Preparing your young show jumper with Mark Edwards

The Equestrian Experience

Not many can say that they have won at the prestigious Horse of the Year show on a horse that they have bred, trained, and ridden. For almost 30 years the Edwards family have bred and produced high-performance horses from their family farm in Wales. Mark takes us through how his recent success and string of top show jumpers is a result of many years of hard work.

In this episode, Mark explains how he got to where he is today and gives you his top tips to develop a young horse and make it to the top of the UK show jumping scene.

• The equestrian lifestyle isn’t for the faint-hearted and even high-performance riders have moments of doubt. Mark and Bex share advice on how savouring the special moments with your horses can motivate you to get through the hard days.
• With a string of successful horses, Mark takes us through his methods of starting a young horse and the importance of going at the horse’s pace to ensure long-term success.
• Young horses can be tricky, even for experienced riders. Find out which of Mark’s horses wasn’t always so manageable.
• Have you ever wondered how riders seem to cut seconds out in a jump-off while still looking so controlled and composed? Mark lets us in on how he likes to prepare mentally and tells us his dad’s favourite pre-round advice.
• Self-belief is something extremely important to Mark. He explains how having confidence in your own abilities is key to success.
• Ensuring the soundness of top performance horses can be a fine balance. Mark talks us through his general training schedule and how his competition horses don’t often jump at home once they know their job.
• Mark gives some sage words of advice to anyone bringing on young horses and young riders looking to make it to the top, emphasising the value of patience with young horses and encouraging young riders to seek out experience on many different horses.

All this and so much more in this episode of THE EQUESTRIAN EXPERIENCE.