James Wilson

The young British showjumper on the importance of good feet, his competition day scheduling and why he’s always working to be the best

- Alex Robinson

THE basics must be in place before you can even think about jumping a horse. If he isn’t established in his flatwork then you can’t expect him to perform over fences. I’m passionate about young horses. This year we started Wilson Youngstock and our aim is to buy foals, youngsters and embryos to produce and eventually sell.

The best piece of management advice I was given was from my vet. He told me that you’ll pay for every fence you jump later on; a horse has only got so many jumps in him so don’t waste them.

With this in mind, we never jump a horse at home for our own entertainment or just because we’re bored. When the fences start to get above 1.30m, every jump is an effort for the horse, from takeoff right through to the landing.

Even if you’re jumping a big course with 15 fences only every once in a while, it’s still going to have an impact on him.