With the horses warmed up, William has them progress to riding a course. He wants them to focus on the horses being straight and forward but controlled. He also wants to make sure the riders sit up tall with their shoulders back and looking down the line.

They finish the first day jumping a full course. William reminds the riders not to help their horses too much and to allow them to make mistakes. Again, he wants them to focus on being straight as well as sitting in the saddle between fences to help balance their horses back but with enough leg t...

At the end, William asks the riders if there was something they wanted to go do again. They go through and ride a few lines again to reinforce what they learned that day.

William welcomes everyone and talks to each participant to get to know them and their horses. He also give valuable insight on his training philosophy.

As part of their warm-up, William has the riders start by trotting a single fence.

William has the riders canter, halt on the line, jump a vertical and then halt again. He wants the riders to make sure the horses are not increasing their pace. It is about making sure the horse is straight, listening and under control.

With the horses warmed up, William has them progress to riding a course. He wants them to focus on the horses being forward but controlled. He also wants to make sure the riders work the horses in between jumps so they are softer and using their bodies properly.

They finish the first day jumping a full course. William stresses that the riders need to have a Plan A, but they need to be able to adapt on course depending on how the horses jump. Then being able to figure out Plan B quickly is important in competition. However, in training, riders can take th...

William welcomes everyone and talks to each participant to get to know them and their horses.

William takes a few moments to watch everyone warm up on the flat. His intention is to get an idea of how the horses go to better understand what they should work on. Generally speaking, he wants the riders to take contact and have the horse in front of the leg.

Even with advanced horses, William finds trotting a crossrail beneficial for the horse’s footwork to be jumping from a short distance with no speed. By approaching it in walk and then trotting just a few strides before the jump, the horse is forced to actually look at the jump and think about it.

Buck talks about the lesson he does with a 5* rider on an Intermediate horse that has had issues in show jumping. His goal is to teach the horse the correct technique to help get control of the his body and feet.

Buck Davidson works with a 5* rider on an Intermediate level horse that has had issues in show jumping. His goal is to teach the horse the correct technique to help get control of the his body and feet. This will help build the horse's confidence, and then they can build height and speed.

Join international five-star competitor Sharon White in this very specific exercise designed to change the shape of the horse's jump over an oxer. By watching this skilled rider and horse repeat the exercise, we get an outstanding chance to truly see how to improve the jump.

In the second part of the lesson, after raising the single oxer, they work on riding patiently to the fence without being backwards. They adjust the canter in a smaller circle before approaching, working towards a jump with bascule and push.

Ashley Johnson, 5-star event rider and coach of the University of Florida Eventing Team, joins us with this wonderful lesson with a Preliminary rider working on keeping the push from behind for show jumping. Her clear and articulate teaching brings great exercises and tips for you to use in your ...

Ashley Johnson watches as her rider and horse warm up to determine what the best exercises will be to get him freer in his back. They work him through the shoulder in at the trot asking for push from behind without increasing his speed, and then go on to the canter using leg yields in and out on ...

In Part 2 of this lesson with 5-star event rider Ashley Johnson, they move on to canter rails with small jumps included to encourage the horse to use his hindquarters. Ashley makes it progressively harder by changing it to an oxer with elevated rails before and after spaced at 18’.

Ashley sets up an exercise of jumping on a turn to encourage the rider to immediately get the horse to land and recover and be ready for the next jump. Going off the left they first go vertical to oxer, and then off the right oxer to vertical.

The next step in this planned warm up is to connect a few fences while riding him forward into the contact. Once his hindquarters are responsive to her leg and they are going forward to the fences, Ashley raises the fences in preparation for riding a course.

In the final part of this lesson with 5-star event rider Ashley Johnson, the preliminary level rider goes through the course twice, concentrating on riding forward out of the turns to keep the power the horse needs to jump successfully.

Are you changing disciplines with your OTTB from Hunter/Jumper to Eventing? Ashley Johnson, 5-star rider and coach of the University of Florida Eventing Team, guides this young rider through a stadium lesson emphasizing connection and bend for a different ride from hunters.

Ashley takes this hunter/jumper rider with her OTTB through some basic flatwork before approaching the fences. They work on connection and bend, first on a circle using a ground pole, as well as holding the reins in a different position.

They continue the ground pole circling exercise at the trot. Ashley helps the rider learn what it is to ride with connection to the bit. They do transitions within the trot and then canter the exercise.