Well Adjusted

A good hunter round seems effortless. Horse and rider coast around the ring, meeting the same, perfect distance to eight jumps. The horse’s rhythm never changes as he starts and finishes the course on the same balanced, even canter stride.
It’s not just jumping talent that produces that flawless round–it’s flatwork, says hunter/jumper trainer Greg Prince from his Woodridge Farm in Sherborn, Mass. And about those distances:  “No horse hits a jump perfectly every time,” Prince says. “Winning the hunters isn’t about finding each jump on some imagined idea of what the ‘right’ distance should be. You and your horse need to handle any distance with confidence. And that has everything to do with learning to adjust your horse’s canter.”

Any course that involves a related distance–meaning, every hunter course out there—requires your horse to adjust his stride,” Prince explains. “And that’s something you should learn on the flat first.”

**For the full article, pick up the October 2007 issue of HORSE ILLUSTRATED.**

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