Although most lower level eventing courses may not have a jump as demanding as a corner, it is a good idea to know how to jump them. Whenever training your horse to jump a corner, keep the height of the jump low.
Jumping corners demands a lot of control. You cannot rely on speed to get you over the fence. If your horse is at all wavy in holding a line you will need to have him at a pace in which you have plenty of control. You want him to be truly between your hand and leg, like a strong show-jumping type of canter. Even so, make sure that you come in strongly and keep the forward momentum. Many people worry about corners so much that they over-check, then the horse loses his rhythm coming into the fence and he starts to think backwards. Once that happens it is easy for him to run out.

Have a great ride!
Mark Todd

For more information on riding with Mark Todd in New Zealand, call Cross Country International at 800-828-8768 or click on this link

Accurate fences are an important part of modern cross country courses. They include corners, arrowheads, elbows and narrow uprights or ‘pimples’. The training over these fences is largely an extension of the work on the flat to teach your horse to stay ‘in-line’ and ‘on-line’. To a degree it is about testing your horse’s obedience but it also about teaching your horse to enjoy jumping what is in front of him. He must learn that running out is not as pleasant as jumping the fence.
It is important to consider the training from the horse’s point of view. It is a natural reaction on the part of a horse or a person to avoid an obstacle in your path. We would be upset if our horse kept running into trees, chairs and other things that are around the place. So we have to teach him carefully by only gradually increasing the demands. Using guide poles to channel him over the narrow fence or to keep him in at a corner will help him to understand the job. I am a great believer in the intelligence of the horse and so I always set up the flags on either side of the fence when training them over narrow fences and corners. It is my belief that the horse can learn that part of the game is to go between the flags!
The rider’s primary responsibility in the approach to the fence is to set the correct line for the fence and then to adjust the speed within an even rhythm as well as the horse’s balance if necessary. The rider must focus on maintaining the line with the eye and have sufficient contact with the reins to be able to react if necessary. It is a wise precaution or habit to widen the hands in the approach to provide a corridor without pulling backwards. The common mistake in riding to a corner is for the rider to look for a stride. You then either attack the fence on a long stride loosening the contact and so leaving the door open for the horse to run out or you overshorten the horse’s stride and neck so that he feels unable to cope with the width of the corner and so refuses or catches a leg on the front rail.
In setting the line for a narrow fence or a corner, it helps when walking the course to line up a point on the front of the fence with some landmark in the distance such as a tree so that as you make your approach some way from the fence you know how to find the correct line. The line you ride to a corner should intersect at 90° the line that divides the angle of the corner in half. In training over corners, start with fairly narrow corners so that there is a margin for error and then gradually widen the angle of the corner but in training always keep the height comfortably low so that you don’t get worried about meeting the fence on a good stride. It also helps to get your horse used to jumping fences on an angle which can gradually become more extreme as he understands. Set up a small vertical fence and begin to jump it from different angles rather than straight on. This will teach him to hold his line and not to run out. Your horse must be very balanced to jump an angle, lifting both knees equally. Once your horse is very comfortable and keeps his line very accurately with this exercise then add another set of standards to create the corner. Remember when working on these exercises that the accuracy of the line is the most important point and accuracy should be to within 10-20cm of the spot you have chosen on the fence.

On a galloping course jump banks the same way you jump uprights. You should not attempt to gallop at the steeplechase speed into solid, upright fences because they can be quite difficult for a horse to judge. You should sit up, balance the horse and make sure of a correct stride into the fence.
Place his hocks well under him and try to come in fairly close to the base of the bank. If you stand a long way off a bank this tends to make the horse land rather flat on top of the bank and, if it is a staircase-type obstacle, this can make it more difficult to negotiate the subsequent steps. As the horse goes up the bank you need to keep your weight forward and your seat off his back to allow him to bring his hind legs up and underneath him. Once you are up the first step it is important to keep driving forward so that the horse maintains his momentum up the remaining steps.
When you descend steps you need to have your center of balance well back and your weight down in your heels; your lower leg should be slightly forward of the vertical, to keep the weight off your horse’s forehand and to help him balance on the way down. But you will also need to keep your leg on the horse so that if he hesitates you are in a position to drive him forward off the step.

Have a great ride!
Mark Todd
For more information on riding with Mark Todd in New Zealand, call Cross Country International at 800-828-8768 or click on this Link

Although at the lower levels of eventing it is not likely you will come across a coffin type obstacle, you may want to train yourself and your horse for the possibility.
You can set up a coffin-type fence in your training arena by putting rails on the ground to imitate a ditch between two upright fences. Keep the fences very small, so that if your horse makes a mistake it will not worry him and do not ask him to go too fast. Later, you can include a water tray in place of the rails on the ground.
As a general rule, coffins should be ridden in a strong, show jumping type of canter, so that the horse’s stride is shorter and rounder on the approach to the fence. A common mistake is failing to set up the horse early enough, with the result that the rider is still trying to organize the horses’ stride as he approaches the fence. You must have the horse listening and under control in good time so that, in the last two or three strides, you can ride forward to the fence in a balanced rhythm. If you are still fighting to gain control when you come into a fence, the horse might interpret this as a request to stop, and he may very well oblige.

Have a great ride!
Mark Todd

For more information on riding with Mark Todd in New Zealand, call Cross Country International at 800-828-8768 or click on this link

Drop fences are frequently encountered whether you are on a fast hack, out hunting or competing on a cross country course. For novice eventers, they can be a little scary.
While no two fences are exactly the same, there are some basic guidelines that you can follow.
When jumping a drop fence, your pace will depend to some extent on the height of the drop, on whether the landing slopes away from you or rises up to meet you, and on whether it is off a downhill approach or on a level approach. Basically though, it is not a good idea to jump drop fences too fast. Steady the horse a little in front of the fence and make sure he is off his forehand, then keep coming forward in a steady rhythm.
If you go too fast over a drop fence you pitch more weight on to the horse’s forehand and he is more likely to knuckle on landing or lose his balance. Coming in a little on the deep side of the take-off point helps the horse to see where he is going to land, and he is less likely to take fright and leave a leg behind as he takes off.
Never jump a drop fence at an angle. If a horse does by chance leave one front leg behind it can have the effect of spinning you sideways, giving you little hope of staying on board. If you take the fence straight, the horse will not twist so badly, and you might be able to stay together.
You will need to know how to slip your reins when you jump a drop fence. As your upper body comes back to prepare for the landing, you need to open your fingers slightly and allow the reins to slip through. It is a good idea to practice this, so that when you land, even though your reins are long, you can still maintain enough steering and control to ride away from the fence or to jump the next fence, if it follows quickly. Although you may not need to slip your reins over every drop fence, if you never learn to slip them you will be caught out over big drop fences, where you are likely to be pulled right out of the saddle and over your horse’s neck as he stretches his head forward and down to prepare for landing.

Stay in the saddle!
Mark Todd

Many people have asked me how they can get in enough cross country training when they have limited facilities near their barn-and how many of us are lucky to have everything we need.
You can introduce a horse to cross-country type fences in your own field at home, using ordinary show jumps or rustic poles. Keep the fences very small, so that if your horse makes a mistake it will not worry him, and do not ask him to go too fast. Jumping corners is a good exercise in keeping a horse straight. There is no need to get yourself in a state about jumping corners. Just treat them as if you were jumping one side of a parallel, and fix your eye on the line.
You can set up a coffin-type fence by putting rails on the ground to imitate a ditch between two upright fences. You can also construct bounces, which normally range from 12 feet to 15 feet on cross country courses. Remember to keep the horse’s rhythm as you approach a bounce and, again keep him straight.
Once your horse is jumping confidently over small fences in the school or field it is a good idea to further his education by jumping a few logs while out hacking. We have quite a few logs of varying sizes around my place in New Zealand and I have found that they are very good obstacles for instilling confidence.

Have fun, be good to your horse and be patient.

Have a great ride!
Mark Todd

For more information on riding with Mark Todd in New Zealand, call Cross Country International at 800-828-8768 or click on this link

Whether you are new to cross country riding or a veteran, you will have the opportunity to experience a coffin jump. While it is great to practice on the "real thing", I would like to offer you some advice on other ways you can keep both you and your horse schooled outside of competition times and when outside footing is too poor for riding.

You can often practice using show jumps on flat ground. The show jumps allow you the flexibility to design your own fence to the appropriate experience and comfort level of both you and your horse. Conducting the practice on flat ground insures that you eliminate one of the variables of the real life obstacle, any incline or decline of the terrain, and really focus on you and your horse. This will give both you and your horse the practice and confidence you need to feel comfortable at different levels of difficulty and to practice your approach.

Set up three different "stages" of your coffin jump by constructing: first, an entry fence (at the height of your choosing); second, a grouping of ground poles (spaced close enough together not to accommodate a stride) to simulate a ditch to be jumped; and third, an exit fence.

You may vary the level of difficulty by altering the height of the entry and exit fences and the breadth of the middle obstacle based on the level of confidence you and your horse have with this combination.

I have found that this type of fence should be ridden in a confident and forward pace. This will keep your horse's stride shorter and rounder on the approach and allow him to be well organized for the fence. Too often, a rider is tempted to ask for too much forward impulsion without the appropriate support to keep the horse from becoming "strung out" and thus disorganized upon arriving at the fence. This all contributes to the ideal - a balanced rhythm on your last 2-3 strides into the fence.

If you or your horse experience any anxiety or problem with the three elements, you may remove the first (entry) fence and get both yourself and your horse comfortable with the middle and exit portions. Once these two elements become routine, add the entry fence back into the equation. Finally, when you are comfortable with all three portions, and you have schooled them at varies rates of approach, you may begin to adjust the height element.

Go slow, keep riding forward and have fun.

Dan Foley