Albert seemed to find Niklas the scariest thing in the arena but they were soon friends
Niklas Lindback is well known for not only being one of the world’s top eventing riders but also as a trainer of young horses so it wasn’t surprising when some riders at the recent Australian clinic with Niklas brought along young horses
When we heard that Dave Coleman was bringing along a three year old horse, it seemed a bit of a stretch for such a young horse but during the lesson it became clear that this was no ordinary young horse. Dave, who has only just started riding again after a stint of travelling, rode Prince Albert, a three year old Section D Welsh Cob by Llanarth Goldust out of Nawarrah Park Angelica. Albert was rising two years when Dave purchased him from Nawarrah Park Stud in Victoria and Dave broke the young Welsh cob in himself with the help of Dan Moloney. They have been getting the basic dressage skills underway with trainer Roger East but Albert had never jumped before coming to the clinic with Niklas.
Having watched the lesson and witnessed Albert’s taking to jumping like a duck to water (literally too as it was intermittently pouring with rain) we were, needless to say, impressed by this young horse, his patient rider and the fabulous Niklas as all three made the first jumping lesson look so easy (well, most of the time!)
Having warmed up and worked on 'pointing the inside hip', it's time to start with some poles
Soon we’ll have some articles about Niklas’ thoughts on training young horses but first we thought it might be interesting to ask Dave what were the points from his lessons with Niklas that really struck a chord. Here they are;
Things I learnt from Niklas
- With a young horse always begin with poles on the ground and start by getting straight lines to the poles in a calm relaxed rhythm letting the horse find its way over the poles (I pretend to myself that they’re not there)
- Niklas told me to put the outside hip back and use the inside hip leading the line (in less technical terms, move your outside bum slightly to the middle of the saddle!). This allows your horse to clearly understand your line and direction and allows you to make small adjustments to your hips to straighten up or slightly correct a line.
- When you first start to jump over small fences, look for your line early, keep a good forward rhythm out of any turn, maintain your leg to the fence and keep your hand soft and forward.
- Something I learnt during the cross country session was how to introduce a fence that can be jumped both up hill and downhill i.e. banks. Always jump it uphill first as it's much more inviting for a young horse.
- When coming into an incline on a cross country course that flattens off at the top towards a jump, always kick at the start of the hill until the top then sit quietly and maintain leg. The horse then has enough impulsion to jump the fence confidently.
- Never turn a young horse away from a fence but keep your leg on and always make them go over it, even from a stand still as the fence should be very small. If a young horse does stop for some reason and you can't get them over the jump, let the horse look and see the jump and even walk him/her up to it, without making a big deal of it (even letting them touch the brush or scary obstacle) and come around the next time with a good line, forward out of the corner (if in an arena) and maintaining impulsion.
- If the rider does the right thing, then everything should hopefully go to plan and that most of the time it's rider error when things don't go to plan.
- Always remember to give young horses small breaks during the lesson, giving them chill out time.
- Gaining such great knowledge from people like Niklas eliminates frustration so the more I can learn and put into practise the happier I am and the better my horse will perform.
Niklas demonstrates turning with your hip and shoulders - using it to help direct your horse rather than just turning with the reins
The first real jump for Albert
Things don't always go smoothly but it's the rider's job to stay calm, not worry and try again until it happens much more easily (below)
Time to check out the water jump (which had real water in it thanks to the rain) and soon they were jumping it with ease
