Read Grid Pro Quo with Will for Eventing USA

DEPARTMENTS
GRID PRO QUO
WITH WILL FAUDREE
This month’s professional is
Will Faudree of Gavilan Farm.
Will Faudree and Pawlow at Richland Park in 2010. The
pair was fifth in the CIC3* division. leslie mintz photo
AS TOLD TO MARGARET RIZZO
WHY:
As eventers we are always looking
to teach our horses to think on their
feet and have that fifth leg that allows
them to be responsible over fences.
Gridwork exercises are great tools
for sharpening up horses’ reactions
as well as helping riders learn to stay
balanced over fences. The reality of
our lives as eventers is that we are
jumping solid obstacles 50 percent
of our competitive careers. So it is
imperative that when things get
tricky, your horse has the ability to
think for itself and get you both to the
other side safely, and you have the
ability to stay balanced and out of his
way. Good horses become great horses
when they are able take care of their
riders while doing their job flawlessly
at the same time. Good riders become
great riders when they are able to
allow their horses to do their job. If
you go to any four-star event, you will
see horses that love their jobs and
riders that are playing a supporting
role. When the riders have to “ride”
too much, trouble is bound to happen.
The tight distances in Exercise #1
and the spreads in Exercise #2 really
force the riders to have a soft rein
while riding to the deep distance. The
only way for your horse to learn to
think for himself is if you allow him
to, so stay quiet and steady and let
your horse jump up to you. I find that
these two exercises also really help
to instill the method of riding from
leg to hand. More importantly, you
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E V E N T IN G U S A I
ISSUE two
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2013
should be riding evenly on both sides,
meaning that you should be balanced
in the middle of the saddle and not
shifting off to one side or another and
unintentionally using one aid stronger
than another.
HOW:
I usually start by warming up
thoroughly on the flat with the focus
being on self-carriage. Your flatwork is
the time to make sure that your horse
is not running through your hand.
To test your horse’s self-carriage,
simply soften your hand and see what
happens. If your horse falls forward
or starts to rush when you soften the
reins, keep working on your balance
in the flatwork. Move your horse from
side to side, ask him to come rounder
and then stretch forward, lengthen
his stride and then collect it. All of
Professional Bio
Based at his own Gavilan Farm in Southern Pines, North Carolina,
Will Faudree has quickly established himself as an accomplished
international eventer. He has represented the United States in
both the 2003 Pan American Games and the 2006 World Equestrian
Games. He has competed internationally for the last ten years and
was a member of the silver medal Nations Cup Team at Boekelo
CCI3* in 2010. Will was a reserve for the 2012 London Olympics with
Andromaque and Pawlow. Learn more about Will and his horses at
www.willfaudree.com.
OBJECTIVE: Power, not speed, and quick
footwork.
18’
18’
18’
Once your flat warm-up is complete,
start working through the first
exercise with just rails on the ground.
This will help both you and your
horse to tune in to the distances.
Trot through it a time or two and
then canter through a few more
times. From here, put all the jumps
up to small verticals and angle the
first and fourth verticals to quickly
warm-up your jump muscles. Once
you jump those a handful of times,
come right to all four verticals right
away. Remember this is a footwork
exercise, so what better way to force
your horse to use his feet but to
surprise him a little with four verticals
in a row? Before you think that this
is too rushed, remember that we
have already thoroughly warmed our
horses up on the flat so that they are
carrying themselves and not leaning
against the bit, and we have already
gone through the exercise with the
poles on the ground. By keeping the
verticals small the first few times
through, we have done everything we
can to set our horse up for success.
If you are a greener rider or are
on a greener horse, break the exercise
down a little by starting off with just
the first two verticals, leaving the
third and fourth rails on the ground.
QUICK GUIDE:
1. Start with just poles on the
ground at the trot, then the canter.
2. Put the jumps up to verticals and warm up with just the first and fourth verticals alone.
3. After jumping a single vertical, come to all four verticals together right away. If you are a greener rider, try two verticals followed by two poles.
EXERCISE #1
This way the pair starts to understand
the 18-foot distance before moving on
to the full exercise.
The key to Exercise #1 is to ride
with enough power in the canter to
be able to answer the question. Some
riders mistake power for speed and
then you lose your adjustability, which
will catch up with you later. This is the
perfect exercise to teach a rider the
difference. I will often ride up to the
first vertical and then make a conscious
effort to soften my hand, which really
gives your horse every chance to jump
around the fences. You will quickly
realize that if you hold your horse
to the first vertical, they will end up
jumping too far in and then run the risk
of bouncing some of the distances.
As you work through this first
exercise, do not worry about the
height of the fences. I rarely make
them bigger than 3’3”, regardless of
the experience level of the horse. The
distance is tight enough (remember,
your typical one-stride is three feet
longer at 21 feet) that your horse is
really going to have to rock back and
power over the fences. If you were to
make the fences too big, you would be
making the exercise near impossible
for your horse, but if you find that your
horse is skipping through this exercise
without blinking an eye, you can raise
the challenge without raising the
physical expectations by alternating
the sides that are raised on the vertical.
The easiest way to accomplish this
is to work through the exercise until
you are at your desired height. Then
GRID PRO QUO MARCH WILL FAUDREE’S GRID #1
these things will force your horse to
think for himself and be responsible
for his own body. If your horse stays
in balance, perfect! You are ready to
start jumping.
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DEPARTMENTS
GRID PRO QUO MARCH WILL FAUDREE’S GRID #2
30’
QUICK GUIDE:
1.Start by jumping each oxer on an angle.
2. Approach both oxers with the strong show jumping canter you created in
Exercise #1.
3. Widen the oxers so the distance between the two gets smaller.
4. If your horse is rushing, go back to your flatwork, asking your horse to go forward and back.
OBJECTIVE: A quiet and connected canter,
with the horse jumping across the fence.
54
lower one side two holes, and raise the
opposite side two holes. When you look
down the exercise, you should have
alternating heights throughout.
After you have completed
Exercise #1, give your horse a bit of
a break so that he can think about
everything and let it settle. By this
point, you should be amazed at how
quickly your horse’s feet are moving!
EXERCISE #2
Jump both of the oxers in Exercise #2
separately on an angle, just to give the
horse a chance to see the fences. Then
approach the two oxers in the strong
show jumping canter that Exercise
#1 has helped you create. Encourage
your horse to jump in an almost slow
motion manner. As the oxers get
wider, your horse will start to learn
how to jump across a fence, so you
need his canter to be quiet, connected,
and thoughtful. You have two full
strides before your next oxer, so there
is no need to rush!
Start widening the oxers once
your horse is cantering through the
exercise in a strong but connected
canter. For the more experienced
combinations, I will actually widen the
oxers into the exercise so that you end
up making the distance a little tighter.
For the novice combinations, I will
widen the oxers out of the exercise
so that the middle distance remains
unchanged. The height will never get
above 3’6” regardless of my horse’s
experience, but I will challenge the
horses (and riders) by widening the
oxers to up to four feet across. If you
are worried about your horse stepping
in between the rails, put a rail
diagonally across the top rails, or put
a brick wall or flowerbox in the middle
so that the horse and rider can look at
something more solid.
As the oxers get wider and the
distance potentially gets smaller,
use the same principles as you did
in Exercise #1. Approach the fences
with a strong, balanced canter that
encourages your horse to jump from
the base of the fence. If you are
running into trouble with your horse
rushing through the exercise, or
even bouncing parts of Exercise #1,
put placement rails between all the
verticals. This will really force the
horse to put a full step in and think
about his feet. If your horse is still
rushing, go back to your flatwork and
ask your horse to go forward and come
back; keep striving for that feeling
that when you soften the rein, your
horse stays in balance.
Keep in mind that this is a tough
exercise, so you will not master it
immediately. Most gridwork exercises
do all the work for you, whereas these
two exercises are geared towards
expecting your horse to keep his
balance and self-carriage with minimal
jumps. As a rider, your job is the same
as it would be in a more traditional
gridwork exercise: stay balanced and
allow your horse to jump. Sometimes
this is harder than being told to do
four different things with your legs
and hands. So be patient and let the
exercise teach you.