Recently I was listening to a trainer talk about how to prepare a horse for a jump. As she discussed the mechanics of the stride, it reminded me of a talk another trainer had given me several decades ago (let’s not get specific!).

He asked me to imagine that my horse was made of rubber. Which would be better at jumping, he posed, a rubber band or a super ball. His point being that a strung out horse that has a flat stride coming into a fence isn’t able to jump nearly as well as a horse that comes into that same fence stepping under itself with a more balanced frame and a collected stride.

It’s an image that’s lived in my mind for a long time.

In fact, if I could just replay all those lessons that I’ve taken at will I’d be able to ride so much better!