Cross-country with Lucinda Green
Six time Badminton winner and eventing legend Lucinda Green MBE, shares her advice on how to tackle different types of cross-country fences to help improve your confidence and performance on the cross-country course.
Six time Badminton winner and eventing legend Lucinda Green MBE, shares her advice on how to tackle different types of cross-country fences to help improve your confidence and performance on the cross-country course.
When approaching a water jump, ensure your legs are wrapped around your horse, your lower leg is secure and your fingers are soft. This is vital to enable your horse to stretch himself out as he lands.
Relax and let your horse look after their own footwork. Sit quietly and let your horse work out where to put his own feet. Sit up on approach with your legs wrapped around your horse; that will anchor you and you’ll go with the jump wherever he decides to start it.
On your approach, sit upright, steer with your legs and guide with your hands. It’s crucial that your horse sees the fence as early as possible; remember that horses see distance out of the bottom of their eyes so if he is on the bit he won’t be able to see it properly.
Think of your horse’s eyeballs as being attached by an invisible wire to your calves to keep him absolutely straight –it’s very easy for a horse to run out of a skinny. Keep your line, make sure your horse has seen the line you’ve seen and ride what you feel.
Coming into a combination, make sure your horse is on the line and aware of both elements. As soon as you’re in the air over the first one, all your concentration must be on the second. As you land, sit back up with your legs wrapped round, in a position ‘ready for trouble’.
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