Top showjumper Antonia Platt explains how to transform technique with just a handful of poles
MEET THE TRAINER
ANTONIA PLATT is an international showjumper who runs a competition yard in Essex. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook, or visit her website at antoniaplattshowjumping.com
MEET THE RIDER & HORSE
Eventer MIRANDA DARBY hails from Australia, and last year she spent time training with Antonia to hone her showjumping skills. For this lesson she is riding Antonia’s 18.1hh Freddie, who is eight years old.
ISN’T IT BRILLIANT when a plan comes together, and for anyone who is aiming to spend the winter months training for show jumping success throughout 2024 then this plan needs to centre on the basics. As international showjumper and trainer Antonia Platt is keen to stress, successful jump training boils down to the two ‘abilities’ — rideability and flexibility — together with that all-important straightness and suppleness which are and suppleness are so essential whatever the agenda is with a horse, from safely hacking out to jumping a five-star course.
Therefore let us kick things off in a super simple, easy to set up way with Antonia’s tried and trusted polework exercises that will pay dividends when the jumps come out and the show ring beckons.
EXERCISE 1
Every rider and trainer has their own ideas about what makes a winning warm up, but Antonia’s approach is simple: spend lots of time in walk and don’t push too hard.
1 Spend at least 10 minutes in walk on a light contact.
2 Give your horse his head and allow him to calmly take in the space around him.
3 This is an important part of every training session and it is your chance to relax and settle, as well as the horse’s.
4 Having said that, don’t creep around: keep the walk active.
5 Use this time to assess how your horse is feeling physically, and what mood he’s in.
6 If your horse is stressy and you don’t feel safe allowing him his head, instead keep a little more contact and ask for subtle flexes and changes of direction to give him something to think about and concentrate on.
7 Short of time on dark wintry evenings? Don’t be tempted to rush the warm up. Antonia advises at least eight to 10 minutes in walk as a minimum.
Training know-how
A good warm up is all about finding the right balance between allowing the horse to relax and warm his muscles up properly and keeping him occu
