Again I am not quite organized with the photo taking of the exercises but I've made a simple addition to Delta's previous canter cavaletti exercise. She has mastered the one-stride rails on a curve so the next challenge is to incorporate an actual jump.
Canter cavaletti on a curve with a Jump
Canter cavaletti on a curve with a Jump
Set-up: Begin with the same set-up as the initial Canter cavaletti on a curve exercise. In addition you'll need 2 poles and 4 standards. Align each pole 3 feet further from the pole on either end of the curve and place the standards on either side of the 2 new poles creating a slightly longer 1 stride distance.
Tips: For this exercise be sure to have your jumping saddle and a stirrup length that is slightly longer than your normal show jumping stirrup in order to stay around the horse and support the balance and engagement.
How To: I have this exercise set up to help Delta to realize that her balance (and therefore lead) don't need to change once she makes a jumping effort. It is set up with a jump on either side of the previous pole exercise but I begin by only adding 1 jump on the "out" of the exercise. Meaning that I canter through the poles at a quiet, comfortable distance and jump the vertical as the last element, staring with it set no higher than 2' to begin. Again, my goal is to create a new habit of maintaining a lead and repetition is key. Once I have been successful on the right lead I take away the pole from the jump I was just using and add the pole on the "out" for the left lead. At this point I still can't raise the jump very high without her landing on two separate leads to the focus remains on keeping it small to build strength and consistency.
Later on in her training I would expect to be able to keep both jumps up and have her negotiate the poles in between. For Delta that is too much pressure at this stage and causes her to become disorganized in her canter so I will wait on that step for now. Since this is as far as I can go with this exercise for now I'm going to begin work on the second stage laid out in my initial plan... understanding my aids to be able to fix an incorrect lead on the landing side of the jump. I'll try out a few exercises and share what works...
Tips: For this exercise be sure to have your jumping saddle and a stirrup length that is slightly longer than your normal show jumping stirrup in order to stay around the horse and support the balance and engagement.
How To: I have this exercise set up to help Delta to realize that her balance (and therefore lead) don't need to change once she makes a jumping effort. It is set up with a jump on either side of the previous pole exercise but I begin by only adding 1 jump on the "out" of the exercise. Meaning that I canter through the poles at a quiet, comfortable distance and jump the vertical as the last element, staring with it set no higher than 2' to begin. Again, my goal is to create a new habit of maintaining a lead and repetition is key. Once I have been successful on the right lead I take away the pole from the jump I was just using and add the pole on the "out" for the left lead. At this point I still can't raise the jump very high without her landing on two separate leads to the focus remains on keeping it small to build strength and consistency.
Later on in her training I would expect to be able to keep both jumps up and have her negotiate the poles in between. For Delta that is too much pressure at this stage and causes her to become disorganized in her canter so I will wait on that step for now. Since this is as far as I can go with this exercise for now I'm going to begin work on the second stage laid out in my initial plan... understanding my aids to be able to fix an incorrect lead on the landing side of the jump. I'll try out a few exercises and share what works...
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