JUMPING l CORNERING & RIDER POSITION
" International showjumper Pippa Allen helps a teenage rider improve her position in the saddle as well as tackle corners on her mare who constantly struggles on the right rein
The jumping itself has never been a problem, and the pair has won numerous rosettes on the unaffiliated circuit, mainly at 80cm level, but the pony’s cornering/ bending is a different matter and has been a challenge.
NEW SERIES
LACEY CROWTHER AND her pony, My Mystic Mai, hack a short distance to Pippa Allen’s yard at Kabete Lodge Stud for their lesson today. They have been training with international showjumper Pippa for three years and, as Lacey’s mother, Rebecca, notes, the lessons have been “transformative. The pony was taxing at first, but she and Lacey have come on in leaps and bounds”.
Pippa instructs the pair to warm up in her sand arena, first in walk and trot and then in canter.“
The ideal warm up varies, and depends on how fresh the pony is feeling. I don’t like to spend too long on the flat on a hot day like today, though.”
After five minutes working through the paces Lacey and Mai look ready to start tackling a few small jumps.
“We have to make sure that we get bend with this pony. She doesn’t like bending to the right — it’s a bit of a struggle for her. A lot of horses are weaker on one rein and she’s definitely weaker on this side, and although she’s improving there is still plenty to work on, but if you ask too much of her at the beginning of a session she ca
