Team Tottie Showjumper Eve Staveley, who reveals her ten top tips for walking a course.

Press Release

10 Top Tips to Course Walking

1. When you walk into the arena look around you and take everything in as if you were looking through your horse’s eyes. Watch out for things like flower displays and advertising banners.
   
   
2. Check the ground conditions or surface.
   
   
3. Also be aware of the gradient of the arena as this will affect how the course rides.
   
   
4. Walk the course exactly as you would ride it i.e. walk to the middle of each jump without taking short cuts. This allows you to plan the best route, count the strides and spot any potential distractions.
   
   
5. Two human strides are equivalent to take off or landing.
   
   
6. Four human strides are equivalent to one average horse stride.
   
   
7. Once you have walked the course visualise yourself jumping round the course clear.
   
   
8. Look where the jumps are positioned and be aware of the factors which will affect how they ride. i.e. a jump positioned going away from the collecting ring or entrance, some horses may hesitate wanting to go back to the other horses.
   
   
9. Look at the course plan to check what the time allowed is and also familiarise yourself with the jump off so you can check if there are any new jumps included which weren’t in the first round.
   
   
10. If in doubt on any distance, ask for help!! Most top riders or good coaches will be more than happy to give you some friendly advice!

If you want to learn more about Team Tottie or follow their progress, please visit the website www.tottie.co.uk .