For most of my life I’ve jumped courses off the seat of my pants. But over time, I’ve learned that while it’s great to go off feel, you should always have a plan—and a backup plan. 

In this article, I’ll show you how to effectively walk a course to come up with a plan of attack, while keeping in mind that the plan may vary depending on the type of horse you’re riding and other outside circumstances. Then, I’ll share some exercises to help you with common on-course questions, so when you and your horse walk through the in-gate, you’ll be calm and ready to tackle the course. 

Evaluating the Course

The main point of walking a course is to consider the questions the course designer is asking and create a plan that is appropriate for your horse. I’ll explain how to do this for the following parts of a course: the first jump, related distances, combinations and the last jump.

Setting the Tone: The First Jump 

As you start your course walk, think about the most straightforward way to approach the first jump so your horse understands where he’s going. Take into consideration which direction is easier for him or whether there’s an approach that’s more inviting depending on how the jump is set. Is there a gap between jumps that you’ll ride through? Will you stay on the rail? 

It can also be helpful to determine where you should be in the last two strides before the jump so you’re dialed in and straight on the approach. To do this, stand with your back toward the middle of the approach side of the jump and walk two strides away (12 steps).

Another factor in your approach to the first jump is the track to the second jump. If you need to make a rollback turn around another jump or an inside turn to get to the second one, you’ll want to jump more to the outside of the first jump so you have room to land and turn to the inside. 

Once you have the track figured out, visualize the rhythm and pace you’ll need to set the tone for the whole course. You want to send your horse into a forward pace right away so you can balance him onto his hind end in the approach to the first jump. From there, keep the same pace and rhythm all the way to the last jump. Horses are creatures of habit, so the more consistent their pace is, the braver and more comfortable they feel.

Riders often make the mistake of starting with less pace to the first jump and then start building the pace throughout the course. If you start too slow, then speed up, then realize you have too much pace and slow down again, it becomes a rough, inconsistent ride. Always choose consistency.

It’s also important to consider the horse you’re riding. Is he more of a “leg ride” or is he a hotter horse? That will determine how you approach the first couple of jumps and how you want to approach your turns. If your horse is more of a “leg ride,” start your canter well before the start line and get him in front of your leg. You may need to override the first jump, and when you land after every jump, you many need to push him forward so you keep a good pace to the next jump.

If you have a hot horse who is always looking for the jumps, you don’t want to make use of the entire arena and give him the chance to rev up. It’s better to keep your track tight and organized, and make sure your horse can’t eyeball the jumps for too many strides, because he’ll likely run past the distance you choose.  

Related Distances – Straight Lines

The next part of our course walk is related lines. I like to approach the first jump like a single fence because I don’t want the first fence to create a problem for the next distance. Once I’ve landed on the other side of the first jump, then I focus on making adjustments depending on how I jumped in.

Walk the line and make an educated assessment on how many strides you’ll get between the two fences—whether it’s steady, forward or normal. Factor in whether your horse has a long or short stride. 

In the example for this article, the line is one meter short for a perfect five. If I walk a line like this at the horse show, this tells me I need to approach the first jump on my normal rhythm and pace and then address the missing meter by landing and settling my horse right away, so I don’t have to make an adjustment right in front of the second jump in the line. My No.1 rule is if you have to make an adjustment for a distance, do it early in the line so that in the last two or three strides you do not interfere with your horse. 

Related Distances – Bending Lines

Try to determine the true track of the bending line that the course designer set but be aware there are other options depending on what’s best for your horse and what suits his rhythm and pace. You can stay on an inside track for a direct approach, the true track or the outside track for an additional stride.

From the landing side of the first jump, walk a straight line and find the pivot point where you need to turn to go straight to the second jump. In this example, I walked four strides and I’m past the pivot point where I’d need to turn. This tells me I would need to turn to my second fence somewhere between the third and fourth stride. I walk it again and shift my line a little bit to the inside track. So now, I’m on my fourth stride, but because I stayed on the inside track, I now have a straight approach to the second fence. 

From the pivot point, I walk straight toward the second jump which puts me one step away from a true seven. This tells me I have two options. I can stay slightly on the inside track and make this a true seven by arcing the parabola a little bit closer to the right side, or I can shift my horse a little bit to the outside and open up the apex of the bending line to get eight strides. I walk it backward on the outside track to confirm if I would get eight, which I do.

If you have a forward-moving horse, the seven will show up naturally. But remember, just because you walk a line in a bending seven strides doesn’t mean come hell or high water, you need to stay on that seven. Keep an open mind because depending on how your horse comes in over the first element of the line—if he spooks away from one side, or stalls because he’s looking at the fence, or shoots across very forward, that might change the plan. You have options depending on what’s more natural for your horse. Just don’t overdo it. For example, if you walk a bending line in a seven, you don’t want to end up on 10, 11 or 12 strides, but you also don’t want to end up there on a five unless you’re riding for a million dollars and it’s the last jump in your jump-off. 

Combinations

Next, the always fun—and sometimes feared—combinations. Combinations usually contain two or three jumps in a sequence that have one or two strides between them. In this example, I have a triple combination with a vertical, oxer, vertical.

Approach combinations the same way you approach single jumps and related distances. If you approach the first element like a single element with a proper canter and a forward-moving, balanced horse, the B element won’t be a problem. A lot of riders have combination phobia and fear that all the elements coming up fast together will be a problem. 

Determining how to ride a combination depends on the distance between A and B, and B and C. There can be true distances, short distances or long distances. In this scenario, we have eleven steps from A to B and eleven and a little bit more between B and C. The eleven and a little bit tells me I need to travel a little bit farther across the B element. You’ll need to approach A steady and like a single jump, then push 

The Last Jump

Approach the last jump with just as much caution as you approached the first one. Knocking down the last rail on course is usually a rider error because we think we’re already home, when we’re not. Once you’re over the finish line, that’s when the fist-pumping starts.

Now that we’ve walked our course, you know it’s crucial to have a plan and to try and stick to that plan. But it’s just as important to be willing to make adjustments on the fly. Knowing your distances is important, but it’s not the last point of measure. There are always unexpected things that can happen, so you must be fluid and reactive to them. 

Now that I’ve explained how to analyze the course walk and determine a plan, I’ll share some exercises you can practice to help you on course. 

Exercise 1: Circular and Straight Approaches

Setup: Set a small vertical that can be jumped on a circle in both directions.

In this exercise, you’ll work on finding a distance and getting comfortable with the approach by keeping a steady rhythm and pace while changing your track. You’ll realize there are multiple options for a good distance, which takes the pressure off finding the perfect one. 

Start on the left lead and establish your rhythm and pace. As you canter toward the small vertical on a circular approach, imagine the top rail has different sections, and start scanning it from left to right to find your sweet spot, distance-wise. You’ll start by looking at the left side of the rail because you’re coming off a left turn. (When you try this to the right, you’ll first look to the right side of the rail). 

If the distance on the left side looks a little deep, be patient and let your horse fade to the right side. This naturally creates one more stride without interfering with his rhythm. When you’re on a good distance, straighten him and finish the jump across. 

Whatever you do, don’t try to find the distance with your hands. This will disrupt your rhythm and pace, and you’re more likely to chip or get a deep distance where your horse is going to give you an awkward jump or even stop. Horses don’t seem to care if you’re a little close or deep, as long as you get there on a good, forward pace and a rhythm that they can create a jump out of. But they don’t appreciate it when we don’t see a distance and try to change the pace or stride length at the last moment. 

Once the exercise is going well on the left lead, do it off the right. When that’s going well, you can up the ante by playing around with other options. Look for the first option but then purposefully look for another distance by fading your horse in or out. This will help you become more relaxed because you’ll learn there are multiple correct options. 

If this exercise is too difficult or you’re struggling to see a distance, practice it over a pole first. Approach it the same way you would a jump and try to get the pole in the center of your horse’s stride. When it’s going well with the pole, try it with a cavalletti and then move on to a small jump. 

If you find the exercise too easy, increase the difficulty by making the radius of your approach bigger so you’re straight in the last four or five strides before takeoff. The principle remains the same. When you come around the turn that’s now a little farther back, you’re still scanning the rail in sections to see if your stride is on the inside, middle or outside. If this is too challenging, going back to the circular approach will help you gradually get better at the longer approach. Lengthen the approach bit by bit until you get comfortable with finding your spot from farther away.

Exercise 2: Straight Related Lines

Setup: Set a five-stride line of two verticals at 23 meters (75 feet) for a home distance and 24 meters (78 feet) for a show distance.

When we walked this related line, it was an at-home five stride. First, see how the striding rides the first time through. Start on the left lead, get a good rhythm, approach the first jump in a circular approach and commit to your distance. 

It’s OK if things don’t go according to plan. When I rode this line, I was a bit stale and deep to the first jump, so I thought I would get a steady six. But I overcorrected and ended up doing a seven. If this happens, evaluate and try to correct it. For example, if you did a double-add, start with a little more pace so your horse can travel across the first jump and not land as shallow.

Once you get the five, try doing an organized six, which should be a small adjustment. Approach the first fence the same way as when you did the five. As soon as you land, shorten up your horse’s stride a little bit and create room for the six so you’re not haggling all the way until the last stride. In the last two strides, make sure you’re not interfering with your horse and let the jump come to you.

Play around doing the line in five, six and seven strides and pay attention to the small adjustments you need to make to get the distance.

Exercise 3: Bending Lines

Setup: Set a vertical on a bending seven strides to an oxer. The distances should be 31 meters for a home distance (101 feet) and 32 meters (104 feet) for a show distance.  

Now we’re going to work on bending lines. When we walked this line, it was a really direct seven. If you have a horse who shifts a little bit after a jump or has a shorter stride, the seven might be hard to achieve. For the first time through, try to do it in eight or nine strides. 

Approach the first jump in the bending line like it’s a single fence. Then, count your striding, scan the rail of your second jump and determine if you’ll place him on the inside, middle or outside and then straighten him on the approach. Ride through the exercise and play with different tracks to see if you can get the seven, eight and nine strides.

When I rode this line the first time, the “horse show” seven turned out to be an organized nine, as I moved my horse to the outside track. The second time through, I was able to get eight strides by changing my approach to the middle track while keeping the same pace and rhythm.

 

Then, I tried to do the nine again, but my horse had other ideas and ended up on the eight. Keep in mind, even though you’re planning for a specific distance, if it feels like there’s another distance that’s more natural for your horse, it’s OK to shift your plan. It’s better not to make a last-minute panic adjustment to get to your predetermined number. If I had tried to fit in the nine because it was my plan, I would’ve ended up at the jump with a very upset horse fighting in the bridle and on a deep spot. 

I tried for the nine again and was able to get it by setting up even earlier and moving my horse even more to the outside. I still had a forward-moving horse who was taking me to the jump.

When riding courses, things may not go to plan the way you walked it. There isn’t always a perfect distance. If you’re a little bit long or a little bit short, your horse won’t mind as long as he’s forward and balanced. Remember a great plan is good but doing what’s best for your horse in the moment is better. 

About Ronny Riemer

German grand prix show jumper Ronny Riemer has competed successfully at the FEI and national levels. He trained with German Olympians Franke Sloothaak and Paul Schockemöhle and made a name for himself as a rider and trainer throughout Europe and North America. Ronny and his wife Chanel have a sales and training business, RCR Equestrian, based at Diasti Stables in Ocala, Florida.