Tuesday, January 29, 2019

5 Reasons Why Cross-Training is Good for Your Horse

FEI.org - Full Article

29 January 2019

We look at how horses can improve by trying a different discipline…

If you had to ask the top pros, most of them would tell you that cross training and a multidisciplinary focus are key to producing a great horse.

Ingrid Klimke famously advocates for pole work for dressage horses, while Jos Lansink focuses a lot on basic flatwork and transitions for his horses and riders. The eventing riders will already be aware of the benefits of training for multiple disciplines!

So if you’ve ever wondered about taking your endurance horse for a dressage lesson or blasting round the cross-country on your dressage mount, you should keep in mind these five benefits of cross-training with your horse.

1. Improved coordination

Your Dressage horse can definitely improve their coordination from doing poles or small jumps, and your jumping horse can do the same by breaking down those transitions within the pace, or by going for a hack on uneven ground.

Teaching horses to work in different ways improves their body awareness and teaches them to work different parts of their body.

Work over raised trotting poles might help a horse to articulate the joints and pick their feet up, whereas hacking over uneven terrain might help to improve a horse who tends to stumble in the arena...

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