Video Discussion # 68: Interesting complex on this year's Rolex course!
This was a very interesting complex on this year's Rolex cross country course! Along with the challenging terrain that was involved, the distance in between the two narrow brush jumps was exactly between two and three strides. As Jimmy Wofford said in his course walk, "When presented with a boldness question with optional striding, always take the braver option. Otherwise you will tend to come in picking and whining, and your horse may stop."
I think that in this video, Andrew shows us the best way to handle this type of situation, ride boldly, and let the horse decide if he is going to do two or three strides. Because this horse's ability to think for himself has been nurtured in training, he took care of himself, and did two and a half strides very neatly. If Andrew had tried to force the two he may not have made it. And if he picked for the three it could have caused trouble. There is a very important lesson to be learned here! (Click on Discussion Title above (in blue) to read this educational discussion)
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