Those with small outdoor schools

Kenzo

Kenzo

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I need some inspiration please on some jumping exercises/grid work.

Problem is, our outdoor school is only small, YO insists it's 20x40 when us liveries moan about how small it is, I'm sure its a we bit smaller, anyway that aside, its not bad for flat work if your riding ponies or small well balanced horses that don't mind gong round in egg shaped circles all the time lol but its hardly much good for jumping an actual course on a big horse, when I say course....I literally mean anything more than one jump!
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By the time you've circled round and cantered up to one fence which is placed in the middle of the school, by the time your over it and had few strides after your jump, you've hit the end of the school again! so I can't exactly practice much jumping....or can I? perhaps I need to strategically place my jumps in certain areas of the school, like just down the long side?
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I know it seems a dum question as I'm quite capable of setting up a course but seem to walk into the school, stand and scratch my head, think about it for 10 minutes then think oh whats the point of putting one jump up
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but I thought there is bound to be other people on here with the same problem who manage to do a bit of jumping home work without the luxury of a large school.

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That's exactly the same problem as me so I'd love to hear suggestions. Summer is ok-ish as we just put courses up in the fields (though you usually have to jump whilst loose small ponies/foals are following you) but in winter with the dark nights we can only ride in the tiny school and, same as you, can only get one jump into the middle before coming to wall again.
 
Jumps down the long sides (say one each side, or one could be a double) and one on the diagonal across the middle would give you three and if you build them so they can be jumped both ways, more variety.
 
Well we do have a couple of spare empty fields but the problem is the ground is too hard plus that would mean traipsing the jumps up, then putting them back again after wards as our YO does really like us using the fields to ride in, well he doesn't mind so long as we ask and we don't make any tracks (use it when its wet) and I don't think he'd want us leaving a course of jumps up just in case thieves came over the fields or off the canal and pinched them, so I can understand in a way.
 
Yeah I know what you mean. It gets really awkward. We're all out in the fields in force on weekends too though, so even then there's not much to be done practice-wise. Think I'll have to try the idea of one down each long side then in the middle
 
I manage to get a decent grid in a 20x40m school, along the long side just far in enough from the track to be able to canter past it.
I then get a double along one long side, and 3 single fences, one half way along the other long side and one across each diagonal. Works really well and if you carefully plan the direction of your oxers you can make it jump as a decent course!
 
Yes thats true, I shall give it a whirl, I could use the school fence which leads into one of the other fields and make it 4
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etd...although after just thinking about that, there is a strand of electic fence rope...so no I think Id give that one a miss (despite me joking anway) however it does run round three sides of the school, at moment its not on, but kinda makes dam sure you don't fall off,...otherwise you'd get zapped!
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......I then get a double along one long side, and 3 single fences, one half way along the other long side and one across each diagonal. Works really well and if you carefully plan the direction of your oxers you can make it jump as a decent course!

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That's the sort of thing I was thinking about - the two diagonals might be tricky if the school is narrow rather than short though.
 
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etd...although after just thinking about that, there is a strand of electic fence rope...so no I think Id give that one a miss (despite me joking anway) however it does run round three sides of the school, at moment its not on, but kinda makes dam sure you don't fall off,...otherwise you'd get zapped!
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Haha, good motivation for staying on!
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[ QUOTE ]
I manage to get a decent grid in a 20x40m school, along the long side just far in enough from the track to be able to canter past it.
I then get a double along one long side, and 3 single fences, one half way along the other long side and one across each diagonal. Works really well and if you carefully plan the direction of your oxers you can make it jump as a decent course!

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hang on, I'm just picturing this in our school....bare with me *goes off draw on a peice of paper*
 
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In a small school, I tend to put the jumps just of the long side at an angle, you can put in a 3 stride related distance like that, then a double on the long side - mainly 2 stride, so the first element can be jumped in the opposite direction as a second part of a dog-leg 4 stride related distance...
I can't really explain without drawing a picture and I can't draw a picture on HHO
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Lets say you are cantering on right lead, down the short side, round the bend and carry onto diagonal - the first jump is just of the long side - then 3 strides and second jump - round the bend on left leg, down the short side, round the corner and onto a double on the long side - then carry on around the short side, on diagonal again, there should be your first element of the dog leg - heading not exactly on diagonal but on a short diagonal - then jump first element of the double as second jump of the dog leg. If that's not enough you can carry on on the right leg and jump your first fences from the opposite end.
 
hmmm right well you have all given me some food for thought there, thank you
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, I shall try and put them into practice at the weekend when I've got more time to run around the school with poles and polly bocks and see what contraption I come up with
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In addition to what people have already suggested, this is an exercise we used to do at my RS which used three jumps on a 20m circle.

Set up three jumps on a 20m circle, each one quarter of the way around the circle. E.g. set up jumps at M, C and H but not one at X. If your school is a funny shape imagine a 20m circle around the letter X to give you the most possible room.

Anyways, you can then pop round these jumps on a 20m circle, trying to get the same number of strides between each one, then trying to get an extra stride between each one - I wouldn't advocate trying to take a stride out between each jump but I suppose you could if you had a well balanced horse.

Can be done on both reins, will help you see a stride if you find it tricky (I know I still do) and its not too easy or too difficult for horses at different levels IME. If you're really feeling brave you could add in the fourth jump as well.

There are other variations you could do on this theme - such as set up jumps at A, X and C and canter a figure of eight around and over them. Might be too difficult if your school is very narrow though.
 
Put 4 jumps across the middle from E-B, but angled like /\/\, not that angled, but don't have keys that show a bit angled. You can jump up, round and down, then up and round again, if that makes sense
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