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Improve your horse’s footwork while jumping and have fun with Gemma Stevens’ gridwork exercise

In the first of a two-part focus on gridwork, exclusively available to H&H subscribers, Gemma Stevens explains how she builds a horse’s confidence and concentration using a grid of six fences

  • “Gridwork is fun,” says Gemma Stevens, who competes internationally  in both showjumping and eventing. “We do it twice a month in the winter – the horses tend to enjoy it.”

    For this session, Gemma sets up wings down the centre of her arena with hexagonal poles on the ground. The final set-up will follow the diagram (below), so you want to have everything you need ready before you get on the horse – and you will need a helper on foot to adjust the fences as necessary.

    Diagram for gridwork

    Gemma warms up briskly in walk, trot and canter for about 10-15 minutes.

    “I’m making sure I’ve got all my controls, that the horse is listening to me, and that she is limbered up and elastic,” Gemma explains asking the horse for a few flying changes.

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