Your dream has come true! The new horse in your life is, you’re assured, a future Grand Prix jumper. Now what? A plan is needed—one that includes both long and short term objectives. Long term to keep you on the right track and short term to gauge progress. My plan will incorporated three phases: flat exercises, schooling over fences and competitive experience.

Flatwork
The relationship between dressage riders and jumper riders is essential to the development of a good jumper. Dressage is a French word loosely translated to flat work—the absolute foundation upon which jumping riders earn a horse’s trust and rideability or responsiveness to our aids.

Like educating children, I adhere to a system of grade levels, this encourages progress while at the same time prevents us from missing steps. Similar to children, a missed step will soon become apparent with the failure of the next level. My first great mentor, my mother Claudia Cojocar, taught me how to use flatwork and appreciate the need for it. My second great mentor, Ian Millar, showed me when to advance to the next level.

The first level is primarily about forwardness—not speed but rather intent & understanding of ‘leg’, ‘stick’, and ‘cluck’, which is commonly referred to as “in front of the leg”!

Once we have progressed to the second level, emphasis should be on straightness and the horse’s ability to follow a specific track (I use dressage letters as visual aids). At this level, the horse becomes aware and accepting of my use of leg and hand together and movements such as shoulder-in, shoulder-out, counter-canter as well as the lengthening and shortening of stride.

The third level is essentially about increasing muscle strength, endurance, and stretching by working specific muscle groups and creating impulsion without stiffness. This final level is never fully realized as you advance from lateral movements to diagonal movements and so on. In other words “the world is your oyster”! The more advanced the flatwork becomes, the more success you will have over the jumps.

Schooling Over Fences

Schooling over fences follows the same concept of a systematic progression of exercises designed to complement the flatwork. I firmly believe that jumping must be made fun for the horse. Top level horses “want” to do it! Perhaps their desire stems from generosity, ego, pride or maybe simply to gain our praise. Potential can never be reached through punishment and or intimidation in animals or in people. Exercises must be well thought out to both increase my horse’s knowledge and also to maintain his self confidence. Perhaps contrary to some equally successful trainers, my early exercises are designed to allow my horse to require very little help from me. The flatwork is not yet very advanced anyway, and my efforts to ‘set-up’ a novice horse seems futile.

Graduating to the next level occurs when my horse jumps relaxed, confident and with a consistent style (be the style good or bad it just needs to always be the same). The hours of flatwork seem worthwhile as I enter into my favorite stage when my horse wants to be challenged. His initial reservations and insecurities grow into the bold confidence and curiosity to test himself. Again, just like with children, I love the almost daily give-and-take as my horse now thinks he knows enough to become playful, verging on insubordinate in the belief that he know best. This is where the rubber meets the road as they say, when the challenges of bigger, wider, spookier and new kinds of jumps: ditches, liverpools, etc. really encourage him to accept fully a partnership of my respect for his athleticism and his for my judgment.

Competitive Experience

As part of your plan, plot an appropriate competitive calendar. Competing is necessary to provide different and less comfortable surroundings that require you and your horse to develop a new level of focus and understanding of each other as well as accomplish the task at hand. Seasoned riders are very aware of the difference in difficulty both due to height and technicality in various events and put much thought into entering the appropriate division. As a rule, I will enter an event below the level of my training. Jumping is supposed to be fun—remember?!? It is time to move up a level when you compete consistently enough to take almost for granted a successful result. Success to me is not defined by an award, rather strictly by objective measure of competence and confidence. I suggest that a sure and safe way to solve this dilemma is to step up for a class, then regardless of outcome, step down again.

Now, all it takes is practice, practice, practice! Perfect practice results in perfect performance. Remember to follow your plan and to graduate to the next level only once you and your partner have mastered the previous level. If you are unsure as to whether or not you are ready to move up, seek advice from those that have produced Grand Prix horses and Grand Prix riders—their experience counts!! If they think you are ready to move up, you probably are and their confidence in you will make you more assured. Good Luck!

Jeff Campf was born in Portland Oregon. He grew up in the horse business as his mother, Claudia, and father, Jay, were both professionals. At an early age he moved to Calgary, Canada where the international show-jumping at Spruce Meadows ignited the competitive spark we see today. He is an acclaimed rider in both the hunter and jumper disciplines and will be competing in the 2004 Olympic trials in May.