Do vertical showjumps and upright fences spell a four-fault guarantee for youand your horse?Whether theyre 60cm or1.60m, its easy to have upright fences such as planksdown during a jumping round. And at four penalties a time, its an expensive way to mar an otherwise clear round and potentially drop down the leaderboard. From a tactical warm-up routine tosmart use of groundlines, there are plenty of things you can do to nail jumpingupright fences and vertical showjumps once and for all.According to Lincolnshire-basedinternational showjumper Samantha Staples, there are several common causes of knocking upright fences down. From struggling to find a good canter rhythm to getting to close and poor rider position the good news is all of these issues can be fixed with good training.Vertical showjumps: find a good rhythmVerticals need to be jumped ina short, energetic canter and, whenasked to produce this, riders often doone of two things rely on the handto shorten the canter or mistake speedfor power, resulting in a long, flat pace.To fix this, you need to produce acanter in which your horse feels light inthe hand while powering themselves alongfrom their hindquarters and, crucially,nothing should change on yourapproach to the fence, says Samantha.You can achieve this with simple polework. Begin with onerandomly placed pole and, once the canter feelsbouncy and your horse is soft and consistent to it, add asecond and third pole each at onebounce stride (roughly three paces)from the preceding pole. Aim to feelthe same bouncy rhythm over the polesand practise bringing the horse back with yourseat if they get too long or exuberant.Jumping upright fences: avoid a deep take-off spotUnlike oxers, vertical fences naturallydraw you in to a deeper take-off spot,but appropriately placed groundlinescan help teach your horse to stand offan upright for better clearance in front.Next time you train over vertical showjumps,pull the ground pole out by two feet(60cm), advises Samantha. Once your horse ismeeting the upright fence comfortably andrhythmically, gradually return the ground poleto the base of the fence.Tackle vertical showjumps with confidenceWhether youre faced with planks on a showjumping course or an upright gate on a cross-country track, vertical fences can trigger a wobble of confidence in riders.We all feel nervous in thesaddle at some point and it stops usriding how we know we should. Themost common sign is tightening up inthe hand, so Id recommend practice ofachieving a quality rhythm to reducereliance on your rein aids, says Samantha. Then, builda small plank fence with a pole as thetop rail to help normalise jumpingthem. When youre confident,replace the top pole for a plank andfocus on sitting up, staying relaxed andusing your seat to keep that bouncycanter rhythm.Check your positionRider position is very influential when youre jumping, especially upright fences. Remember that canter rhythm can be lostif you tip forward,which encourages yourhorse onto their forehand.Keeping your shouldersback and lookingup will help, says Samantha.Working preferably with your trainer,but a knowledgeable helper takinga video would do, analyse your ownand your horses form over upright fences such as planks.This will help you to identify what you need todo in order to improve. Samantha suggests looking for any changes in yourhorses rhythm or your body and aidson the approachto vertical showjumps, such as:Are you tight in thehand or tipping forward? Is thecanter getting long and flat? Is yourhorse taking off too close to thefence, or do they just not seem to bepicking up their feet? Once youveisolated the issue, you can startdoing the work to correct it, says Samantha.Consider your horses techniqueIf you or your instructor dontnotice any change in your horses wayof going after a thorough assessment, it might be time to work on their technique.You can test a horses technique by usinga placing pole one horse stride fromthe base of the planks to aid yourhorses rhythm and pinpoint the perfecttake-off spot, explains Samantha. If they still have it down,placing V-poles on the top plank offersa visual aid that helps improveconcentration, straightness, carefulnessand use of the shoulder.Related contentWill Fletchers exercises to improve the quality of your horses strides when jumpingTina Cooks top tips for jumping on grassGrids to hone your jumping style from John ThelwallFive of the most common rider jumping position problems solvedThe post How to clear vertical showjumps and upright fences every time appeared first on Your Horse.