The YardForge Blog

• Recording Hack Routes with GPS: Safer Rides for Livery Yards — How to record, share and discover hacking routes with GPS — distances, terrain notes and community maps for equestrian yards in the UK.
• AR Course Walk-Through: Preview Your Show Jumping Course on Foot — How augmented reality course preview helps riders and designers see fence spacing in the real arena before poles are built — Android WebXR and 3D fallback on iPhone.
• Livery Yard Digital Management: A Practical Checklist for Yard Owners — What to track digitally on a modern livery yard — horse health logs, staff tasks, notices, arena schedules and billing — without drowning in spreadsheets.
• FEI vs British Showjumping: Which Rules Apply to Your Course Design? — A practical guide to switching between FEI and BS validation when designing showjumping courses — distances, combinations, arena size and common mistakes.
• Designing Gymnastic Grids: Stride Calculator Tips for Coaches — How to set bounce, one-stride and two-stride grid distances for horses and ponies — and check them in a digital course designer before you move a pole.
• FEI Arena Dimensions: What Course Designers Need to Know — Minimum arena sizes for FEI show jumping, how dimensions affect course building, and practical tips for mapping your arena accurately.
• BS Course Building Rules: A Practical Overview for Designers — British Showjumping course-building essentials — spreads, combinations, water, and the Table of Distances explained for club and affiliated builders.
• Polework Exercises Every Show Jumper Should Know — Trot and canter pole grids that improve rhythm, bascule, and adjustability — with distances you can set in a standard arena.
• Horse Health Logging: What to Record and Why It Matters — From vet visits to daily TPR — a practical guide to health records that help you spot patterns before they become emergencies.
• GPS Arena Mapping: Measure Your Arena by Walking the Perimeter — How GPS perimeter walks produce accurate arena dimensions for course design — and when to trust them over a tape measure.
• Warm-Up Routines Before a Show Jumping Round — A 20-minute structure for the collecting ring — flatwork, poles, and practice fences that leave your horse sharp but rideable.
• Show Jumping Distances Explained: Strides, Doubles and Combinations — A clear guide to related distances in show jumping — how many strides in a double, a treble and a related line, for horses and ponies, with the metres to walk.
• Understanding Combination Fences in Show Jumping — How stride counts work inside combinations, what FEI and BS expect, and how to walk them with confidence.
• How to Walk a Show Jumping Course: A Rider's Checklist — A practical step-by-step guide to walking a show jumping course — counting strides, planning your track and lines, and reading distances, for riders of every level.
• Liverpools and Water Jumps: Riding Tips That Actually Work — Approach pace, eye line, and common rider errors at water and liverpool fences — from a coach who has rebuilt too many schooling trays.
• Choosing the Right Stride Length for Your Horse — Why 3.5 metres is only a starting point — adjust take-off, landing, and stride for ponies, hot horses, and scopey types.
• Preparing Your Horse for Competition Season — Fitness, farrier timing, transport, and mental prep — a month-by-month checklist for amateur and professional show jumpers.