Course Walk Videos: Know Your Strides Before You Ride the Kentucky Arena
The idea came about on the course itself. Show jumper Pieter Vandierendonck, who coaches riders from amateur to professional level, shared his experiences of training on the outdoor course in Kentucky. He spoke highly of the courses and emphasised what riders need most when riding a new course: to know exactly how the course should be ridden.
Courses built like the show ring
According to Pieter Vandierendonck, the Kentucky arena is the only outdoor arena in the region where you can train at the level of the courses at shows like Peelbergen, Azelhof and Sentower. Whether you ride Euregio classes as an amateur or compete at semi-professional or professional level, the step from training to the show ring becomes much smaller.
The difference is in the lines. At many training venues, courses are rarely built to flow in arhythmic canter. On our arena, Pieter Vitse builds every line to be ridden in a forward motion, with plenty of space for the big, ground-covering strides horses need in competition.
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All lines have to be ridden in a forward motion. There's a lot of room for those big strides.
— PIETER VANDIERENDONCK
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Walk the course with the course builder
A forward course only works if you know how it is meant to be ridden. Is that line aforward five or a steady six? For many amateurs, that uncertainty is the biggest hurdlewhen they train somewhere new.
That is why we made course walk videos with Pieter Vitse. In each video, the man who built the course walks you through it: the lines, the number of strides, and how he intends every part to be ridden. You arrive knowing your plan, so you can spend your training time riding the course the way it should be ridden.
Watch, then ride
Preparing for your next national or international show? Watch the course walk videos, then come and train on the Kentucky outdoor arena.
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