Gymnastics are a great way to improve your horse’s balance and agility. They also help develop suppleness by requiring muscles to work in ways they aren’t used to working. For example, a gymnastic that incorporates jumps can force your horse to sit on his haunches and stretch over the fence. This will also encourage his back leg to push up, rather than relying on his forehand.
One of the biggest challenges with any new exercise is figuring out how much to ask of your horse. This is especially true for jumping exercises. It is important to keep in mind that a horse has not yet learned the correct jumping technique and will need time to figure it out. However, once he does learn the technique he should be able to handle more and more challenge with ease.
If you are starting with a young novice, I recommend using small cavaletti to start with. This will allow you to test out how your horse feels about the gymnastic before he starts to really use himself over it. Then you can begin to increase the height of your jumps.
As you raise the height of your fences be sure to monitor your horse closely. It is easy for horses to lose their focus and overcompensate by going too fast through an exercise they aren’t used to doing. For example, if you build up your first bounce rail too quickly, your horse may begin to rush over it.
Similarly, if you begin to add jumps that require your horse to do something more difficult, such as an oxer, it is important to gradually increase the height of the jumps. This will help him get used to the exercise and avoid having to jump too high, which can cause his legs to become weak or lose their ability to carry him over the fence.
A common issue with horses that compete in equestrian sports is overuse syndrome. This occurs when a horse’s body begins to ache from overusing specific muscles and joints, such as the ones that are used for jumping. This is similar to how overuse can affect human athletes who participate in repetitive sports like running and swimming.
To prevent this, gymnastics can be an excellent tool for preventing overuse by encouraging the horse to use different muscles and joints when they are exercising. This will also help to strengthen other muscles and joints that are often not used as much, such as the back and hindquarters.
To practice this, you can set up a simple gymnastic with 3 low but wide oxers, spaced about 1 stride apart. This is a nice little gymnastic that will encourage your horse to use himself and improve his jumping technique. Once he is comfortable with the exercise you can begin to add a few V-poles and start to build up your oxers to a height that will challenge him but not overly stress him.
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