Mary King is Britain’s leading lady of eventing and at Equitana in Melbourne she has won the support of Australia as well. She has competed at six Olympics over 30 years, pulling in two silver and a bronze medal in the process as well as two gold and a silver at various World Equestrian Games.
Despite her success Mary is incredibly approachable and extremely humble.
“I've been lucky enough to have the drive and determination to keep going,” she says.
Growing up in a family that was not at all horsey, luck may have had something to do with it but there is no denying that you don’t get as far as Mary has without putting in a lot of damn hard work! As Mary sat aboard Australia’s own Olympian GV Top of the Line, or Carlo as we know him, in her Masterclass on Friday, we were given a little insight into what it takes to get to the top.
There were five main things that really stood out and can be applied to any level of riding. Three groups of two riders and horses came out for 20 minutes at a time, providing an hour packed full of information.
Whilst the horses ranged from Pre-Novice through to 3* level, they were not perfect (and no horse or rider ever is!) and they helped Mary to reveal some secrets that we can all try at home.
Position
“The better you ride, the better position, the more secure you are going to be in the saddle,” Mary says. “You shouldn’t really fall off unless your horse falls over.”
Mary raved about Andrew Nicholson and, if you’ve seen him ride cross country, you can understand why he has earned the nickname of ‘Mr. Stickability.’
“He just stands there, he is amazingly upright.” Mary concentrated on all of the rider’s positions but she particularly focused on John Twomey and Will Enzinger who were riding the most experienced horses.
A correct position when jumping is not only about style but also a matter of safety. You should keep your lower leg forward, avoid sticking your bottom out and keep your shoulders back. Mary pointed out that John folded too much over his fences and put his hands quite far up the horse’s neck; positions such as this can result in a rider coming off far more easily than they should.
“Two riders at the Olympics fell off who shouldn’t have because their horse just stumbled,” Mary said.
She pointed out that a horse is also much more likely to pull if you’re galloping along with your shoulders forward and it is important to use your upper body. Mary made the crowd laugh saying that she hoped that the Adelaide bound John would take her advice.
“I don’t want to see you have fallen off on cross country in the 4* at Adelaide, otherwise I’ll think ‘oh he hasn’t sat back!’”
Ditches
With the younger horses, Mary had Fiona Hawkes and Lauren Hill working over a plastic water jump to simulate a ditch in the middle of the arena.
“It's all about gradually building up their confidence and trust,” she says. “You want your horse to trust you and you trust him so they will do anything for you.”
Mary will spend a lot of time trotting backwards and forwards over ditches and feed bags held down with poles until the horse is comfortable with the exercise.
To make the exercise more difficult you can add a fence after the ditch and get them comfortable with that. You can then swap it around and jump a fence before the ditch before proceeding on to a fence, ditch and then a fence again.
Adjusting strides
Another exercise that Mary had some intermediate horses do was with two jumps in a straight line with a comfortable five strides in between them. This allows you to practice condensing and lengthening the horse’s strides between fences.
Edith Kane and Rachael Lee had to count their strides out loud as they went through the exercise. Mary and Carlo demonstrated each time, making it look rather easy, changing from five to four to six strides in between the jumps.
“Your horse must learn to be very obedient and listen to the rider,” Mary says. However it is up to the rider to provide clear instructions. “They rely on us to bring them in at the right canter.” Counting out loud will help you be successful whilst doing this exercise.
“These horses have made it look quite easy but you’ll find it’s not that easy without lots of practice,” Mary explained.
Narrow fences
With these same combinations, Mary also concentrated on introducing horses to narrow fences. The most important part of introducing a horse to narrow jumps is to instill confidence in them.
She recommends placing two poles on either side of the jump in a V shape; going in to the jump without these and being unprepared may ruin their confidence.
“I start off by being very kind to them,” Mary says. You then put the rails on the ground and make sure they are going comfortably over that before taking the poles away. Mary demonstrated over a very narrow fence on Carlo.
“He’s been trained, he doesn’t even think of running out,” she says as the crowd applauds.
It is important to go through these stages very slowly. “It’s much better to keep them happy and keep them confident.”
Improving your horse’s technique
Mary also pointed out that Will’s horse did not have the best natural jump over a fence. By creating a V with two poles on a fence within a combination, Mary showed how you can use different exercises to adjust the horse’s technique.
She spoke of her own horse Kings Temptress who won the Rolex Kentucky 4* last year and how the mare could not jump as a five year old.
“I wondered what on earth I had bred!” she laughed. “I would never have dreamt that she would jump around big courses.”
By using little exercises such as the one she had Will and John go through, Mary helped her horse develop its own way of jumping.
“Some horses that jump badly lack confidence. Build up their confidence and they will learn to use their body in a better way”
By demonstrating these exercises in her fascinating Masterclass, Mary certainly showed how riders of all levels can help their horse develop and improve its own way of jumping. Come back soon Mary .........
Article by Emily Penney
Photos by Libby Law and Emily Penney
