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Sharp and snappy: Gemma Stevens’ gridwork exercise that will teach your horse to be both careful and bold

In the second of a two-part focus on gridwork, exclusively available to H&H subscribers, Gemma Stevens sets up a grid to encourage horses to jump carefully off a forward-going stride

  • Gridwork is often known as gymnastic jumping, because it helps teach the horse to be more elastic and enables both horse and rider to hone certain techniques without worrying about the perfect stride. Grids are typically set up on slightly short distances – seven yards to one horse’s non-jumping stride rather than the eight you’ll see used in competition – to encourage the horse to be sharp with his front legs and not flatten. However, in this session, Gemma Stevens chooses a gridwork format set out on “true competition striding”.

    “This grid is inspired by my friend [CCI5* winner] Laura Collett, who uses it sometimes when she’s schooling racehorses,” says Gemma Stevens, an international showjumper and event rider who won eventing team gold at the 2018 World Equestrian Games. “It’s amazingly useful for getting horses to be more careful when jumping out of their normal stride.”

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