James Jackson Equestrian BHS Senior Coach / BHSII

26/01/2025

It's no secret that I am deeply concerned about a large amount of riding that is seen, set by examples from the very highest levels. I've posted previously on my views on flash nosebands by default, heavy riding, the re-emergence of rollkur, accelerated training for young horse classes, and such like.

The video below, of Dr. Reiner Klimke, is incredibly illustrative. You don't need to understand German to see the message in it. The first part is a horse ridden behind the vertical (to a level that is sadly now seen so often it would not even be considered extreme). The second is the same horse ridden in an open frame.

Just look at the change in the whole of the horse's way of going and movement. It's night and day. And that's just the visual biomechanics, without even going in to the detail of airway restriction, stress responses, and suchlike.

I know getting this right is hard. Very hard. I think it's getting harder and harder for learning riders to find schoolmasters to ride who do go in true collection with lightness, and very very hard to find coaches who truly understand lightness, collection, and how to develop it. We need to break that cycle to stop the damaging ways become commonly accepted for the simple reason that people don't know any better.

You don't get horses feeling phenomenal overnight. And if you follow a properly developmental pathway, it is unlikely your 5 or 6 year old will look like a PSG horse at a young age. Be in it for the long game, for the good of the horse, and the patience will be rewarded in the long run.

12/01/2025

Horses are full of ups and downs! I was planning on giving Vigo a couple of months off over the winter, but this got accelerated due to an injury in the Autumn. So he's had November and December off, but thankfully is now healed up and in fine form.

He's been back in work for for about two weeks now - and is feeling fantastic. There have been moments in his schooling where his natural quality absolutely shines through, and he's feeling so fit, strong, and well in himself. This sometimes expresses itself in quite a bit of exuberance, but you've just got to laugh and have a lot of patience - I'd rather a horse who feels they can show themselves off with a bit of character than a shut-down robot!

There have been moments in his riding since he's been back in work that have felt absolutely phenomenal. The type of feeling that puts a big grin on your face. He's also now clocking in at about 18hh, so the work is all about teaching him how to balance and control his natural power and size - he's learning to collect beautifully.

That said, it's going to take time with his canter in particular - it's so huge that it feels like it only takes three strides to get down the long side of the school. I'm in no rush to damage his natural expression, so the collection in the canter will come with time and considered developmental work. Likewise, out hacking there have been times he's been a bit excitable, and he ends up showing off his passage. It's all a schooling opportunity - I'm never going to tell off an excitable, forward, horse; rather it's a chance to make the most of the situation. When that is schooled properly it's going to be beautiful.

Now rising 5, it's still a very long road ahead. It's always a rollercoaster with any horse, let alone youngstock, and there will be more challenging times ahead. But the developmental approach to his schooling, not chasing performance for performance's sake, but working with and for his psychology and physical development, is really paying dividends.

18/11/2024

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15 minutes from Hartpury
5 minutes from Newent

Message us now or get in touch at:
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16/10/2024

04/10/2024

Things continue to progress well with Vigo - very pleased with his progress, and he goes from strength to strength. I had an interesting conversation with somebody the other day, who was surprised that I was playing with things such as tranvers and renvers in trot, shoulder-fore in canter, and beginning steps of counter-canter.

There are two camps who talk past each other on how much a young horse should be doing, but they tend to miss the subleties in the discussion. For example, Vigo is ridden 4 or 5 times a week. I'll follow a schedule something like:

Mon + Tue: Schooling
Wed: Off
Thu + Fri: Schooling
Sat: Hack
Sun: Off

The schooling sessions are usually only about 30 mins long, with the focussed work of the day lasting about 15 mins. Lots of breaks, lots of walking, lots of playing with flexion, lateral movements, and transitions. I follow the French classical approach to my work, whereby balance comes first (primarily through lots of walk work, but also through thoughful riding in the other gaits), and power and performance come after - so all the work is low-impact, but high training gain. What isn't happening is milage in a single gait. Put it this way - nobody improved a trot by trotting endless circles, or a canter through laps of the arena.

Following this methodology, for example, a renvers is just playing around with a trot with the shoulders moved off the track, looking in the direction of travel. The 'outline' is not forced, nor is the lateral movement. It's all a natural progression, and tuning what is coming through the establishing balancing work, with an appropriate level of flexion and collection for the level of the horse.

There is, of course, a balance in knowing when to ask for a little more collection, or a little more flexion, or indeed when to straighten up, when to counter-flex, when to go and do something else. That's when riding ends and training begins.

Young horses are phenomenal, testing, but so rewarding. It's possible to develop their mental and gymnastic suppleness without putting worthless miles on, and while paying close attention to their musculoskeletal immaturity.

Also a huge thanks to the whole team at Entelechy Equestrian where he's now well settled - a fantastic training environment.

24/07/2024

What story would your horse tell?

I've been reflecting a lot recently about standards shown in competition, and in schooling away from the public eye. Maybe I'm more aware of it as I know more, but it feels to me that there has been a gradual slipping in standards since rollkur came to the fore (and thankfully fell from grace, mostly...) 15 years ago or so.

What do I see? Showjumpers with rediculous horrible combination bits, eventers with massively tight nosebands, dressage training with hyperflexion and aggression. You can't buy a bridle without a flash on it, so loads of people use them because they're there.

These are of course the extremes, but I see significantly more of it than I used to. Perhaps it's a generational thing, with people being trained by people who themselves don't see issue with less-than-perfect approaches to training. Either way, it makes me deeply uncomfortable for the welfare of the horse, which is deeply connected to the future of our sport.

Something I'm always thinking of when I'm training horses is if they were to write a book, what character would I be? Would I be a dancing partner, a mentor, a friend, or would I be overbearing, aggressive, dominating? Does my horse work to show their natural beauty because I have taught them how to think, and how to trust, or do they do it out of fear and coercion? Can I look myself in the eye after schooling and be happy for how I have respected and treasured the inherent peaceful and accepting nature of the horse?

Please please please critically assess everybody who schools, teaches, or talks about training horses. Read deeply about the classical schools and many lifetimes of learning that are available to research. Invest in time learning a modern understanding about equine learning and biomechanics. Seek out schoolmasters to feel what a truly light, well-school horse should feel like (although this, sadly, appears to be getting harder these days too).

The events and revelations of the past 24 hours have made me sad and angry. So what did I do today with my giant young horse who I'm aiming for the top levels with? We went on a lovely hack, on a long rein (as I usually do), wandered through the lanes, stopping to chat with the neighbours, and just had a nice relaxing time. There is always time - time to return to a lesson that isn't working, time to just chill out and relax, time to deal with any upset that happens in the many years it takes to train a horse. Be their voice.

02/07/2024

What a way to start the week, after somebody has had a week off! This is the well-known 'canter to the moon'. 🐴🚀

17/06/2024

It's all been very quiet on the Vigo front recently. And the reason is that schooling young horses should be boring. He's coming on fantastically, but is still very much in primary school, and as he's still continuing to grow (17.3hh at last count) there's no rush to force performance at young horse classes, or over-expression 'for the likes' while he's still working on consistency, balance, and how to handle the incredible power he's developing as he strengthens.

His weekly schedule is based around focussed schooling (around 30mins a pop) for two days, followed by either a rest day or a hack. The hacking is primarily on a loose rein, to enable him to develop his walk, and so that he learns how to handle himself in all situations with confidence.

He's had his moments of teenage madness - all young horses do - which test one's confidence in approach, but that's all part of the challenge. A key things is having a great team to keep things on track. Big shout out to Interactive Dressage - Stef Eardley, Saddles Direct, and Westlake Vet Physio.

31/05/2024

I absolutely love this. Horses have got to learn how to jump themselves, and to build confidence in what they’re being asked to do. Our job is to not over face them, and the set up appropriate rhythm, balance, and line. Do that gently and progressively and you’ll have an excellent jumping horse with bags of trust.

06/04/2024

After giving him the winter off to grow, mature, and strengthen, it's great to be back riding Vigo again. And wow, what a difference a few months off has made - he's come back so much stronger and confident.

With the three year old training being about gentle backing and the very basics, his fourth year is all about establishing the foundational building blocks for the future (transitions, lateral work, and variability within the paces), starting to build his muscular strength and gymnastic ability, and getting him confident and able to control and balance all the natural power he has. This is all to build suppleness and connection, which are improving day on day.

At this stage, little and often is the way forwards. And huge amounts of patience: Ask much, expect little, reward often!

29/03/2024

Great article. The neck posture should be appropriate to the level of training and the variation of the gait. The points at the end that at any point the horse should be willing to stretch forward, and that the hand should always be allowing, are critical.

The guest column of this week is by Angelika Fromming, retired international dressage judge, and Hannes Müller, former head of the German Riding School in Warendorf and chair of the German Professional Riders Association. Both are highly esteemed clinicians.

27/01/2024

So good to see this from my old regiment The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, with great support from Tower Farm Riding Stables and the instructors. Where did they find so many greys?!

10/01/2024

Very interesting CPD day today - thinking about operant and classical conditioning to shape horse behaviours, social licence for equestrian sport, and how to think about our schooling and problem-solving in terms of learning theory.

Always good to confirm knowledge and approach, develop some thoughts to bring to how I work with horses, and to expand understanding of the 'why' behind successful schooling approaches.