Caroline Pamukcu’s head rider Lee Maher rides a last school before a spring horse trial on a horse competing at Modified the next weekend. They work on raised cavalletti, a vertical followed by lead changes, an oxer at different distances and a line with an in-and-out.

Erik Duvander, previous performance director of U.S. Eventing, Olympian, and past coach for the Japanese, Swedish and New Zealand eventing teams, shares an early spring lesson with five-star rider Jennie Brannigan. She rides a top-level horse who is quite forward and works on finding more relaxat...

Erik Duvander, previous performance director of U.S. Eventing, Olympian and past coach for the Japanese, Swedish and New Zealand eventing teams, brings shares an early spring lesson with five-star rider Jennie Brannigan. They work with a top-level horse to create a calm, athletic session instead ...

Eventer Kyle Carter shares a five-part series on how to progressively train horses through increasingly complex jumping exercises. The exercises teach the horses to maintain the same canter throughout and build strength. In Parts 1 and 2, Kyle begins with walk/trot/canter rails. That exercises bu...

Kyle Carter starts this lesson by having his students walk narrow ground rails 9 feet apart, requiring straightness and a more packaged walk. The key is straightness and the size of the stride, and the riders repeat it at the trot. After adjusting the distance between the poles, they repeat at th...

In the second exercise, Kyle Carter asks riders to throw the idea of “seeing a distance” out the window. Instead, they must rely on the balance they choose and let the horse adjust for the distance. The approach is over a mound, blocking the rider from picking a distance. Kyle explains rider posi...

Kyle Carter continues to share a five-part series on how to progressively train horses through increasingly complex jumping exercises. The exercises teach the horses to maintain the same canter through the exercise and build strength. In Parts 3 through 5, the riders and horses move on to a line ...

Land in the Same Balance. After using a mound in Part 2, Kyle Carter again uses it in Part 3 to help with the horses’ balance, but now he increases the difficulty of the exercise. He does this by adding fences before, on top and two strides after the down side of the mound. He explains the purpo...

Kyle Carter now raises the fences in the exercise of a mound with fences before, on top of and after the mound. This makes these upper-level horses jump with more power. But he emphasizes that they exercise is still effective even if the fences don’t go up. The height must be appropriate to the l...

Kyle Carter instructs the riders to jump the exercise of a mound with fences before, on top of and after the mound in reverse. He explains how the exercise will jump differently. He instructs the riders to continue to work on maintaining the right canter for the exercise, landing in balance and b...

Mary D'Arcy works with a novice level rider on helping her put her horse together more so that she can better adjust the horse's balance both on the flat and over fences. They do that by working transitions on a shorter rein and keeping the horse more in front of the rider's leg.

Bec Braitling helps a modified level rider open up her horse's canter to a balanced, contained but forward gallop. The focus is on picking a canter that reflects the striding of a line. They also work on a figure 8 jumping pattern to help control the horse's shoulders.

Emily Beshear helps a rider smoothly transition her position from 2-point to full seat in the canter. Then they transitioned that into the jumping phase to help the rider better utilize those positions before, during and after the jumps.

Sharon White, a member of the 2023 Pan Am team, coaches two riders in stadium jumping. One is an OTTB and the other is a 17-year-old, each showing different issues that raised rails can help. They start with trot and canter exercises over poles to get the horses to use their bodies better.

The exercise progresses by cantering through the poles and transitioning to a trot in order to trot another set of poles. The next step is to canter the poles, then proceed to an oxer. The rails are used to balance the horse without rider intervention. They jump a whole course incorporating the p...

The fences are raised, and they repeat the same course. The older horse has some trouble cantering through the first set of poles, and they calmly repeat it until he figures out his footwork and balance.

Do you end up with a totally different horse at the show than the one you school on at home? Ashley Johnson helps this young rider moving up to Preliminary Level with the skills necessary to have a successful stadium round in competition. The emphasis is on exercises to control the bigger stride ...

Ashley Johnson works with a rider who’s moving up to Preliminary Level. They want to keep the horse's steps and jumps relaxed. Because the horse is so distracted, they immediately put him to work, creating an even contact and bending his rib cage around her leg. They do transitions within the tro...

Ashley offers insights into how to create the tempo for the fence rather than letting the horse glide in an underpowered, steady rhythm. The final course shows the profits of all the previous work with a balanced, flowing course.

They now start with a gymnastic exercise, but keep the quality of canter that they developed in the previous exercises even when the horse gets excited. Ashley changes it to several canter rails in front of the jump to set the power that he needs to have at the fence. They jump a small course aft...

In the left lead canter, the horse consistently loses the right shoulder, and Ashley helps them with counter flexion to regain straightness. She gives the rider several options to keep his attention and keep him focused.

Get a rider's view of competing in the Rolex Arena at the 2023 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event. Follow along with eventing legend Boyd Martin as he narrates his ride aboard Contessa. Be there for every step of the stadium jumping round as she completes her first 5* event.

Dorothy Crowell brings us a great video on bringing along a young off-track thoroughbred (OTTB) who has a future in eventing. Watch how she has this young rider handle the common issues that come up with baby thoroughbreds with tact and thoughtfulness.

Dorothy works with this young off-track thoroughbred (OTTB) and his young rider on establishing a good foundation in their training. Even walk-halts can be a challenge for youngsters! Dorothy gives them kind exercises to help through the baby responses. She emphasizes using voice commands in conj...