| Remember holding your breath watching a Warm | | | | line wherein you will just canter in and out, the average |
| Blood or Thoroughbred horse in full flight, stretching its | | | | stride of the canter should be 12'. You have to also |
| every muscle and sinew to clear a high and wide | | | | keep 4' each for landing and taking off. This is the |
| fence. Remember marveling at the grace and flexibility | | | | basic measurement, and you may adjust according to |
| of an Hanoveran Stallion executing dressage. Your | | | | your horse's stride. |
| horse too can do these and more. You just need to | | | | A favorite gymnastic exercise of many show jumping |
| teach it a few gymnastic exercises. | | | | maestros is a ground line, a cross rail, a stride to a |
| Gymnastic exercises have been known to impart | | | | vertical, and finishing off with a bounce. You may start |
| degrees of suppleness and flexibility in breeds of | | | | off with a cross rail and trot in and canter out, which is |
| horses, hitherto not famed for these qualities. | | | | a conventional starting for any gymnastic exercise. |
| Gymnastic routines also improve jump position, | | | | Then you can add a vertical stride, then some height |
| centeredness, balance, strength especially in the | | | | to the cross rail, and then add a third jump; all of |
| horse's backs, shoulders, and hindquarters, and feel. | | | | course, depending upon the comfort level of your |
| They are preferred by both basic and experienced | | | | horse. |
| riders to develop agility and coordination. Gymnastic | | | | Cavaletti are integral to many a show jumping |
| exercises, by engaging a different set of muscles, are | | | | gymnastic routine. Bert de Nemethy, the equestrian |
| also proven to counter the crippling effects of overuse | | | | legend, popularized the classic cavaletti. De Nemethy |
| syndrome in horses, doing mostly dressage, trail riding, | | | | used to train jumpers on the flat and over fences. He |
| and reining work in shows. | | | | then thought of introducing some variety and novelty in |
| A gymnastic jumping exercise is anything that is not | | | | the routine and brought in low rails attached to |
| akin to a typical course. You may however, insert two | | | | X-shaped wooden planks at each end. |
| or more gymnastic exercises into a "mini-course." | | | | Whatever exercise you are designing, remember to |
| These exercises combine a series of ground poles | | | | build it up one obstacle at a time, so that your horse is |
| and jumps. They are not more than two strides apart | | | | comfortable and has time to adjust to the varieties in |
| than that used in a conventional jump training schedule. | | | | the routine. |
| They can be set up in varied ways with varying | | | | Gymnastic exercises are a fun way to challenge the |
| degrees of complexity: differing number of jumps, | | | | abilities of your horse. All horses are not born physically |
| verticals, oxers, ground lines, and bounces. | | | | and athletically equal. But with gymnastic exercises, |
| When you are setting up gymnastic exercises, it is | | | | you can have your horse match and also challenge |
| important that you keep in mind the stride distance | | | | the quickness and strength of a stronger and more |
| between jumps. If you wish to create a normal jump | | | | coordinated counterpart. |