Jumping with Caroline Moore FBHS – Report from the F & I Annual Course

Keysoe, January 2023.

An amazing very inspiring 2 days delivered by Caroline Moore FBHS. Watching Caroline coach was an absolute pleasure and watching the combinations grow over the 2 days was a joy and very thought provoking.

It was clear from the first session on the Wednesday that Caroline had some top priorities for her coaching;

Rider Responsibility, Discipline and Awareness.

All of her sessions were very much underpinned by the scales of training.

Over these 2 days Caroline had a focus on change of direction and accuracy and started with raised poles on the floor on a serpentine exercise to encourage this from the start. Through this Caroline assessed the riders and the influence they were having on the horses’ suppleness. Caroline encouraged the riders to be responsible for the pace, the direction and the balance, encouraging them to re-balance where necessary and educate and reward their horses.
Caroline incorporated narrow poles to assess the horses’ and riders’ ability to ride accurately and maintain straightness throughout an exercise.

Caroline expected the riders to be disciplined within their work and to be consistent with their approach as well as making sure they thought about their plan and were deliberate in what they were asking the horse to do.

As the sessions developed there was quite a lot of focus on contact and the riders’ hands, encouraging the riders to ensure that they were in an independent balance and not allowing themselves to influence the horse with the hand through the exercises in a backward way, therefore allowing the horse to use its neck more on the approach, jump and landing. The question was also asked on more than one occasion “are you providing the horse with an equal contact”?

The sessions over the 2 days had excellent progression for both the horses and the riders and developed confidence in both. Caroline was very aware of the horses’ mental health throughout the sessions and for me this really showed in the horses’ performances towards the end of the sessions on the 2nd day. They were all so much more mentally careful, in partnership with their riders, the horses and riders looked much more in tune and comfortable with the fences and open to learning.

I feel very lucky to have this opportunity to watch these fabulous coaches and riders in action in such a special environment to be able to watch, learn, and ask questions to develop my practice further.

Report by Becky Monk BHSI