don’t do anything as a rider, he will just land on what leg he is strongest on,” Mary said. By alternating which way you go after a simple fence and being strong with your aids, you will jump a more effective round. It is important to work on things that the horse finds difficult and this is an exercise that appears simple but really is a test. “If you’re consistent with your training then they learn.”
Fiona Hawkes works on taking off on one lead and landing on the other .......
Mary King’s mini classes were well received by audience members as they soaked in her knowledge. Erin Giddings travelled with her mum Rosemary from Ocean Grove to see the super star in action. Having worked for Sam Griffiths in the UK throughout 2010, Erin was keen to learn the secrets of the champion that she had watched throughout her time abroad. “They’re easy exercises to be able to understand and you would be able to do them at home,” Erin said.
.......... as does Edith Kane
Mary gave lots of little tips to improve riding at any level over the course of Equitana however she encouraged riders to seek help and be open to criticism. “It’s very easy to get into bad habits,” she said. “I go to lessons still and I love it.” The six time Olympian has certainly achieved much success and we are so grateful to have been given some insight into what it takes to be a true champion.
