At class B and L, you often still get around a course on feel and a steady pace. From class M onward, the course walk itself becomes part of your result: the distances get tighter, the lines harder, and the difference between a clean zero and four faults often lies in how well you walked beforehand. This guide goes through what you do during the course walk and how you then carry that plan into the saddle.
What a Course Walk Is
Before each show jumping class, riders are let into the arena — usually for ten to fifteen minutes — to walk the course on foot. Your horse stays outside; you walk the whole route yourself that you'll ride shortly after. The course designer has chosen the fences and distances deliberately — the course walk is your only chance to read those choices before you're in the canter.
You take away three things from it:
- The route: what order the fences stand in, and how to walk between them logically without unnecessary sharp turns.
- The distances: how many canter strides fit between two fences, and whether that distance is generous, normal, or tight.
- The pressure points: where the designer has built in a problem — a short turn to an oxer, a combination after a bend, a line from light into shadow.
Pacing Off Distances: Counting Canter Strides
The core of the course walk is pacing off the distances between fences. One canter stride from an average sport horse is roughly 3.5 meters, and you reckon on about two human paces per meter. A commonly used method: place your heels against the takeoff point, take a half pace for the landing, and then count onward in units of four (one canter stride) to the next fence.
| Number of Paces Between Fences | Roughly Corresponds To |
|---|---|
| ~7–8 paces | 1 canter stride (a direct combination) |
| ~10–11 paces | 2 canter strides |
| ~14–15 paces | 3 canter strides |
| ~18–19 paces | 4 canter strides |
These are guide numbers, not a fixed law. Your own pace, the length of your particular horse's canter stride, and the footing all help determine how a distance actually rides. So always walk with your own, consistent pace, and calibrate it now and then against a distance you already know.
More important than the exact number is what the distance tells you:
- A tight distance (the designer has set the fences slightly closer than standard): ride quieter, shorter, and keep the horse between your aids.
- A generous distance: ride slightly more forward so the line comes out on the right number of strides.
- Combinations (one or two canter strides between elements): here there's no room to correct. Whatever you ride into on the first stride determines the rest.
Choosing Lines, Turns, and Pace
You don't ride a course fence by fence, but in lines. While walking, you decide where you'll arrive at each jump and how you'll turn toward the next one.
- Arrive square. Plan your line so you come straight at the middle of the fence. Approaching at an angle increases both the chance of a knockdown and the distance.
- Work out your turns in advance. Decide whether to take a turn wide or tight. Turning tight saves time but costs balance and sight of the next fence — during the course walk, you decide per turn what's sensible.
- Pace per section. A straight line over an oxer asks for more forward riding than a short turn to a vertical. Walk the course and identify for yourself where you'll push on and where you'll hold back.
- Memorize the route physically. Many riders walk the line exactly as they'll ride it, turns included, so it settles into the body and not just the head.
Also watch for environmental factors that can distract the horse: the entrance and exit, an announcer's booth, the transition from sun to shade, or a water trough. At the higher levels, those are exactly the spots where a round comes undone.
Riding the Plan
A good course walk is worthless if you abandon it once you're in the ring. Riding the plan is about holding onto it and keeping a constant, rhythmic canter.
- Ride your own canter, not the fence's. An even, carrying canter with enough impulsion produces the right distances by itself. Riders who only start steering right before the jump end up rushing or restraining the horse into a mistake.
- Look ahead. Fix your eyes on the next fence while you're still going over the current one. Your body follows your eyes; looking down or at the rail pulls your center of balance with it.
- Count your canter strides. Counting out loud or in your head on a line keeps your rhythm constant and lets you feel sooner whether you're carrying too much or too little canter.
- Treat combinations as sacred. Ride the first element quietly and straight, and don't try to adjust once you're inside it. Trust what you walked.
If a distance doesn't work out exactly, a small, quiet correction is always better than one big last-stride effort or a yank on the rein. A distance that didn't feel perfect but stayed clean costs you nothing; panic costs a rail.
When Something Goes Wrong During the Round
Even with a good plan, not every line rides the way you thought it would. What counts is how fast you recover.
- After a knockdown: ride on as if nothing happened. Looking back or holding back costs you the next fence too.
- After a refusal: collect the horse, choose a straight approach again with more forward riding and confirmation, and present the fence again. A second refusal means elimination at most competitions.
- On losing rhythm: use the next long line or turn to restore the canter before you ride into another difficult section.
The exact rules around faults, refusals, time, and elimination differ per class and can change; the current show jumping regulations are on knhs.nl (the Dutch equestrian federation). Don't rely on fixed numbers from this guide — check them with the federation.
In Short
- Walk every course with your own, consistent pace and count distances in canter strides — use the numbers as a guideline, not a law.
- Decide your lines and turns in advance, along with where you'll push on or hold back, and watch for distractions around the arena.
- Ride a constant, carrying canter in the ring, look ahead, and stick to the plan you walked.
- Treat combinations as untouchable: whatever you ride into on the first stride determines the rest.
- Recover calmly after a mistake, and always check the exact rules with the KNHS.
See also: Glossary for this level · Level: Competing More Seriously · KNHS — Show Jumping Regulations