Updated blog from 2020
Renowned trainer Missy Clark of North Run is no stranger to success. Over her career, Clark has led her equitation riders to 78 national championship or reserve titles, and has trained Olympic riders like Darragh Kenny and Erynn Ballard, just to name a few.
In her training Clark sets the standard at home, using Dalman Jump Co. products in North Run’s Wellington, FL ring. Clark and her student Ava Sterns– the 2019 ASPCA Maclay National Champion– demonstrate one of their go-to jumping exercises to DJC:
What You Need
You will need two oxers and two verticals for this exercise. We recommend using DJC aluminum picket and stick standards alongside round or square poles, like Clark uses.
Setting up the Jumping Exercise
The exercise is set as an oxer to a double of verticals to another oxer. The distance can vary a bit depending on your goals, but Missy sets it as 59’ to 20’ to 58.’ Missy has her students add the extra stride in to the double of verticles due to the shortness of that distance, then you can continue to do the extra stride out of the line or move forward for one less stride.
As you work through this exercise you can play with the distances. To start, Clark recommends having a bit more space than 20’ between the two verticals.
(Pro-trip: keep your jumps very low in the beginning or even just poles.)
The Goal
The purpose of this jumping exercise is to enhance ridablity of your horse and practice the adjustment of their stride. You have to have the ability to shorten for the double verticles then react to lengthen to get out of the line.
Clark sets the distances on a half stride, so you have to manufacture the stride yourself to get a short and compressed stride before moving forward.
The overall theme of the exercise is to improve rideability and ensure you can produce any distance you ask of your horse.
Good luck trying this jumping exercise from North Run’s Missy Clark at home! Looking for jumps to use in your jump schooling? Browse DJC’s product catalog or contact us to design your own custom horse jump.