Six-time Olympian, 2017 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final winner and 2026 FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final contender McLain Ward is a big believer in gymnastics to help improve his horses’ footwork, technique and confidence. In fact, at his New York farm he has one arena that is perpetually dedicated to gymnastic set-ups.

Why the emphasis on gymnastics? “What I feel has helped me more than anything in my own riding is balance, body control, position and timing,” McLain noted. And gymnastics help improve all of these.

Try one of his favorite gymnastics exercises yourself. Set a crossrail in your arena and 11 feet after it, build a 2-foot oxer. Place a landing pole 9 feet after the oxer, and then 21 feet from the pole, build another small oxer (see the diagram below). “The fences for this exercise should all be very small and never higher than a meter,” Ward emphasized. “Your horse will canter the crossrail, canter a bounce to the small oxer, land inside the landing pole and then take a slow two strides to the second oxer, instead of rushing.”

As Ward points out, it’s hard to get a horse to slow down in two strides for a combination when you’re jumping a course. “They always take a big first step. The only way you can do it is by sitting against the horse, but then their head comes back at you,” he explained. “In this exercise, the landing pole forces the horse to land shallow and take a short first step, so the horse backs up in the two strides on his own.”

This exercise helps address a set-up that is common in the show ring these days, a double combination from a vertical two short strides to an oxer. “In a grand prix, especially with the tight time allowed, course designers know they’re forcing a rider to gallop hard into a combination, and then you have to make the two strides short,” Ward noted. “It’s quite challenging.”

Takeaway

We hope this gymnastic exercise from the six-time Olympic show jumper helps improve your horse’s form and confidence in the show ring. Don’t miss greatness in action! McLain Ward will be vying for his second World Cup Final title at the 2026 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Fort Worth, Texas, April 8 – 12.

Thanks to Zoetis for our coverage of the 2026 FEI World Cup Finals. It includes lead-up events, rider interviews, competition reports, photos and more!

For More:

• Read more about our coverage of the 2026 FEI World Cup Finals in Forth Worth, Texas, here.
• To read more articles on Practical Horseman with McLain Ward, click here.

About McLain Ward

McLain Ward has been a longtime fixture on the U.S. jumping scene with a boatload of achievements. He is a six-time Olympian, winning team gold at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 aboard the legendary Sapphire. Ward also collected a string of Olympic team silver medals at Rio de Janeiro 2016 with HH Azur, Tokyo 2021 with Contagious and Paris 2024 with Ilex. He has also garnered FEI World Equestrian Games™ medals, including Aachen 2006 team silver with Sapphire, Normandy 2014 team bronze with Rothchild and Tryon 2018 team gold with Clinta.