Tom McEwen: Finding the “Right Ingredients”

British Olympian and top eventer Tom McEwen underscores thinking and simplicity during his recent clinic at Galway Downs in Temecula, California.

By Kim F. Miller

“What do you reckon?” This was the question two-time British Olympic gold medalist Tom McEwen repeatedly asked riders in his January 24-26 clinic at Galway Downs Equestrian in Temecula, California, especially after quietly observing them warm up to start each session.

“It’s not a trick question,” he assured. Instead, it was meant to get riders thinking on their own. How did their horses feel? What were their horses doing? Falling in through turns? Getting behind their leg? Ignoring or overreacting to their cues? Then, he asked riders what were they doing with their seat, their upper body, their hands, legs and brains, etc.?

During his two-day clinic at Galway Downs Equestrian in Temecula, California, Olympian and top eventer Tom McEwen encouraged participants to become “thinking” riders. ©Kim F. Miller

As riders, thinking on our own is the first step to acting on our own in the heat of the moment. “By the time I say something it’s far too late most of the time,” the world number one-ranked eventer said of his in-the-moment coaching. “We can’t affect the here and now. We can only affect what happens next. Then, once riders start thinking, it’s trying to get them to not overthink it!” Balance was key in this conundrum and in distinguishing between the rider’s and the horse’s jobs.

Keeping It Simple

Outside of the jumps, McEwen said it’s the rider’s job to give the horse “the right ingredients”—a balanced, rhythmic canter with power-generating hindquarter engagement and a straight track. The jumps are the horse’s job. At the jump, the rider should make minimal movements and generally stay out of the horse’s way. When set up properly, most horses will figure out what to do with their body and feet when given the chance.

Being a thinking rider starts with the course walk. “Simple stride counting doesn’t cut it. We need detailed thinking about how we’re going to ride each part, i.e., ‘I’ll need right leg here to keep his shoulder in.’ The reason top riders make it look easy is because they’re not doing too much,” said McEwen, who’s noted for his smooth, forward riding style. “When horses have the correct training foundation, we can make tiny adjustments at the higher levels because we’re not doing a bunch of other things.”

With horses and riders, trying to do too many things at the same time is counterproductive. “Keep training simple,” he urged. “If you flicker between trying to do five things at once, you get nothing done.”

Taren Hoffos and Kermit school through one of McEwen’s exercises during the clinic. ©Kim F. Miller

Organized by Advanced competitor Taren Hoffos, McEwen’s clinic consisted of six divisions ranging from Beginner Novice to Intermediate and included pro, amateur and junior riders. One of those juniors, 16-year-old Fiona Lempress, participated on three horses—one of them quite familiar to McEwen: MHS Brown Jack, who he took to the CCI4*-S level in 2023.

Hoffos rode in the clinic’s Novice division with 6-year-old Kermit. “I hoped for new exercises and ideas to build on his strengths and address his weaknesses,” she noted. “Tom picked out our weakness right away—getting Kermit’s feet moving more quickly, making him work a little harder and making me work a little harder to make Kermit work harder.”

By Sunday, Hoffos felt like it all came together. “Kermit was more in front of my leg, which allowed me to ride the exercises better in terms of looking ahead and riding off my leg,” she said.

Crooked Routes to Straightness and Responsiveness

McEwen’s jumping exercises tested riders’ dressage chops on short course segments, and Saturday’s focus on show jumping included long approaches to single fences. “One of the hardest things is to come straight to a single fence,” McEwen said about straight-approached fences followed by a bending track to the next. Angling isolated elements of one- and two-stride combinations was another challenge.

Whatever the track, McEwen stressed that straightness in the horse’s body and setting and holding a straight line to the jumps were the goals. He also noted that the rider’s eye is critical. “Your eye tells the horse everything he needs to know about where he’s going,” he explained. “When he follows your eye, he gets stronger and can learn to do more things himself.”

McEwen helped Mckayla Howard focus on keeping her eyes aligned with her horse’s. ©Kim F. Miller

McEwen upped the difficulty level for Sunday’s focus on cross country, with brushes, skinnies and a corner fence interspersed with stadium jumps in the Grand Prix Arena. Three poles set as a curving canter-bounce reminded riders to allow their horses to figure things out when they get to the jump. After its use as a warm-up exercise, this component was integrated into longer exercises to reinforce this crucial point.

Curved and angled tracks remained, but everything came up quicker. Success required creating and maintaining the correct canter, identifying and holding the lines and sighting the next fence once horse and rider where locked into the immediate obstacle.

V-poles on the ground or sloped out from the top of a standard encouraged horses and riders to stay focused on the skinnies, which helped improve the shape of the horses’ jumping efforts.

Transitions and Circles

Cool temperatures with winds on Saturday and a little rain (and rainbows!) on Sunday combined with an energetic atmosphere spurred high spirts in several horses. Hot or lazy, all demonstrated improved focus on their riders through transitions, and many hotter horses settled down. Keeping horses guessing with multiple in-exercise canter-trot-canter transitions brought several into soft submission and helped horses and riders work together rather than against each other.

McEwen had Alessandra Allen-Shinn and Bankseigh practice canter-trot-canter transitions to improve his focus and help him settle down. ©Kim F. Miller

With steady, even hand and leg aids and a light, neutral seat, riders could let the tracks do much of the work in keeping their horses in balance and focused on registering the next jumping effort.

Circles served a similar purpose. Getting the horse to bend around the rider’s inside leg—applied evenly to the horse’s rib cage—helped create hindquarter engagement and canter balance as well as encouraged horse and rider breathing and relaxation on course. The only time McEwen doesn’t recommend circling on course is when the horse has locked focus onto the next fence.

More Canter = More Options

The clinic was all about training and for that purpose McEwen told riders to evaluate their efforts by the quality of their canter, not whether the fences were jumped clear. He advised fine tuning between one- and two-miles-per-hour increments to feel for the horse’s ideal canter balance and impulsion. That resulted in a faster-than-normal canter for many.

“More canter equals more options,” McEwen said. “With a slow canter, the only option is for your horse to draw up.” He advised riders to travel with their horses on landing from a fence and to build their canter after the fence and through the first part of the turn. Then, he told them to use the second part to balance, while keeping their leg on to maintain forward motion throughout.

Pair of Hands, Pair of Legs

McEwen stressed using right and left hands and leg aids together to give the clearest, simplest and most effective instruction to their horses in order to gain their confidence and trust. 

His body position pointers emphasized “tall head” —the feeling achieved by stretching up through the torso with a light-in-seat-bones position. When things go haywire on course, McEwen said it’s natural to assume a deep-seat position—titling the pelvis forward in drive mode. Instead, he helped riders develop the habit of going to the leg when additional forward encouragement was needed.

Onya Ostrovsky and Copain during cross-country training at the clinic. ©Kim F. Miller

The top eventer said he enjoyed his first clinic in U.S. and working with American riders. “There are general basics for everyone, whether you’re riding dressage or jumping,” McEwen said. “Everybody has to work on the basics, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

He also noted that getting a glimpse of Galway Downs’ cross-country course was an added bonus. The venue is the proposed site of the LA28 Olympic equestrian competition, and McEwen hopes to return in four years for his third run at the gold for Great Britain.

More Behind-the-Scenes Glimpses From McEwen’s Clinic

McEwen and Chloe Smyth. ©Kim F. Miller
Kendra Mitchell and McEwen share a laugh. ©Kim F. Miller
McEwen observing riders during the cross-country training at the clinic. ©Kim F. Miller
MHS Brown Jack, who McEwen took to the CCI4*-S level in 2023, was one of three horses Fiona Lempress rode at the clinic. ©Kim F. Miller
Amanda Vines schooling skinnies with McEwen coaching. ©Kim F. Miller
McEwen coaching riders during the two-day clinic. ©Kim F. Miller
Fiona Lempress strategizes with McEwen during cross-country training at the clinic. ©Kim F. Miller
McEwen joking around with Paige Beauchamp. ©Kim F. Miller

For More:

  • Read more about Olympic top eventer Tom McEwen, click here.
  • To read more about Equine Network’s partnership with Nilforushan Equisport Events to further expand and enrich the hunter/jumper competitor experience in Southern California, including Temecula’s Galway Downs, click here.

SHARE THIS STORY
CATEGORIES
TAGS
RELATED ARTICLES
Josephine Hinneman_caval_vertical_copy
Masterclass With Ingrid Klimke
GeoffreyHesslink_Spencer copy
Creating Confidence with Geoffrey Hesslink
CorneliaPodcast_IMAGE copy 2
Practical Horseman Podcast: Cornelia Fletcher
230306408_ABFa4
Understanding Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis (DSLD)