A Fitter Horse
How Boyd legs horses up without galloping, using canter sets in an arena, and how to balance hard days with easy ones so your horse comes into spring fit, sound and fresh.
A Better Canter
The arena exercises Boyd uses to make the canter bigger, smaller and steadier on demand, and why a horse that rushes usually has a canter problem, not a speed problem.
A Stronger Position
Why your body is your main aid for the canter, and how to build the secure lower leg and balanced seat that keep you in control when your horse gets strong or backs off.
Plus: Boyd's Six-Week Winter Training Plan
Fitness, canter and position work set out week by week, so you know exactly what to do with every ride between now and spring.
What you practise in winter shows up in spring
"Whatever happens with your horse in training and schooling is most likely to reappear at a competition." Boyd Martin
When winter holds you back
- Weeks off with no plan for bringing your horse back
- The same circles in the indoor, ride after ride
- A rushed fitness build-up in the weeks before your first event
- Last season's canter and position problems, still waiting for you
When you make the most of it
- Time off that refreshes your horse, then a clear plan to bring them back
- Every ride working on something that matters
- Fitness built steadily, whatever the weather
- A canter you can adjust and a position you can rely on, before the first start box
Who is this for?
Eventers riding Starter to Training level who want to head into next season better prepared, especially if your horse gets strong, rushes or backs off, or you know your position lets you down under pressure. It's also ideal if you're planning to move up a level in 2027.
It works whether or not you have a coach, and the training is designed for an arena, so you can keep working whatever the weather does.
Your Coach
Boyd Martin
Australian-born Olympian riding for the USA, reached #1 in the world. Boyd has spent his career producing every kind of horse, from hot Thoroughbreds to green young horses, and every year he plans his horses' off-season around one goal: coming out ready for the season ahead. He works through this with riders every month inside the Boyd Martin Eventing Program. This time he's doing it in the open.
He's joined by 5* event rider and coach Lillian Heard Wood, who coaches inside the Boyd Martin Eventing Program.
