In the video below, brought to you by Absorbine, five-star eventer and Grand Prix dressage rider Laine Ashker explains and demonstrates how to correctly ride two different lines, both on five strides: an oxer to a vertical and a vertical to an oxer.

“There is a very different way you should ride these two lines,” Ashker, who recently completed the Cosequin® Lexington CCI4*-S at Kentucky with her up-and-coming mare Lovedance, said. “Depending on which fence is first, there’s a different way you want to place your horse in front of the jump to make the five strides easy and rhythmical.”

Horses tend to jump verticals a little shallower, she explains, so it’s wise to approach the vertical to the oxer line with a more open canter. Over oxers, however, horses tend to produce bigger jumps. “If I’m approaching the oxer first, I want to place my horse a little closer to the base of the jump,” Ashker noted. “That way, she’ll create a nice round bascule and I don’t have to pull back to get the five done to the vertical.”

In the video below, she first demonstrates riding Lovedance through the oxer to the vertical line. “In this line, the related distance of five strides is a little tighter because horses naturally produce bigger jumping efforts over oxers. So, my goal going in is to wait until the base of the jump and really sit up on landing,” Ashker said. “It’s also very important to know your horse. My mare has a really big step, so I always want to be on the waiting stride to the oxer and I won’t have to pull her back at the vertical.”

When approaching the vertical to the oxer, Ashker rides in with a little more pace that she did the oxer. “Since horses jump verticals smaller than oxers, you need more pace to make the five strides smooth and comfortable,” she noted. “This knowledge is helpful for success in any jumping discipline and is very useful to think about after you’ve walked your course, or if you don’t have time to walk it. You’ll already know what the challenges are going to be when the course presents either of these lines in a related distance.”

Watch Laine Ashker Ride the Oxer to Vertical and Vertical to Oxer Lines

In this video, brought to you by Absorbine, five-star eventer and Grand Prix dressage rider Laine Ashker explains and demonstrates how to correctly ride two different lines, both on five strides: an oxer to a vertical and a vertical to an oxer.

About Laine Ashker

Five-star eventer and dressage professional Lainey Ashker has competed in numerous FEI competitions at the five-star level, including the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CCI4* and the Defender Burghley Horse Trials CCI5*. The horsewoman, who trains out of her Keystone Acres farm in Chesterfield, Virginia, also won the National Eventing Championship (Advanced Level) in 2013 aboard her long-time mount, Anthony Patch. More recently, she won her first CDI in May 2023 aboard her upper-level dressage horse, Zeppelin.

For more with Laine Ashker, click here.

This video is brought to you by Absorbine.