Let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to pick up some training gems from Dickie Waygood and Laura Collett? The pair, plus grassroots event rider and influencer Megan Elphick, joined up for The LeMieux Grassroots to Glory Masterclass on Friday, 20 December at the London International Horse Show.
H&H was on hand to bring you all the training and coaching wisdom from the session…
1. If the coach doesn’t know the riders and horses, the session should start with riders introducing themselves and their mounts.
Laura rides Cooley Iceage, a six-year-old who she cautiously admits she hopes will be her next big star.
“I’ve had him about a year now and he was very green when I got him, but he’s been competing at novice and two-star this season,” says the double Olympic team gold medallist and Paris individual bronze medallist. “He’s a horse I think an awful lot of, but he is very inexperienced and has never been in this kind of environment, so this is a very good education for him.”
Megan’s mount is her home-bred Winnie, another six-year-old who she has competed at BE80.
“I’ve taken my time with her and she had an injury this year so had the summer off, hence feeling excited to be at a party,” says Megan. “She is a very honest horse, but I have never done anything like this with her before.”
2. At elite level, coaching is very much a partnership.
British eventing performance manager Dickie says: “People ask, ‘Do I coach Laura?’ but it goes way beyond that. When I work with Laura it’s working together as a partnership because with her feel she can give me as much information on what she needs to work on as I can see with my eyes. I wouldn’t call it coaching in a true sense as at an elite level, it’s those small details you’re looking for – and getting the basics right.”
3. A jumping session starts with flatwork.
Dickie Waygood encourages Laura Collett and Megan Elphick to start the training session by testing the accelerator and the brakes on the flat, saying: “I like to see lots of transitions within the pace. Use the weight aid and maybe voice to slow down and then move on a little bit – Laura comes out of the saddle with a light seat, but she’s still in the middle of the horse. When she collects, the weight aid means using upper body posture to help the horse wait.
“In any discipline, it’s hugely important you sit in balance, then the horse can use you as a stabiliser to balance on.”
Dickie emphasises that if a rider puts one foot down two inches, they may think they are only transferring 15% of their weight, but in fact it’s more like 100%, so a small movement can be influential for the horse.
4. Don’t let the canter expand towards a jump, especially a skinny.
The pair start by jumping small fences down a line – “it doesn’t matter how many strides, I want them to keep the canter the same before fences” – before moving on to skinny fences.
“Try not to expand the canter on the way to a fence – if you expand before a skinny, you run the risk of running out,” says Dickie.
Megan Elphick and Winnie jump a skinny during a masterclass at the 2024 London International Horse Show. Credit: Pippa Roome
5. Look to the later fence in a line.
Once Laura sees her distance to the first fence in a line, she raises her eyes to look at the second fence.
“The moment she has seen her distance, she doesn’t need to look back at the first fence, she can see it in her peripheral vision. She’s then looking at the second fence,” says Dickie.
6. Straightness is vital.
Dickie stresses that horses need to be on railway tracks with the back legs following the front legs, saying: “You cannot do a press up with hands out to the side. When the horse’s shoulders are bulging out round the corner and he’s not straight he can’t shorten and lengthen correctly so he loses options and the shape and balance of bascule. When we come to skinnies we must have straight horses.”
Tips include not collapsing the rider’s body to one side, using a leg yield to counteract falling out and using “working pirouettes” to teach the horse to turn off the outside leg and outside leg.
7. Don’t try to catch horses out.
Make exercises progressive. Show horses the fences first if necessary. Alter the question if needed. Ask the riders what their horses are ready for.
“Don’t teach them to run-out – that’s always a worry with skinnies,” says Dickie, while Laura suggests an alteration to a set-up during the session, an example of how the pair work in partnership.
Dickie adds: “The next part is to practise this on the side of a hill with cross-country fences, then you take it to a competition.”
8. Leg before hand when making a correction, every time.
“Don’t land and go to the inside rein to turn – it’s common sense in time of crisis, but think of the pirouette and control the outside shoulder,” says Dickie.
Both horses perform very well during the training session with Dickie Waygood and Laura Collett – Megan youngster’s tackles some never-seen-before questions with no drama and learnt a lot, while Laura says of Cooley Iceage: “He has a great brain, he’s very honest, he fundamentally wants to do the job. I loved him before and I love him even more now.”
Dickie adds: “This is a horse to watch for the future – watch out for this horse and watch out for Laura.”
You may also be interested in: