Exercises for increasing stride length??

[Quadro]

Hi everyone,
One of my horses is a big 17hh WB who really really struggles to make up the distances in combinations!! He has a stride like a pony and we can jump through a one stride double on two strides no problem! We are getting away with it at BN and Disc but i already know it is a problem. I have been cantering over poles that are spaced out with a larger than normal distance, and also working on the combinations themselves with my trainer.
Any other ideas on how i can encourage him to lengthen out? He has no physical limintations on that he cannot do it, he is very lazy he takes the easy option EVERY time!
Thanks all!!
Q

 

[K27]

Probably any exercise that you can do to get them to "sit" back on their hocks and collect will help with lengthening their stride i'e on and back within the paces, transitions etc, there is a saying that is "there is no extension without collection" which is very true I guess, one of my horses used to struggle with lengthening his stride, but now he can collect and shorten more he finds the lenghened stuff easier.

 

[Kenzo]

he is very lazy he takes the easy option EVERY time!

Q

Think that is part of the problem, I'd continue to practice your with your flatwork and pole work, get him a little sharper of your leg, can he really shorten the stride or is your horse just choosing to take something inbetween? he must have plenty of impulsion to both shorten and lengthen so he realises there is a clear difference between the too,i f that makes any sense how differently do you tend to ride him when practicing this? or what is is your instructor telling you do out of interest?

 

[Noodlejaffa]

Who are you training with?

 

[Quadro]

He is ridden in spurs to make him sharper off the leg, he likes it hide behind the bridle to i spend alot of time getting him to go forward into it. My trainer gets me to get him really going foward over the combinations, he also has been working on getting the horse to jump forwards as he likes to jump "up in the air" if that makes any sense! So we have been using tiny tiny oxers (like 2"3-2"6) and increasing the width to about 4"6 with a placing pole in front to get him to jump "forward" (my trainer has an MBE for showjumping so def knows what he is doing!)
Q

 

[Quadro]

NJ ill pm you !

 

[Tnavas]

HAve you had his back checked out by a chiroparactor? A sore back & neck can make them move short and hang in the air - does he jump far higher than he needs to without folding his legs tight.

 

[DarkHorseB]

Are you sure he is confident with combinations? My horse backs off combinations because he is fairly green and not seen that many. The only times we come across them are in training or competitions as we don't jump at home. There is nothing wrong with his stride length - he actually has a long stride but he can still put 2 in a 1 stride double as I feel his confidence die and he backs off the first element which means he tends to get too close and pop it rather than a decent attacking jump over. I know it is just a case of practice with mine. In training as soon as he has done it once he can always get the correct striding the second time but of course in competitions you are meeting them for the first time! I did have one trainer say it was me not the horse but had a very good rider on him and she said no as she really felt it too. Have you had someone else jump him?

I find it is important to get a really good positive canter to the first element and try not to let him chip in a short one before the first jump.

 

[ArcticFox]

If you are going forwards, when approaching a combination, does he back off until you have no impulsion to get one stride?

I think it would be worth it to try working at home with a short double of one stride (6 human strides), then start to lengthen it, until it is normal length for BSJA (8 decent human strides). I must say that I would not let him get away with putting two strides in so for me, if he did that he'd get a smacked bottom to push him forward. it sounds like he might be used to slowing down and putting two in and its becoming a bad habit. a 17hh horse should not need to put two in.

If you have a horse with no confidence (like darkhorseB) then working on combinations at home should really help. if he backs off going in, then as the rider you should be able to react quickly to push him forwards on landing to get him to stretch for the one stride but your reaction has to be quick, when you land you should then push with legs and if necessary give him a tap with the whip to teach them to reach.

If you have a young horse, it is better to stay at the small heights, and really work on this problem as it will be a pain to fix later on.

cx

 

[KatB]

Agree with a lot of above, but remember a big canter isn't a long flat canter. My old horse used to always add strides, but in retrospect it's because I used to chase him so his canter became long and flat and on the forehand, so he couldnt make a big round stride to jump from. The worse thing for me to do was to smack him in the middle of a combination, as it means you drop them and they are more likely to shuffle another one in to rebalance themselves. The quality of the canter on the approach is key!

Get him infront of the leg and into your hand, and keep that canter to a fence without chasing. You will then find you get a better spot to the first part, and make distances a lot easier

 

[millitiger]

i would set him a really inviting ascending spread as the fence in and a smaller, easier fence as the one out so it is really easy for him and the wider fence in should encourage him to stretch in.

Also, putting a canter pole in the double can help as it makes you sit up and ride the stride in the middle and stops you ending up miles off the second part.

 

[Quadro]

I have had a friend ride him (who jumps at 1m40 so has experiance!) and he thinks he is very lazy and a very tricky horse to jump and that i am actually doing well with him!
I have not had his back checked but i do intend to soon, he does not hang in the air he tucks up very well and rarely has a fence down!
I think the canter pole in the middle of the double is a good idea and will def try that, we can get the stride pretty well when the first part is an oxer its when the first part in an upright and the second is an oxer that we are in trouble!
Some goods ideas to try though, thanks guys
Q

 

[SteveGG]

An exercise that I used a lot was building up to a treble with one stride between each fence with a pole (although a plank is preferable) before take off, in-between each jump and then on landing. This should be built on the "correct" distance but if he really struggles you could make it fractionally shorter before moving it out. The idea is that the poles on the ground give the horse the idea about where they should be. You may need to build up to this but I have found it useful in the past.

 

[Evntr86]

Hi,

I would do lines of poles at 3.5yrds apart, and gradually raise poles so you end up with combinations with the poles inbetween.

This will mean you teach them what stride length you want, and how to keep the rhythm down to a fence. It will also find you out if your canter is not big enough coming into a fence. Make sure you have 3 or 4 poles before the first fence so you have established the canter before getting to a fence.

Hope this helps.

 

[bigboyrocky]

Hiya, everyone given you really good advice : just something to add to poles in the middle of 1 stride doubles... i was watching something last night (cant rememebr for the life of me what it was!) and someone had a simular problem to you, and after jumping it with the pole in me middle of the stride, they would move it gradually slighty towards the second part, so that after a while the horse had to REALLY stretch to get over the pole in the middle.