CROSS TRAINING
Accomplishing anything significant in life usually requires
a wide diversity of skills. This idea is also applied in the
world of training horses. We can apply skills utilizing “cross
training” in order to accomplish “ability.” This
creates opportunity for the animal who is seeking a new home
or career.
Regardless of your style of riding, (English or Western),
good cross training principles can easily expand utilizing
the following formula:
First, one can create a horse that enjoys supple and relaxed
flatwork (dressage). Once flatwork improves, so does basic
jumping technique inside the ring. Gymnastics further improve
jumping effort. From there, a trainer can also incorporate
cross-country jumping, and even add speed or endurance work.
To relax, maintain fitness, plus improve rideability, a horse
can be asked to maintain a steady but effective walk (trail
riding), which can lead to the ability to perform in more
rugged situations. A further challenge is long-lining, which
in turn produces a better driving horse.
In the end, we have a family mount who is also capable of
athletically working in about 6-10 disciplines --- all of
which open up their future!
|
