Jumping exercises with Gemma Tattersall: Bounces

During our visit to Gemma’s Horsham base we were able to watch her schooling a range of horses, from an inexperienced four year old to her stalwart Badminton specialist Arctic Soul; observing each horse’s tailored training based on the stage of their career. Gemma uses an array of exercises to improve her horses’ ability to think for themselves as well as increasing elasticity through fun sessions.

Riding her talented advanced horse Chilli Knight, Gemma ran through an exercise to encourage elasticity.

Set up this exercise

Set up three fences at a bounce distance followed by a stride to a small oxer, followed by a stride to three more bounce fences.

Try for yourself

Ride through this exercise, allowing your horse to use his body and think for himself.

Watch Arctic Soul jumping this exercise:

Tailoring this exercise for a younger horse

Put the first two bounce fences and last two bounce fences down so they are just raised off the floor.

Watch a young horse jump through this exercise:

Gemma’s top tips

• Use square poles or planks on the ground as canter poles to prevent your horse from rolling the poles
• Jump a skinny every time you jump
• Don’t often use ground lines “there are no ground lines at competitions.”
• “Having an open mind is a recipe for success”
• Take horses swimming and use a water treadmill to improve fitness without unnecessary wear and tear on your horse’s legs.

Watch videos and find out more about Gemma’s exercise to encourage a horse to think for themselves and get up in the air over a fence here.