Water jumps can often be the ‘bogey’ fence on course and course designers are continually coming up with innovative ways to challenge horses and riders, especially at the higher levels.
Many water fences have a drop element to them and therefore horses need to be schooled at both water jumps and drop fences separately before putting the combination together. For the rider too it is important to have developed a secure position over a standard drop fence before tackling drops into water
Take a look at Chris Burton’s explanation of how to use your body position correctly at a drop fence in the video below and why he thinks that the concept of leaning back at these fences may not be the best approach on modern cross country courses
Having worked on the rider’s position, it was time to introduce the drop into the water followed by the added complexity of an apex jump out of the water. As Chris mentioned in the video above, the cross country designer nowadays often introduces a fence coming out of the water which requires the horse and rider to be immediately on the ball after jumping into the water.
The rider needs to be in the correct position for the drop into the water, eyes ahead and focussed on the next question. To make the exercise a little more difficult Chris also introduced a curving line through the water to an apex coming out of the water, using the skills practised in a previous exercise
Some of the riders had experienced problems at this particular water fence previously during a competition and Chris hopped on board Sophia’s 7 year old thoroughbred Tiger Bug to show her how much rein she needed to give – all of it!
Many thanks to Chris Burton for allowing us to video the clinic at Canberra and participating riders Kate Mckenzie (Astro), Sophia Evstigneev (Tiger Bug), Samantha Harrison (Paddy) and Julie-anne Humphries (Camelot's Blue Almighty)
