Over his forty plus year career, Frank Madden of Capital Hill Show Stables has made a name for himself as one of the most successful trainers of young and developing equestrian talents. His accolades include 26 national equitation championship wins, including training Taylor Madden to a win in the 2020 USEF Medal Finals, and helping Brianne Goutal make history as the first junior rider to win all major equitation finals.
With a resume like this, training advice from Frank Madden is invaluable. Here is one of the top equitation trainer’s favorite jumping exercise to use when training his riders:
What you need:
Two cavaletti–or instead set two small jumps or two rails on the ground– and several single jumps.
(Frank Madden uses DJC products in his arena, saying, “It’s easy to move the jumps which makes my day that much easier and I can focus on my real job which is teaching and training.”)
Setting up the exercise:
Place the cavalettis 36 feet apart. Set the cavalettis at a curve, as if you are making a semi-circle (pro-tip: watch the demonstration video for a visual representation on how to set it up and preform the exercise).The goal:
The goal of Frank Madden’s cavaletti exercise is to do it in three even strides with the purpose of keeping the horse active, waiting and on the correct line. The ultimate goal is for the rider to get the horse to continuously move with the proper carriage.
Once the rider and horse are able to successfully ride the cavalettis on both leads, progress by adding low jumps to the exercise. This added challenge will disturb the horse’s rhythm and test their rideability. As you start to add the jumps, it is likely the exercise will not retain the original polish found when just riding over the cavalettis. Try to find the polish again by introducing the ring pace and practicing collection and your horse being on the line you ask for.
Good luck and have fun trying out Frank Madden’s favorite cavaletti exercise! The trainer says it’s “good for riders’ fundamentals and horses' fundamentals.” Contact DJC today to get the same jumps that Capital Hill Show Stables uses!
Looking for more training tips and jumping exercises from top hunter, equitation and jumper trainers? Check out Dalman Jump Co.’s Youtube channel.