After seeing one of Tim Stockdale’s lecture demos in person, at Brook farm Training Centre in Essex last March; I was really looking forward to watching this DVD as I know how entertaining and informative Tim is when teaching.
Top international show jumper Tim Stockdale first represented Great Britain in 1988. He has now represented his country no less than forty-seven occasions in Nations’ Cup teams including, the 2002 World Equestrian Games, the 2008 Olympic Games in China and the 2009 European Championships. In early 2010, he served as Chef d’Equipe for the victorious Great Britain team in Nations’ Cup contest in Abu Dhabi.
Tim begins by promising some useful AND fun showjumping exercises for both horse and rider, and remembering something Harvey Smith once told him:
“You make your rosettes at home – you only go to shows to collect them”
He then highlighted the importance of good basic flatwork: the foundation of any showjumper, and some of the exercises he rode were specific flatwork exercises that would help when jumping a course later on.
“Consistency is the key in your training – especially in younger horses,” Tim explains, “if you are consistent with you body language the horse will start to recognise what you do very quickly and will become more receptive to your instructions.”
Using training of a repetitive nature Tim shows how you can help improve the consistency of your showjumping and regularity of stride – and makes it look very easy. 
Throughout the DVD Tim shares many of his tips to help with any level of showjumping. One was that ‘you don’t change the course to fit your horse – you change the horse to fit the course!’ He emphasised the need to jump courses at home set out with the correct distances, whether your horses is long or short strided, or you may get stuck when at a competition.
I found that a lot of the exercises concentrated on using your body to help the horse sand improve the way the horse was going, this was helpful as it meant that both you and your horse can improve your way of going if you try some of Tim’s exercises. When riding courses or fences on an angle or curving line, Tim explained ‘that your body has to sell it to your horse’ and when he rode down a line of S-shaped fences it was obvious what he meant as his line was so smooth and he made it look very easy!
Throughout the film, the exercises progressed to become more complex – from poles on the ground, to lines of fences to fences on a curling line to a ‘clockface’ – which means that whatever your level of training there will definitely be an exercise to help you.
The exercises build up to Tim jumping a course of difficult fences, piecing together a range of techniques learnt throughout the DVD, in ‘ring’ conditions.
Another plus, with all DVDs by professional riders, is that you get a real insight of their top horses in training. Tim’s advice throughout is invaluable making this DVD is a must for any budding showjumper, or if you want to improve your showjumping technique.
This superb training DVD is now available from www.equestrianvision.co.uk, RRP £19.95 Duration: Approx 105 minutes. An EV Production. For more details please visit the website or call 01403 864173.
Courtesy of Equestrian Vision, we have a copy of Enjoying Showjumping with Tim Stockdale to giveaway to a lucky Hooked on Horses reader. Visit our competition page to enter.
