John Michael talks about getting into and out of water. Especially for beginner novice and novice level riders, he encourages thinking of the edge of the water as a jump. It is important to protect the balance of the canter going in and out because the water will change the horse's rhythm.

John Michael explains how to introduce jumping a fence in water with a horse and rider that have never done that before.  He stresses to ride the edge of the water like a jump, make sure the horse sees the fence in the water, and then ride the edge of the water coming out like a jump. Since how t...

John Michael talks about factors to consider when riding and jumping through water on cross country. Colleen demonstrates how to school the water with a focus on the edge of the water, a jump in the water and the edge of the water on the way out.

Join Phillip Dutton and these fantastic riders as they head out for their first cross-country school in the spring. Watch for how their horses become more relaxed and adjustable as the schooling progresses.

Phillip coaches an early spring cross-country schooling session with two upper-level riders. They have already warmed up on their own, and he begins with having them jump a few galloping fences. With the first rider he explains how to get the horse to pat the ground in front of the fence and push...

Phillip moves on to creating exercises that require the riders to shorten their horses' strides and be adjustable. They school banks and water and concentrate on not just being strong to the fences.

Learn from one of the best in the world with Olympic event rider Lucinda Green in these cross country schooling videos including banks and ditches. Watch for the release of the next set of videos for the rest of this day of schooling that will include water.

Lucinda runs this group through Training level cross country exercises. They first warm up on fences of their choice, then Lucinda explains her meaning for ELBOW. Each rider begins from the start box on a short course of their own as a warm-up.

Riders now school walking up a small bank with no trot steps. Lucinda explains that it’s necessary for them to take their time with this exercise. They eventually go up and down the small bank and then add a fence with a turn before the bank, and a small fence downhill off the bank. Lucinda then ...

The next challenge is ditches. They start out by walking over a small ditch in both directions before moving on to a fence a few strides before the ditch. The next step is the ditch to a skinny to a fence, and then a skinny both before and after the ditch. The emphasis is on letting the horse lea...

This second half of the second day of a cross country clinic with Lucinda Green covers a water complex as well as a few short courses tying several fences together. While it’s a Training group, watch how the babies shine in these tough exercises!

Lucinda continues the second day of this clinic with exercises at the water complex. The emphasis is on no runouts, with a forward ride and the rider sitting back. They take several routes through the water including jumping in over a small log, out to barrels, and then a more difficult route ove...

The next challenge is a short course tying several fences together. Riders start over a drop, several strides to an inviting fence (concentrating on a straight line to this fence), then up a rise to two small fences at a one or two strides, with a 90-degree turn to the final fence.

Riders finish the clinic with one last course that uses ditches as well as regular fences. Again, Lucinda emphasizes the direction of travel, riding a straight line and keeping the horse's engine going.

Five-star event rider Jennie Brannigan brings us a lesson focused on changing the balance of the horse through a jumping grid and allowing the fence to hold the horse rather than the rider’s hands.

Jennie helps upper-level riders in one of their first schools back after a rest. She shows the importance of the details - the right canter, straight line halts and even the turn after the end of the exercise. These talented riders are able to demonstrate an incredible change in the canter for ea...

Jennie changes up the grid by adding more height. However, the riders must work to keep the canter they have developed through the previous exercise.

To finish the ride, Jennie adds a few more fences making the grid a course where the challenge is to keep the shape of the canter while coming to single fences.

In the first three parts of this video, Ashley Johnson, 5-star event rider and coach of the University of Florida Eventing Team, rides while taking two of her students cross country schooling. This gives you the opportunity to see schooling from beginner novice to preliminary while watching a pro...

Ashley and her students start by warming up on the flat; then all three demonstrate their galloping position while making changes within the gallop. She gives great advice on figuring out what length to have your stirrups for jumping and galloping.

The riders begin the cross country session with a few easy fences strung together with gallops between them. At the water, each does a different exercise, letting the beginner novice horse first get his feet wet by walking in and walking around. The preliminary horse does a series of fences requi...

This section begins with riders doing mounds with small fences on top. The preliminary rider is then challenged with several fences in a row, including a corner off a bending line.

In the last two parts of this video, Ashley rides while taking two of her students cross country schooling. In these segments they school banks and ditch and rails (coffins) to build both the horse and rider’s confidence.

Ashley continues this cross country school with two of her students, one at Preliminary and the other at Novice. In this segment, they concentrate on ditch and rail questions as well as combining several fences in a row. Watch for great advice on how to deal with horses that let down during a sch...