How to Walk a Show Jumping Course: A Rider's Checklist

How to Walk a Show Jumping Course

The course walk is the one part of a competition where you're in complete control. You can't ride the fences in advance, but you can plan every step. A good walk turns a course from a series of jumps into a single, rideable plan.

Here's a simple checklist you can use at any level, from a clear-round class to a Grand Prix.

1. Walk your actual track first

Before you study any single fence, walk the line you'll ride — the route your horse's feet will take, not the straight line between fences. Where will you turn? Where's your room? The track is where time and rhythm are won and lost.

2. Count the related distances

On every line where the fences are close enough to be "related" (up to about seven strides), count it on foot. A human stride is roughly one metre, so pace it out and convert:

  • 3 human strides ≈ a bounce
  • 7–8 strides ≈ one horse stride (a double)
  • 10–11 strides ≈ two horse strides

Note whether each line is true, long or short for your horse, and plan your pace accordingly.

3. Plan your approach to each fence

For each jump, decide:

  • Which line you're coming from and how much you can straighten before it.
  • Whether it's a vertical (rein-back, balance) or a spread (a touch more pace).
  • Where the next fence is, so you land already thinking forward.

4. Find the question

Every course has a question or two — a tight turn, a tricky double, a spooky filler, a long related distance. Identify it on the walk and rehearse your answer so it doesn't surprise you in the ring.

5. Walk the start and the finish

Know exactly where the timers are. Plan a positive, straight approach to fence one, and keep riding through the finish line — far too many clear rounds lose to a casual final few strides.

Walk the course twice if you can: once for the track, once for the detail.

Build the course before you walk it

The best way to get sharp at walking courses is to build them. In YardForge you can lay out a class in the course designer, see every distance and stride count live, walk it in 3D, and even stand it up at full scale in your own arena with AR — then export a rider's plan to study. It's the course walk, before the course walk.

Want the numbers behind the strides? See Show Jumping Distances Explained.