The moments you spend inside the cross-country start box set the tone of your cross-countryperformance. You wouldnt leave the technical elements of your cross-country round to chance and its no differentwhen it comes to the start preparing to exit the start box and approach fenceone. The cross-country start box needs to be a stress-free situation for yourhorse. You might be feeling excitement and apprehension (and chances are your horse will too) before youset off and from this must come a pleasant experience to get you both inthe right headspace and your round off to a positive start.If you spend time watching the cross-country start box at any level of competition, youll find that riders do different things according to what best suits their horse. Some will walk in and stand still to be counted down by the starter, going from halt to canter as soon as they say Go. Others will stay outside of the start box and trot or canter in, going straight through at the last second. Youll see other versions of this happening too.Five-star event rider Emily King has entered numerous cross-country start boxes during her career. We asked her to help solve some of the common issues riders experience in the start box and this is what she saidLeaving the collecting ringAfter warming up, some horses may be reluctant toleave the collecting ring in order to walk to the cross-country start box.It can be strange for horses toleave the other horses and walk down to thestart box they dont immediately have ajob to focus on so they default to hangingback. Some will act like this leaving thelorry park, too, says Emily. Tackling napping means nipping it inthe bud early and the signs tend to besubtle: drifting through the shoulder, orbacking off the leg. Aim to feel your horsevery centrally between your hand and legand correct them firmly as soon as they start to stall. If your horse is young or clingy, itcan be best to bring them to events aloneso that they dont have anyone waiting atthe lorry to nap to.Excitement around the start boxDont expect your horse to standstill at the cross-country start box, theyll get buzzy and difficult tomanage, advises Emily. Instead, show them the start box isnothing to stress about. Walk throughthe box, out the exit and loop round tocome back the other way. The steward willcount you down, so try to time your lastloop with the final few seconds so you canwalk through the box one last time andexit smoothly.If the horse is still fidgety, your seat is yoursuperpower. Focus on sitting as softly asyou can and ensure your contact isnt tootight. Even on a strong horse, I tend to holdthe reins in one hand, adds Emily. This not only stopsyou holding on too tightly, but leaves onehand free to pat and reassure the horse.Approaching fence oneHow you approach fence one depends on your horse.Id always exit the start box with a fairlygradual transition to canter to keep the horse mentally level, says Emily. If your horse is young orspooky, the first fence can be the hardestto get over, so ride positively with yourhorse between your leg and hand tocorrect any wiggles dont worry aboutlooking too stylish.You might be inclined to hold back abolder horse but remember they wont be asbrave as they will be further on into thecourse, as theyre just getting started. Makesure the horse is in a positive canter, but dontgallop them into the fence as this might scare them.Refusing at the first fenceSometimes, a horse may stop at the first fence, especially if they are young and/or inexperienced, and you havent got their full attention with them thinking forward as you leave the cross-country start box. This problem is often a sign of an ineffective warm-up routine too.Warming up well, with your horsedrawing forward and straight to the fences,will help give you both confidence, explains Emily. Dontaccept any wiggles and reward the horse when they get it right. Its important that youdont let your guard down with a horsewho has a tendency to stop as they couldlack confidence for the first few fences.Beforthcoming with praise and look for them to find their rhythm. This is when you feelthem start to surge forward and lock onwhen they see a fence, continues Emily. If the horse suddenly starts stoppinguncharacteristically, get them examined byyour vet. If theres discomfort youll need towork with them to adapt your horsestraining or management, but if all is clearyou can keep training in good faith.Practice at homeWhen you go cross-country schooling, see if there is a start box and practise going through it and riding a positive start. As well as helping a horse become familiar with the start box, its a useful of learning how to ride a good cross-country start too. After all, nerves can make us riders do strange things!I (Aimi) once had a horse who really disliked the start box. He would nap and run backwards; if asked to stand still inside it he would rear up. It was all caused by excitement, and took some managing.One thing that helped was creating a cross-country start box at home. I placed three pairs of jump wings in a field with a pole on each of them to make an n shape. This was set up in the field for months and Id bring it out for a refresher in the spring too. A combination of riding the horse through it regularly (sometimes stopping inside, other times not) and being led through it on the way in from or out to the field helped him learn not to worry.The start box never became easy before a cross-country round, but it did get better. We very quickly nailed the trotting straight through with two seconds to go my Dad usually had the task of leading us in and, generally, the horse went on to jump a clear round.Emily finished fourth at Badminton earlier this year riding Valmy Biats. She is an ambassador for premium lifestyle clothing brand Joules and daughter of eventing legend Mary. Emily made herfive-star debutat the age of just19, finishing fourth at Pau in Francein 2015, and won the under-25championship at Bramham in 2018.Main image: copyright Shutterstock. NB Emily King is not pictured ridingRelated contentThe post Conquer the cross-country start box with Emily Kings advice appeared first on Your Horse.