gridwork? anyone

hi, you need to teach your horse gridwork slowly. If he is big striding you should build the fences to suit his stride to start and then gradually shorten. Since I have been teaching my young horse with gridwork over the last 6 months, her jumping has improved so much. She is a naturally big striding warmblood but she can now deal with long or short distances and is really obedient.

I found a set of books on the internet and they have taught me so much . They give all the distances to use between fences and explain everything about gridwork in detail. The second book is more about show jumping and explains related distances and combinations. I never realised before how important it is to know the length of your horse's stride so you can jump a round really accurately! but this teaches you how to do this. These are the only books I use now as the website (www.gridworkforhorses.co.uk) has forms to download to record all the exercises you build so you can keep notes, measurements etc. Sorry this is a bit of a ramble but hope it helps. Good luck.
 
Rebelzmum said:
I'm feeling a bit pathetic and fluffy though......my youngest is in hospital at Edinburgh awaiting an operation tomorrow for an "abnormal mass" in her sinuses, so she is having her face cut open and bone cut away so they can get to it......she'll be in for a week and she is such a pretty mare it will be a shame if it scars her....don't think I can go to bed and sleep even though I've been up since 5.30am!
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That's awful, I must admit I thought you were talking about a child until you said she was a pretty mare and I thought how inappropriate that was when the poor thing had more to worry about. :rolleyes:

Hope all goes well :(
 
Weezy said:
Incorrect - sorry but it is. A 5ft person will have shorter strides than a 6ft person - it is all about learning how big a stride you need to take to = 1m!
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NOT incorrect at all, its the best way and has never caused me a problem in 20 years, taught to me by the 1976 junior european champion who has also been shortlisted for the olympic team and knows more about what she's doing than most people do put together! none of this new fangled metric measurement *******s actually works, thanks for your input but in this case i'll be ignoring it :D
 
Rebelzmum said:
I'm feeling a bit pathetic and fluffy though......my youngest is in hospital at Edinburgh awaiting an operation tomorrow for an "abnormal mass" in her sinuses, so she is having her face cut open and bone cut away so they can get to it......she'll be in for a week and she is such a pretty mare it will be a shame if it scars her....don't think I can go to bed and sleep even though I've been up since 5.30am!
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*sends many sheep for Rebelzmum to count* and some 'trivial affliction' wishes for pretty mare.
 
FlorenceBassey said:
NOT incorrect at all, its the best way and has never caused me a problem in 20 years, taught to me by the 1976 junior european champion who has also been shortlisted for the olympic team and knows more about what she's doing than most people do put together! none of this new fangled metric measurement *******s actually works, thanks for your input but in this case i'll be ignoring it :D
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That'll make two of you, then...
 
Amstar01 said:
I found a set of books on the internet and they have taught me so much . These are the only books I use now as the website (www.gridworkforhorses.co.uk) has forms to download to record all the exercises you build so you can keep notes, measurements etc. Sorry this is a bit of a ramble but hope it helps. Good luck.
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Hi Amstar, that looks interesting, I was just wondering if you know the author personally, as most of your posts seem to be recommending this programme/set of books?

OP - I think there are a number of other gridwork books available written by instructors or professional riders which I would use in preference. Even something as simple as http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poles-Gridw...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279145377&sr=8-1 will give a range of distances to suit ponies and horses.. A
 
I'll do as i've always done and has ALWAYS worked, don't really give a toss what anyone else thinks, the amount of 'experts' on here amazes me especially the 'overnight' ones if you catch my drift i'm sure you know who i mean BE
 
FlorenceBassey said:
NOT incorrect at all, its the best way and has never caused me a problem in 20 years, taught to me by the 1976 junior european champion who has also been shortlisted for the olympic team and knows more about what she's doing than most people do put together! none of this new fangled metric measurement *******s actually works, thanks for your input but in this case i'll be ignoring it :D
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Are you seriously trying to claim my old 6'3 male instructor has the same length stride as his 5'1 girlfriend? What utter ****! It doesn't matter if you measure in feet or metres, personally I measure in feet and always have done. What matters is the distance which is HUGELY different depending on your personal stride length. I'd guess that between Weezy with her metre measurements and me with my feet measurements have set up more correct grids than a fair number of folks.
 
I didn't see anyone claiming to be an expert - plenty of people offering their opinions yes - people claiming to be 'experts' no...but you seem to know it all so that's ok. We can all sleep soundly tonight.
 
emma69 said:
Are you seriously trying to claim my old 6'3 male instructor has the same length stride as his 5'1 girlfriend? What utter ****! It doesn't matter if you measure in feet or metres, personally I measure in feet and always have done. What matters is the distance which is HUGELY different depending on your personal stride length. I'd guess that between Weezy with her metre measurements and me with my feet measurements have set up more correct grids than a fair number of folks.
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I have a few observations:
your old instructor has a short girlfriend:D
all other things can be sorted out with the purchase of a measuring tape, metric or imperial... or even both:eek:
 
martlin said:
I have a few observations:
your old instructor has a short girlfriend:D
all other things can be sorted out with the purchase of a measuring tape, metric or imperial... or even both:eek:
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I don't really 'do' jumping so was afraid to pass comment, But I was wondering why feet & inches, or even metres couldn;t be mentioed, and therefore measured by tape? Not really a black art then.....
 
It depends on the horse's stride, height of jumps, trot or cantering in, spread on the fences, purpose of the grid etc. A 14hh pony doing grid work to improve suppleness will need different distances to a 17.2hh and most people doing grid work for exercise will jump shorter than competition distances (which are easy to give, BSJA for example) but that, I fear, won't help the OP over small jumps at home in the slightest.
 
I just log in when I have got a minute to see what people are talking about because I find it interesting. I thought you might be interested in what I had found because it is good!
 
Amstar01 said:
I just log in when I have got a minute to see what people are talking about because I find it interesting. I thought you might be interested in what I had found because it is good!
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Thanks, as I said I thought it looked really interesting but would be wary of buying something like this not knowing the author - I take it the books are only available through the website - so there would be no way of looking at some of the examples first.
 
I give up :)

Florence, whatever system you have used for years works for you because you have, obv subconsciously, worked out a perfect stride length.

Believe me, I do know what I am talking about :) Do you really think that course builders build courses on a whim and a hope, no, they MEASURE them out, the BSJA and FEI have accepted combination distances written in their manuals, you have to use them, they always have and always will.

Every single pro SJer that I know will say the same thing, if you cock up a distance in a grid/combination then you can severely mess up your horse and you, at best you will knock the fences down, at worse it will cause a horse fall.

BSJAShowjumper123 is a child and learning, she needs to know correct distances, and learn how to stride them correctly, then she can play with them if she wishes, better still she needs a decent instructor...but telling her just to walk it is not good advice.
 
What a bunch of unhelpful people hijacking this thread... how mature! And DunRoamin is back to her usual pleasantries...

BSJA123 - use a tape measure until you've worked out the length of your stride. Start with grids as poles on the floor to test the distances if you are not sure how to alter a standard distance for your horse - that way you won't scare it if it doesn't quite fit (though remember that bigger jumps will make the distance tighter than just poles). This book is really good for jumping exercises: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celebrity-Jumping-Exercises-Caroline-Orme/dp/0715322532
 
FlorenceBassey said:
NOT incorrect at all, its the best way and has never caused me a problem in 20 years, taught to me by the 1976 junior european champion who has also been shortlisted for the olympic team and knows more about what she's doing than most people do put together! none of this new fangled metric measurement *******s actually works, thanks for your input but in this case i'll be ignoring it :D
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Errrrrr... "new fangled metric measurement" - I'll give you a pointer - most of the outside world use the metric system and have since before show jumping was invented! I learnt to show jump in Sweden and walk all distances in "metric". So the metric system does, indeed, work! Hahaha, priceless!
 
little-flea

and more or less everyone else who has posted helpful and accurate info on here, YOU are the only ones paying any attention to it!

I'll put good money on what the next subject of 'I need help because I tryed and it went wrong lol.' will be.

I'm treating the OP to the same level of genuinity in my answers that she is applying to her questions. If you did but realise it.

And metres are the unit of measurement course-builders use, for speed and distances around a course of jumps. The skill comes in knowing how many strides your particular horse uses to cover these distances and how many of your strides is their individual equivalent - and then adjusting the shortfall/excess.

If her previous videos are an accurate and true representation of her ability, our little friend can barely get her head round basic riding, let alone the finer points of the above. In spite of all the help we have offered. Plus she'll probably need guidance on correct use of a tape-measure, for this task (how close to the fence to put it, etc.).

*tries hard not to increase infraction points further with this reply*
 
The best thing to do is think of when you've walked all the BSJA shows you've been to ( ;) ), and remember how many strides you got between a 1 stride double, and a 2 stride double.

At home, you shouldn't be building to your horses stride, you should be building to a competition stride, and educating your horse on the fact that is the length of stride they need to be taking :)


However, you can differ the distances dependant on what you want to work on, so a shorter distance can be used to make a horse tidier and the stride "rounder" :)

I have spent hours "regulating" my stride to be able to stride a yard perfectly everytime. It is something anyone jumping should be able to do :)
 
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KatB

Can you stride a metre, though?
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brighteyes said:
little-flea

and more or less everyone else who has posted helpful and accurate info on here, YOU are the only ones paying any attention to it!

I'll put good money on what the next subject of 'I need help because I tryed and it went wrong lol.' will be.

I'm treating the OP to the same level of genuinity in my answers that she is applying to her questions. If you did but realise it.

And metres are the unit of measurement course-builders use, for speed and distances around a course of jumps. The skill comes in knowing how many strides your particular horse uses to cover these distances and how many of your strides is their individual equivalent - and then adjusting the shortfall/excess.

If her previous videos are an accurate and true representation of her ability, our little friend can barely get her head round basic riding, let alone the finer points of the above. In spite of all the help we have offered. Plus she'll probably need guidance on correct use of a tape-measure, for this task (how close to the fence to put it, etc.).

*tries hard not to increase infraction points further with this reply*
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Sigh. You are an adult though, aren't you? I am quite astounded by how bitchy some of you are. Just don't open her threads if you don't want to help - it is easy enough.
 
martlin said:
Just trying to imagine that while walking a course at a show:D
The ministry of silly walks:D:D:D
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Haha, yes a bit – I'm a shorty so look particularly funny! But it is just a matter of what you are used to, doesn't really matter what type of stride you use to measure as long as you can work out the distance and how it will affect your horse.
 
I actually stride in metres, as I'm metrically brought up:D, but don't do the 2 metres take off, 4 metres stride etc, just walk the related distance and work out striding afterwards;)
 
martlin said:
I actually stride in metres, as I'm metrically brought up:D, but don't do the 2 metres take off, 4 metres stride etc, just walk the related distance and work out striding afterwards;)
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Yes, if you walk it metrically you need to know what the metric distance means in horse strides as 4m is longer than a canter stride. In that sense, if you can sort your own stride length out so you can walk it as if 2 of your strides is landing/take off, 4 strides is a canter stride, it makes it easier as it saves you from having to remember that a 5 canter stride related distance is 20.5m.
 
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