The day at Sara Madden’s Fairhurst started with Sam instructing in the art of showjumping, focusing on position and connection, drilling home the importance of this phase in the safe confines of the arena. After lunch he headed to the extensive cross-country course with the mixed bunch of riders, insisting that all the principles of cross-country riding are the same, the jumps just get bigger as you move up the grades…

When Roz and I arrive Jenny Hodgins is having a lesson with Sam on Ollie (aka Lamborne Park Teacher’s Pet) Sam laughs that his teaching method will be under scrutiny as not only is Jenny a teacher, but both her parents, who have come to watch the clinic, taught Sam at his old school.
The horse is 14 years old and has been doing 2*, progressing to 3*.

“You’ve got him nicely trained but he catches you by surprise and spooks, you need more pressure in the rein; you get too loose and lose the communication.”

Sam has a very relaxed teaching style, he is quick to notice things and adjust the rider but he also gives them time to sort things out themselves. While he might have been over in the UK for quite some time Sam still has his laid back Aussie approach; keeping it simple, but getting results.

“If you take a bit more rein you’ll feel him go rigid before he spooks and be able to prevent it.”

“You keep your hands down nicely but you keep your knee on a bit too much. It’s important that we don’t grip with the knee, this blocks their ribs and shoulders. Taking your knee off gives a better balance and puts the leg in the ‘ready position’. If you’re gripping with your knee your lower leg comes off.”

Jenny does another lap of the arena and this time she pulls her knee off, hugs with her lower leg, pulls her upper body up and keeps a better connection with her rein; the horse is already looking a lot better and Jenny looking more secure.

“There, you caught him before he spooked, well done.”

They try some poles and it’s a bit messy; the horse loses his balance and bangs his way through.

“He’s going too ‘dressagey’ at the moment, you need a bigger canter, but at the same time you need to make sure you keep his shoulders up more on the corners. He had to change balance before the poles, we want him already in that position.”

As they start the fences Sam is quick to note that Jenny’s knee is rolling on again, the habit is there, but corrects this and looks much more balanced, in turn balancing the horse.

The horse gets upset doing the changes between fences; Sam is quick with the correction:

“Don’t think ‘oh I missed it’, and then ask, ask, ask. What I do is go, ‘oh I missed the change’, then I go one, two, three, change. Let him get settled again.”

“Your balance is good, your left leg is good, but your right… I’m not sure what you’re doing so let’s get you out of the saddle around the arena then sitting back down at the jumps. We want to get more balanced, focusing on a relaxed knee, sitting back so he doesn’t get too long in the canter.”

“As I’m getting to know you as a combination I can see he gets too long in the body, but as you get him up he is getting better.”
Sam sets up a pole in front of a small cross rail then five strides to a rather spooky yellow upright. The horse jumps through but is crooked, and thinks it’s time to change when Jenny isn’t asking him to.

“Imagine that you’re cantering down a centre line and there’s a dressage judge in front of you. You need the horse straight so that they can get their legs underneath them properly.”

“Imagine his hind legs as two engines so when they’re crooked it’s not that he jumps more from one hind leg than the other, but it’s that he jumps less off one so you lose power. So keep him straight with both those engines firing.”

Sam adds two poles after the upright to help keep the horse straight, it’s better.

Jenny says that she is worried about the striding, that it could be 6 not 5.

“If you’re worried about striding,” says Sam, “you need to get the striding on the first or second stride after the first jump, or even before the jump, not in the last few strides to the second jump.”
Sam adds another fence after the upright, an oxer after a sweeping left turn, the horse gets crooked and buries his shoulder, knocking the fence.

“He only knocked that because he was crooked on the turn and lost his power, keep his balance up on the corner. Because he dives into that shoulder it means he will have to change his balance before the jump and lose power.”

The horse is getting long again, “he needs to be more of a spring, so relax the knee, sit back, keep the communication in the rein and think of his balance.” Third time is better.

Sam adds in some more jumps to make a course of five.

“Can you see what he does with his balance between fences, he’s going too ‘dressagey’ on you. I’d like to see you get distances earlier. Over that last jump you wanted to land on the correct leg, so your bum went sideways in the air, he can do changes so think of riding straight to the end of the arena then changing.”

“He’s getting too long all the time, think of him as a spring, get that lower leg on, knee relaxed.”

“The legs create the energy, the hands capture it.”

The third time round is better, but the horse is a bit wriggly, “the main thing this guy needs to work on is straightness, so always have side poles, and if you’re jumping striped jumps you have to aim at a stripe, don’t let him decide.”

***

The second lesson is a complete mixed bag, but Sam is quite unfazed by it all, switching between calming down one horse and rider combination who are tearing around the arena with the horse looking scared and confused and waking up the other combination where it seems the horse has perfected his technique of sleep-jumping…

With the over-excited bay horse Sam gets his rider, Shannon Caitlan to alter the horse’s speed within the gait, “you need to get him a bit more manageable, within the pace speed up a little, and then slow down a little. Do it in trot and canter. Not big changes, just little. He needs to accept you and accept your leg more. Little changes of pace so that he starts respecting you.”

“Rise over your knees and keep your legs steady.”

The rider of the sleepy chestnut, Sarah Salmon, receives the same focus on having soft knees as the previous rider, Jenny:

“Your big thing is being loose in the knees, you need to loosen up there. When we’re jumping the only thing that keeps us in the saddle is our leg. If you have a good solid foundation you can control your body better.”

“Anyone who has position problems you can trace back to the leg. You’ll hate me tomorrow because your calves will really hurt!”

“So stand up, take your knee off then sit back down in your dressage position but with your knees the same. Toe out a little, not too far or you’ll put the spur in. As a straight showjumper I might do toe in more, but as eventers we go up and down hills and through water so you need the stability there with the toe out a little.”

Sarah finds it strange: “it feels a bit insecure, but I think it’s just because I’m not used to it.” They do a few laps and you can see the difference, and Sarah is happy, “It’s a lot easier to sit into the saddle as I’m not getting pulled forward.”

Sam laughs and agrees, “In dressage all your weight is in your seat so that you can manoeuvre your legs. In eventing, like I said, once your bum is out of the saddle then you’re relying completely on your legs.”

The soporific chestnut is rudely awoken as his rider, with her newfound balance through her soft knee and secure lower leg gets him moving, and as the jumps go up he proves that he can jump. Sam works on getting the canter springier, “you’ll need to get him more forward from your leg, not from your seat.”

Multi-tasking Sam then goes back to the hot little bay who is so exuberant that a simple turn to the trotting poles has him scooting around. “Right, he’s getting upset on the corner to the poles, so come around in canter then halt before the poles then walk through.”

“He’s looking at the poles too early, he needs to stay even, as you come around the corner look at the poles, then look away and then back again, not letting the horse focus on the jump.”

“Stop seeing the stride too early and get him balanced before the fence.”

“He’s a sensitive little fella isn’t he,” says diplomatic Sam.

The bay takes off after the fence and spooks at anything he can see, “part of it is slowing his brain down because he’s seeing everything right now, so you keep him straight after the jump and focus on straight, not too strong in the hand. If you keep saying things with your hand he’s going to get confused, just sit there normally, sit there.”

“After the jump I want you to stop him, but standing in your stirrups, once he is stopped then you can sit down again, otherwise all the horse is going to think is, ‘after we jump we go’.”

“It’s contrary to dressage, but it lets him bring his back up and bring his legs underneath him, you’ve got to slow this horse’s brain down, it’s going a million miles an hour.”

“It’s important to keep him smooth and balanced, with the right strides so you don’t give him anything else to think about, anything else to get upset by – he hit a rail there and that sent his brain into overdrive.”

By the end of the lesson the bay stands more or less still, anxiety lessened, the chestnut looks less like a big pony and is now wide awake!

Next month we’ll pick up Sam’s lesson again, this time on cross country…

Story by Susan Mackenzie

Photos by Roz Neave

Christopher Burton hasn’t been teaching since he shifted base to England, but he made up for it on his November / December trip home to Australia, with clinics in Victoria, NSW and Queensland. He is planning to start teaching again in the UK just as soon as he establishes his own yard, and he certainly is a very gifted teacher, and one who doesn’t compromise his message in the interest of pupil popularity…

Like all good teachers, Christopher keeps the message clear and simple, when I caught up with him at Sara Madden’s magnificent Fairhurst, on the Mornington Peninsula, he was using poles on the ground, then upping the rails to become a double of little jumps. The pupils had to ride the distance in ten strides (seriously short strides) moving up to five (at a ground covering gallop). It is a wonderful exercise in control and brings into play most of the skills required of both horse and rider.

“Whenever I teach, I can’t stress enough how important the exercise of lengthening and shortening the canter is, cutting and adding strides between the poles or small jumps is so useful – it is the best way for them to learn because if they do make a little mistake, it’s just a pole on the ground, it is not going to hurt anyone. But if they miss on big jumps, then the result is terrible, the horse starts stopping; ugly.”

Each session finished off with a little showjumping track, which was fun – well mostly fun – for the riders. It wasn’t quite so much fun for Olivia Townsend riding son of Visage, Villain. The bay gelding was quite disobedient and refused to go near the jumps a couple of times. Christopher asked Olivia to cluck, once, twice and if she didn’t get an immediate response, kick and kick hard and send him galloping forward, but, and this was an interesting twist, having got the horse going forward she had to bring him back to a halt, quickly.

“That issue gets messed up and confused in a lot of rider’s minds, and therefore horse’s minds, but once you teach the horse to go forward, leave them galloping for a while but then say, we are also talking about ‘stop’. They are the basic principles that we work within. I am always fascinated how with a piggy horse that doesn’t want to go forward, if you give it a kick and then stop it, interestingly by half halting and stopping it, you often get it with you a little more. But it is essential that they must be with you because that is the way we get out to trouble…”

Olivia tried valiantly but Villain was still in a less that cooperative mood, so Christopher donned his crash cap and climbed on board. The gelding soon learnt to go forward, and come back. Christopher was full of praise for his student, “most would have had a dummy spit, but Olivia took it, worked at it, and got a result”.

It was Roz Neave who reminded Christopher how it was just that quality that got Chris and Leilani out of trouble when she lost her footing at the first water in Greenwich at the Olympic Games…

“Were you there for that? There were precious few people who saw that, but it was a really hairy moment. I don’t think it was seen on the big screen because no one commented on it, and afterward I just sat there saying, ‘yes, yes, I had a foot perfect round’ but actually it was pretty close to disaster. We were trying very, very hard to make the time, and I went very bravely down that steep hill – it was only as the day went on that we learnt there was quite a reverse camber there which caught quite a few out. I didn’t know that then, and she lost her back end, and she was very nearly down and I had very little left as we came to the water. We jumped in fine, and it was an adding distance, and then I saw another one… good old girl she just took off, she has so much scope and so much stride, I was able to jump it easily. When you say go they have to really go!”

It was a change for Christopher to be teaching again, and he really enjoyed his session with the two Griffiths muppets… “It’s rewarding when you have a group like that, Mark and Vanessa’s daughters Alla and Nina  are incredible, so much fun to teach because they hang on every word and have a real feel for it. Lessons like that make it worth doing. It’s crazy, I’ve hardly taught a paid lesson in England – it’s one of those things about setting up, it takes time. Riders over there have their trainers that they have been going to for years, and I am really very new over there, but it will happen.”

When you decided to go to England, did you ever hope that you would go half as well as you have for the past twelve months?

“This last twelve months has been a glory run, and when that happens in your riding career, you’ve just got to enjoy it. I do remember being fearful when I left Australia, I remember worrying, what if I fall on my face when I get over there? Which could still happen… Then I thought, I’ll just stay there till I work my way through it and I am successful – I always believe that with patience and determination, you will get there. When I arrived, I didn’t have the best run. The first six months were not so good, I had horse soundness problems – it’s a thing when you go to a different hemisphere, horses that are not quite right. They probably even showed a clean blood, but they just weren’t quite right, they weren’t themselves.”

“Then at the start of this year, I remember thinking to myself, these horses are going to come jumping out of their skins this year. They have just got through the winter, they are fit, they are fat, they are ready to go, and sure enough, I had a great year.”

Was it easy to get into the British scene?

“I was lucky. I deliberately based at Sam Griffiths’ place, and that was a clever thing to do. Over there, it is so easy to go off track, thinking you’ll do it the same as you do in Australia, and it is just not the same. I was hanging on Sam’s every word – where to go, what to do, how to re-structure my gallop program using a different gallop from what I had used, how to re-think eventing programs, all that sort of stuff. I am really grateful to Sam and his wife, Lucy, for helping me through that time.”

Where now?

“I am looking around for a yard, it’s time for me to be out on my own. I’m always looking for more horses, always trying to keep the team up there and strong. I will be a bit light on in 2013 for horses, I’ve had a few retired, and a few break down… so now I’m trying to find some nice young ones.”

So any Australian eventing fan who would like to have you train a horse for them, should pick up the phone?

“That’s it, let me know! People said to me after the Games, ‘you must be inundated with horses to ride?’ But it doesn’t happen like that, it takes time to build up a rapport with owners. In England I am starting again.”

What do you have that is exciting coming on?

“We are quite excited by Graf Liberty. He has just gone two star, he is only young but he seems to have the goods. We are still hoping that Underdiscussion will win a four star at some stage…”

Graf Liberty and Christopher , winners of the Pau**. Photo by Libby Law

Leading the dressage at Pau***, Christopher and Underdiscussion. Photo by Libby Law.

He must be breaking your heart, leads after the dressage at Pau****  then a couple of stops and you walk home… you were always worried that he might just be too careful…

“He is frustrating, he has all the talent in the world but he certainly is careful and you have to have everything right on the day. The thing about a horse of that calibre is that he doesn’t finish second. I’ve got some nice Thoroughbred pre-Novice ones that are coming along, and I am excited this year to have Leilani and Newsprint doing Badminton.”

And that will be their swansong?

“Just about. Certainly Leilani will be flying home and Jade will be riding her, or she will be going in foal – that’s nice, she’s been a superstar.”

As one great partnership comes to an end, you get the feeling that the next CB star might be just around the corner…

Story Christopher Hector, Photos Roz Neave and Libby Law

Photos by Julia Rau and Roz Neave

British Olympian, and coach of the German Eventing Team, Christopher Bartle, sits down with Rebecca Ashton for a Q&A about the German team’s preparation for Greenwich.

Since Christopher Bartle took the reins of the German eventing team they have gone from strength to strength: Individual and Team Gold at the Hong Kong Olympics, Individual Gold at the Kentucky WEG, Individual and Team Gold at the 2011 European Championships in Luhmuhlen and now Individual and Team Gold at London. I caught up with Christopher after the Games to find out from this British super coach, the secret of the German team’s success.

Congratulations Christopher, Team and Individual Gold at the London Olympics; how did it feel, the team you coached winning in your home country?

“On the one hand it was a strange feeling coaching a team in opposition to my own country and on home ground, on the other hand it was also a huge motivation for me personally to get a great result with ‘myʼ team. I saw it as a personal goal for myself as a British coach for my guys to achieve a medal but to have achieved the double – team and individual – was amazing.”

Last time I saw you was at Aachen and you were off to the final meeting to pick the team. The right choice was obviously made!

“My job is to try and make an assessment that is as objective as possible of the potential results that each of the riders on the shortlist could achieve, along with risk factors such as ability to deal with the mental pressure that is special to the Olympics.”

“The team Vet also has to offer his opinion about any risk factors. In the end the Selectors must decide what risk they want to take in choosing the team. Having said all that I was very happy that their attitude was that only a Gold medal was interesting. The team that they chose was exactly the one that I wanted.”

So how did you do it? What were the key drivers that allowed for the gold haul in London?

“Firstly I knew that they were good enough technically to win if they produced their best performances. It was important that they knew that too but I also made it clear from the start that we would only achieve our dream if each one concentrated step by step on the next element and not on the potential end result. The mental side is often the key in such a high pressure high profile event.”

Michael Jung won individual gold in Kentucky but the team as a whole didnʼt do so well. What did you learn from that little blip that was WEG in 2010?

“Yes, Kentucky was very frustrating for me as coach. I felt that we had it in the bag after the good dressage start and knew that they were good enough for the cross country. On the day we made too many silly mistakes which in training and in previous events the riders had not done. Complacency perhaps but it taught me that in future as coach I should spell out my rules for cross country riding more clearly so that in future each performance could be measured against them.”

Did anything change for the team between the lead-up to WEG and the lead-up to London?

“After WEG we really concentrated in training and in the run up events on the cross country riding. We analysed as much cross country riding as possible to measure against the ‘rulesʼ which enabled me to refine them as we went along. The Europeans in Luhmühlen were a great opportunity to put it into practice and to bag all the medals was great compensation for the disappointment in Kentucky.”

It was always going to be a tough cross-country course in London; tight, twisty and hilly to squeeze into the 73 hectare park. Was the team picked with that as a priority consideration?

I certainly took that into account when making my assessment to the Selectors. We all knew in advance that the cross country would not be classic 4* in terms of size and technical demands of each fence or fence complex but the terrain made the course demanding enough for the Olympics as was seen in the results. Horses that were quick, easy to ride and very fit were required for this test.

How did you attack the London course? What was the game plan?

“I had made an assessment with the riders as to which minutes were going to be gettable and which would be slow minutes. So we knew that it was necessary to attack the time from the start to give the horses a chance in the middle to do the stiff climbs but not under pressure so that they would have enough in the tank to run to the end.”

When THM editor suggested that I write a “How to” series, providing eventing advice and tips for upcoming riders, my first thought was that I’m a bit under-qualified for the task – after all, I haven’t ridden at an Olympic Games like Rebel, or piloted countless horses to 3 and 4-star victories like Shane and Stuart. In fact, looking back through the years, (particularly as a junior, when I considered myself something of an equestrian connoisseur), I shudder at the mistakes I’ve made. Yet mistakes are an inescapable part of the sport, and the success of riders like Rebel, Shane and Stuart will not have been without the odd faux pas: Indeed, one of the keys to riding at the top level is learning from your (and others’) errors. Another crucial factor is experience: That is, sitting on a number of horses of varying ages, talents and temperaments, in a range of different situations. Considering the above, I decided that maybe I could offer some useful advice, after all (even if it’s sometimes in the form of ‘what not to do’).

My second concern was that these ‘instructional’ series’ have been done again and again, and I wondered what I could do to make my own articles worth reading, given the thousand that have been written before them. In light of the British and American basis of many of these publications, and the resulting ambits of advice that aren’t of much relevance to us, I thought I’d try to put a uniquely Australian ‘spin’ on some of the issues that are encountered in the sport of eventing. The first topic will be of particular interest to the many riders sitting on ex-racehorses (and anyone else on something a bit ‘fizzy’)…

#1 How to… get a quality dressage test out of a ‘hot’ horse
Does breaking into a jog in the walk movements sound familiar? How about halting for a grand total of 3 milliseconds before the fidgeting begins? Or trotting, tight-backed, around the arena with all the cadence of a sewing machine?
There is possibly nothing more frustrating than putting in countless hours of hard work, only to see it unravel before your eyes when you “Enter at A” on the day of the test. Whether the result of excitement, nerves, greenness, or even just being a bit fresh, an unsettled, ‘hot’ horse plus a dressage arena are a recipe for trouble.
But being partnered with such a horse needn’t condemn you to a lifetime of low scores and equally low spirits: There are many approaches that can be adopted both at home and at the competition to help coax a more settled, reliable test out of your fiery steed.

At Home
Performing a nice test on the hot horse begins well before the day of the competition. In many instances, the horse’s reactions stem from a lack of confidence or understanding, so in the weeks leading up to your event, practicing those elements of the test that tend to make him excited or antsy is of enormous value. Ideally, you’d like your horse to be so relaxed and confident in these movements at home, that even with the additional pressure and atmosphere of competition, he remains steady.

Unfortunately, because these often involve the walk and the halt, it can be about as thrilling as writing a school assignment, and takes a lot of time and patience. In my experience, the transition to medium walk at the end of the free walk is a common problem area: The horse just wants to ‘get the show on the road’ (bless him), and is not the slightest bit interested in showing nice, big, overtracking walk steps. When I’m schooling such a horse, I’ll practice free walk on a long rein across the diagonal, then pick up the reins and medium walk through the short side, or even for a circle, then let the reins out again across the next diagonal. I like to ride a hint of shoulder-in while I’m in medium walk, as I want the horse to be accustomed to my leg being on his side. This is particularly important when, at the higher levels, the free walk is followed by a walk-to-canter transition (the horse that isn’t accepting the rider’s leg is usually the one who explodes into canter with the subtlety of an atomic bomb).

Sometimes I’ll practice a halt or 2 when I’ve taken up the reins – I want him to gradually sort out in his mind that just because I’ve taken up a contact, doesn’t necessarily mean that a faster pace will follow. Some horses will respond quite quickly to the exercise, but I find that some others need to do it again…and again…and again. That’s where patience on your part is put to the test. When the horse is staying relaxed through the transition from free walk to medium walk, I’ll go back and ride the trot and canter, and then when he’s due for a bit of a breather, I’ll take the opportunity to practice the walk again.

The halt is another movement that is often the downfall of a fizzy horse, and the time to address the issue is at home, rather than in front of the judges. Once again, there are no magic tricks or shortcuts in teaching the horse to maintain the halt for the required 3, 4 or 5 seconds (if you are aware of any, please let me know). The hot horse often gives you the feeling of being so ‘on the edge’ in the halt that merely breathing will be enough to upset him. So, at home, I want to be able to halt and have those feet stay planted on the ground whilst I pat his neck, perhaps lean back and pat his rump, check the girth, adjust the stirrups and so on. Sometimes I’ll even send a short SMS or make a quick phone call that I’d forgotten to make earlier (“Hi Chris, it’s Em here…I promise we’ll have our Horse Mag column to you by tomorrow. No, really…”). It’s probably best that you leave the phone out of it, though.

When riding the transition, I try not to make too many adjustments, or nag too much, once the horse has stopped.
This not only has the tendency to worry some horses, but also contradicts the idea that we’d like him to stay immobile in the halt. If he isn’t square, I might ask him quietly to step one of his feet forward (always forward, never back!) in an attempt to square him, but I don’t want to make an issue of it. Be prepared to shrug your shoulders (and maybe mutter bugger or the like), and work on getting a better halt the next time. Like the walk exercise, this will need to be calmly repeated over and over before you’ll start to see any improvement.

There are also horses that, rather than becoming fired up over a particular movement, are just…well, a bit fired up on the whole. For these animals, walking out for, say, an hour each day (in addition to their normal workout) can be of huge benefit. It’s difficult to explain, in clear terms, exactly why taking your horse out walking has so much to offer. Certainly, the physical aspect can be readily understood – walking is a great way to loosen tight muscles and, at the end of a session, can reduce the likelihood of stiffness the following day. But also, it can be a means of relaxing the horse, without the fatigue element that accompanies a training session. I think there is something to be said about walking your horse (outside of the arena, in an environment that parallels walking about the paddock) that allows you to ‘connect’ with him, to gain his trust in you as a part of ‘his’ world. I wish I could express this idea a little less clumsily, but I think the psychological advantages of walking are significant. Take Nicole Uphoff and the famous Rembrandt:
The horse had no shortage of physical ability, but achieving the mental state required for a great dressage test was a struggle. So Nicole used to walk him – sometimes for 2 hours a day – as a means of addressing the problem. Ulla Salzgeber, too, used lengthy walk sessions to encourage Rusty to reach down and take the contact.

Indeed, even though the horse is on a relatively loose rein, we still want him to have his neck down, reaching for the bit. The obvious problem with this approach is the time factor – many people struggle to find enough hours in a day to fit in a schooling session, let alone a big walk, and when we’re talking more than one horse, the time really does get away. But if you can possibly manage it – not just the week before your test, but several weeks out – walking does seem to help the hot, tense horse.

At this point, I begin to worry I’ve given the impression that the hot horse requires a ‘calm’ or ‘quiet’ approach to training at home. This is true, to an extent, but probably more in terms of your own attitude and thoughts: As the rider, the challenge is to remain steady in your mind, not firing up or overreacting to the horse’s mistakes or, as it may be, misdemeanours. And believe me, that’s incredibly difficult to do on a horse that’s reaching boiling point! However, having the horse ‘tip-toe’ around the issues that come up will eventually end you in trouble: The competition environment will almost always create that bit of extra energy and spark in your horse, and if he’s completely unschooled at that level of power, the problems will inevitably arise. So at home, I want the horse to be confident working at higher levels of energy, so that the adrenalin of competition isn’t something completely foreign to him. His confidence is the key here, so it may be that I begin a session a little more conservatively, and as he relaxes, I’ll ask for a bit more pizzazz, a bit more oomph!

The days before the test
If I’m riding something a bit hot, I’ll avoid having him any fresher than necessary, as this is likely to exaggerate any problem areas. The day before the test, therefore, he’ll get a pretty big workout – maybe even twice. If I can possibly help it, I’ll let him spend that night in his paddock, rather than shut up in the stable, but sometimes after a bath this isn’t really a great option!
In the days leading up to the competition, some riders reduce the amount of hard feed, such as pellets and grain, and replace it with extra hay. This approach aims to reduce the horse’s level of energy, and settle him a little. It isn’t a method I’ve taken on board at this stage, because I’m concerned about the problems that can spring up on the side: Although it may produce a quieter dressage test, you run the risk of having a tired horse for the cross country and showjumping phase, and a tired horse is a horse that is likely to get injured. Also, sometimes it’s necessary to travel quite long distances in the float or truck to the competition, and horses will often lose weight on these journeys as it is, without decreasing their intake of food.

“Good as Gold” or similar ‘calming’ formulas such as Tranquil Paste are also available from produce and saddler stores. Again, this is an approach that I haven’t had a lot of experience with, but I know of many riders who speak favourably of such products. These often need to be given the day before, as well as on the day of the competition, so remember to plan ahead.

At the competition
You’ll hear this said time and again, but leave yourself PLENTY OF TIME to arrive at the competition, tack up the horse, find your arena and warm up. Being in a mad panic to ride your test at the allocated time will do nothing to help an already unsettled horse.
If I’m riding a young horse, I’ll give myself plenty of time to warm up, but much of that will be spent at the walk, just letting him relax and take in everything that’s going on without feeling like I’m in a hurry. For the more experienced horses, it can sometimes be a matter of experimenting to find out what sort of warm-up will produce the best test: A lot of walking is best for some, whilst others seem to need cantering for, well, ages before the tension starts to disappear.

I remember Rozzie Ryan telling me that the warm up routine that best suited her Grand Prix horse, Exellent, was to work him 2-3 times on the day of the test. These sessions weren’t particularly strenuous, but Rozzie found that the more times he came out, the more settled he’d become. The final warm up would consist of a normal session, and then 15 minutes or so before the test, she’d take him back to the float and let him have a bit of hay and basically ‘chill-out’. Then, just before her draw time, Rozzie would get back on, and pretty much go straight into the arena. The theory behind this approach is that some horses become more and more adrenalized, the longer they warm up, so that they’re close to bubbling over by the time of the test. Giving the horse the chance to chill out in the few minutes beforehand curtails this adrenalin somewhat, helping to keep him sane during the performance, and indeed Rozzie found this very effective for Exellent.

Another rider who is partnered with a very flash, very extravagant, but not very easy horse is Claudia Graham. Claudia has worked out an approach that allows Blazing Chief to perform at his best during those crucial minutes in the arena, and has the results to show it, winning this phase (and as it happens, the entire event) at both Camden ODE and Lakes and Craters 3DE, against a strong field. I spoke to Claudia about Chief’s program both leading up to the competition, and on the big day.

The challenge with Chief, Claud tells us, is not so much that he’s hot, but that his playfulness and enthusiasm can affect his focus in the test. There is also the risk that he’ll overreact to her aids if he’s not completely confident in the work. In response these issues, Claudia rides Chief twice daily in the week before the event, focussing on the horse’s confidence in performing each of the test movements. At the same time, the two workouts help to keep a lid on his bubbling energy. On the day of the competition, if her test is scheduled for midday or later, Claud will fit in another ride that morning.

Then there’s that crucial final warm-up, and Chief’s rider is very aware of getting the timing just right: The 10 minutes or so in front of the judges needs to reflect the horse at his peak. And while Chief’s amazing levels of energy can spill into naughtiness if the warm-up is too short, Claud is very careful not to overdo it, such that Chief’s ability to show off his athleticism and scope is limited as a result of him becoming tired. For Chief, the time spent in the final warm-up is still changing: Initially, it was up to an hour and a half, but as the horse becomes more experienced and more mature, the minutes are dropping off. These days, it is common that 45 minutes will see Chief burst into that arena and produce his best work.

Claudia’s approach to riding a test on Chief is a great illustration of the need to consider each horse individually, and to be prepared to experiment a little to see what works best: No two horses are the same, so what
works for one may not be effective for another!

Riding a good test on a horse that is a bit hot is not an easy task, and achieving it will come only through time, effort, patience and more likely than not, a bit of trial and error. But so important is a good dressage score to your final placing that it’s well worth the effort. Good luck!

How to make – not break – an eventing horse.
A fit, sound horse is critical in the sport of eventing, especially when it comes to the cross-country phase of a Three Day Event.
This month’s lesson will focus on managing the horse’s fitness and wellbeing throughout your preparation for a three day event, and in keeping with the Aussie flavour of the series, will pay particular attention to hard ground, hot weather and other uniquely Australian conditions!

The Fitness Program
Just like people, horses come in all shapes and sizes (and attitudes toward exercise!), so I try to work out a fitness regime that best suits each individual horse. The ex-racehorse seems to be blessed (cursed?) with a remarkable level of natural fitness (hence the problems we can sometimes run into in the dressage phase, as discussed last month!), and is usually quite happy travelling at faster speeds. For these reasons, the Thoroughbred may not need the same type or amount of work as, say, a Warmblood.
For example, leading up to Melbourne Three Day Event in 2007, I had two horses to prepare: Angelina Ballerina, a Thoroughbred mare in the 1-star class, and Farinelli, a Warmblood/TB gelding entered in the 2-star. The level at which they were competing was definitely a factor, as the 1-star horses aren’t required to travel as far, or as fast, as the higher grades. But I also had to consider the marked differences between them: Angelina is like, well, a ballerina – really athletic, nimble and quick on her feet. Galloping across country at the One Day Events leading up to Melbourne, plus schooling this phase at home, was enough to see her cruise around the Three Day course and barely raise a sweat. Farinelli, on the other hand, is naturally a bit heavier and not quite as fast, so it was necessary to begin his gallop work some 8 -10 weeks before the big event.
Additionally, the age of the horse should be considered – the older horse may take a little longer to ‘bounce back’ after a strenuous workout. Also of relevance is whether the horse has undertaken a 3DE preparation in the past, as this horse will often need less work to reach the desired level of fitness than one starting from scratch.

Gallop work?
The term ‘gallop’ is traditionally used for these fitness sessions, but for the most part, I’m really referring to more of an ‘open’ canter. I like to schedule a gallop session once every four days, and I try to make the day after a gallop a little less strenuous. For instance, I might work the horse on the flat, keeping my eye out for signs of fatigue or soreness, and then walk him in an attempt to ease any stiffness. I avoid jumping the day after a gallop session.
It is likely that you’ll be competing in One Day Events in the weeks leading up to a Three Day Event, so you may have to adjust your horse’s fitness program slightly to allow for the cross country phase of these events: Running the horse around the cross country is counted as a gallop session, and as this usually falls on a Sunday, you’d ideally like to gallop him about Wednesday of the week prior.

The actual content of the session really does depend on the individual horse, but as a general rule, I’ll walk for about 10 minutes and trot for five as a warm up, and then the actual workout is made up of three sets of gallop with a three minute walk in between. To warm down, I’ll trot for a few minutes and then walk until he’s stopped puffing and his breathing starts to return to normal. I try to use these gallops as an opportunity to get the horse soft and round at this pace, rather than letting him coast around like a llama: After all, a horse that is easily adjustable in front of the fences is much more likely to make the time allowed than the fast horse who fights his rider the whole way around.

If I’m riding a horse that copes well with the faster work, I might use these sessions for conditioning more than anything else. In this case, the set might be longer, perhaps eight minutes, but at a reasonably steady pace, and this has the advantage of putting less strain on the horse’s legs.
Until you’re used to it, riding in your 2-point, light seat for this amount of time will probably have your legs and back screaming in protest, but it’s important to keep up off your horse’s back! I’d then use cross country training sessions to school short bouts of the fast work, usually by having a gallop between fences and then working on having the horse listen and come back to me before the jump.

For horses like Farinelli, I want to introduce a faster pace into the gallop sets. I might begin this type of program with five minute sets, and increase the time gradually. We’re fortunate at Lochinvar to have a gallop track that incorporates a nice, steady climb up a gentle hill, and it is here that I’ll open the horse up to a gallop.
This has the benefit of accommodating the fast work, but with a little less strain on the forelegs (travelling at speed on a surface that slopes even slightly downward is risky, as it puts a lot of pressure on the horse’s front end). I usually don’t sprint the horse in the third set, as he will be growing quite tired, and again, the risk of injury increases.

The gallop surface
The surface upon which you gallop your horse can play a big part in keeping him sound, and in Australia, where we’re so often in need of rain, this can present difficulties. If the ground is hard where you ride, be prepared to travel him to a more suitable venue for his gallop work: The firm sand at the beach is ideal, as it provides just enough ‘give’, and is nice and level. Also, walking him in the shallow water is an excellent natural means of cooling and soothing his legs. Obviously, however, not everyone is lucky enough to have an ocean around the corner, and even then, many beaches do not permit horse riding (and have signs every couple of metres, making it difficult to pretend that you didn’t know!). It may be a matter of asking around – your coach or other riders will often know of a suitable place in your area.

Ice
To help lessen the potential damage to your horse’s legs that galloping on hard ground – indeed, galloping at all – can cause, it is recommended that you get into the habit of icing him. This is crucial following the cross country phase at an event, not only to prevent damage, but also to make him feel as comfortable as possible going into the showjumping.
There are a few different styles of ice boot available, but my favourite is the “Big Foot” boot, as it targets a huge area, from the hoof right up to above the knee. I fill them about 1/3 of the way up with water, then put the horse’s leg into the boot (making sure his foot is standing flat on the ground) and then slowly fill the rest with ice. The drawback with these is that unless you have a horse that’s virtually comatose, you’ll have to sit with him while he does his time in the boots.
Another style out there is the boot with several pockets on the inside which are filled with ice, then secured on the horse’s leg via Velcro tabs. The advantage of this boot is that you won’t have to constantly monitor the horse, although the boots will need to be tightened from time to time, as the ice melts.
At a Three Day Event in particular, the horse has travelled a greater distance and is required to be sound at the Horse Inspection the next morning, so you may have to apply ice on and off right up until the stables are closed (at about 11 pm) and then again when they re-open. That’s where a groom or a parent/friend can definitely come in handy!

Riders often differ in their opinions as to the time intervals at which ice should be applied following the cross country phase of a 3DE. I’ve come across some who prefer 20 minutes on / 20 minutes off, but others who will stand the horse in ice for 3 hours non-stop. I’ll usually put my protesting horse in the Big Foot boots for about 45 minutes, with a 15-20 minute break. The number of times I repeat this depends on whether he sustained any knocks or bumps whilst on course, or if there’s any obvious discomfort or signs of soreness. After a gallop session at home, 30 – 40 minutes in ice should minimise any damage, and if you can’t access ice, even letting the cool water from the hose trickle over his legs for a while will help.

The heat
While there’s a lot to love about Australian summers, the effect of the hot weather on your horse’s performance and recovery is a factor that needs your attention when embarking on a fitness program. Galloping a horse during the hotter months of the year is akin to us going for a run in the middle of the day in summer – we feel tired much more quickly, and it takes longer for our body to cool down (and for our face to lose its bright red tinge). You’ll hear people talk about the importance of the horse being accustomed to galloping in similar conditions to those he’ll face on cross country day, and there’s a lot of logic in that argument. But I also think it has the most relevance in situations such as the Sydney Olympics, where horses were travelling from cold Northern Hemisphere climates to a city that can register pretty warm days in September. Perhaps not everywhere in Oz, but certainly where I am in the Hunter Valley, early mornings and late evenings are hot enough to familiarise the horse with performing in these conditions, but not so sweltering as to risk his well-being, so this is when I’ll carry out gallop sessions.

The treating veterinarians at a Three Day Event always stress the importance of cooling the horse quickly after he finishes the cross country, and their advice should also be followed after working him in hot temperatures at home. The procedure of hosing and scraping down will need to be repeated until the water you are scraping off is cool, rather than hot – this indicates that the horse’s temperature has come back down to a safe level. It is a common mistake to not scrape the excess water off the horse when he’s really warm, with the intention that this will help cool him down: In fact, this excess water quickly heats up and actually hinders the cooling process.

Hand-in-hand with the warmer Aussie climate is the fact that our horses will sweat, sometimes quite profusely, after a workout. Therefore, it’s a good idea to supplement their feed with electrolytes, to replace the salts they’ve lost. These can usually be purchased from your local produce or saddler, and while they’re not cheap, they do last quite a while (just beware of mixing them into the feed with your bare hands if you’ve got any cuts or scratches…Ouch!)

Long-distance travel
Although travelling for 15 hours in Europe will probably mean that you’ve passed through four different countries, in Australia it may be necessary to drive that distance to a 3DE (or further – I’m thinking Lochinvar to Adelaide and the endless hay plains in between). There are no tricks to travelling horses – you just need to make sure there is plenty of ventilation, and avoid the horse becoming overheated.
Unless it’s really quite cold, I tend not to travel them in rugs – remember that the horses next to them generate a lot of body heat. Particularly in the warmer months, driving through the night or in the early hours of the morning can help prevent them from becoming too hot. If your event does require you to travel a long distance, try to arrive at the venue as early as possible: Not only will this give you an extra day/s to familiarise the horse with the new surroundings, it allows him more time to recover from the journey, so that he can perform at his best.

I hope this article hasn’t made it sound like getting an event horse fit – without injuring him – is a difficult, daunting mission! Once you and your horse have a few events under your belt (girth?), many of the above suggestions will become second-nature. And while I won’t deny that it’s a bit stressful at the time, being paranoid about the soundness of your equine friend when preparing him for the rigours of a 3DE will be rewarded when he gallops triumphantly through those cross country finish flags…AND looks and feels a million dollars for the showjumping the next day.

Next we’ll turn our attention to that nail-biting phase in which an event can be won or lost…the show jumping.

You’ve performed a classy dressage test and produced a solid clear round across country. There’s just one thing that lies between you and victory – the often-dreaded showjumping phase. But this minute or so of nail-biting intensity – in which a competition is won or lost – needn’t be a terrifying experience. While there is no magic formula for producing a winning round, an accurate and thoughtful preparation in the weeks and months beforehand will secure your best possible performance in that crucial 3rd phase of an event is optimum. This month, we’ll discuss those factors that will influence your ability to leave those coloured poles standing when it matters most…

Training
It’s important to consider the age, experience and confidence of your horse when designing a schooling program: The older 3-star horse that has ‘been there and done that,’ to use the common adage, will have different issues to the youngster, and your jump training should reflect that.

The young horse
If I’m riding something that’s a bit green or spooky, I like to jump “little, but often,” meaning I’ll aim to give the horse some sort of exposure to showjumps – even if it’s just poles on the ground – every couple of days. I like to school an exercise that involves 2 poles, perhaps 6 strides apart. I’ll begin by just cantering on through in the conventional 6 strides (the counting begins after the horse has landed over the first pole), concentrating on having the horse absolutely straight – this is harder than it sounds – and the strides even. Ideally, I want him reaching softly for the bit, with his neck down. When he’s comfortable with the exercise, I then want to be able to adjust the stride length: I’ll start coming through in 7 strides, which means I have to shorten the canter. It’s critical that the strides are even – 4 long strides followed by 3 choking ones defeats the purpose of the exercise! Also, you want to establish the stride length early – well before you reach the first pole – and again, you’d like the horse to remain soft and round. As he becomes more advanced, I’ll challenge myself to fit in 8 or even 9 strides. And don’t forget the other end of the ‘canter spectrum’ – lengthening the stride. Once again, establish the bigger canter early so that you’re not chasing the horse between the poles, and try for 5 nice, even strides. What I like about this exercise is that it helps to improve your eye for a distance without the wear and tear on the horses legs that repeated jumping will cause. It also is beneficial for your flatwork, as it gives you a very truthful reflection of your ability to adjust your horse’s canter stride – often in the dressage arena, it’s easy to be fooled into thinking we’ve effectively shortened or lengthened. The presence of poles soon brings us back to reality!

With the younger horse, while I’m definitely interested in gymnastic work, such as grids, to encourage good technique, I also want train over small courses, getting him used to general idea, and helping him to become confident travelling between the fences.

When you’re stepping out distances, remember that 1 stride is equal to 12 feet, or 4 large walking steps. You also need to allow 6 feet (2 large steps) of room on each side of the jump for take-off and landing. For poles on the ground and smaller fences, however, you won’t need to allow quite as much distance for take-off/landing.

The experienced horse
The more experienced horse is no stranger to bright poles or jumping around a course, so the focus of your training at home will be more technical. In fact, a chat with Wendy Schaeffer revealed that this eventer, who is renowned for her high standards in the showjumping phase, works by the general principle that the more experienced the horse, the more gymnastic work it performs. Wendy is coached by Jamie Coman, and has also attended clinics with Gilbert Boeckmann: From these trainers, she has drawn (among other things) the idea of ‘jumping dressage’, rather than simply jumping – in other words, the way the horse travels and his frame coming in to each fence are very significant.

Try to think carefully about the strengths and weaknesses of each horse, and let this guide your jump schooling. If possible, it is highly beneficial to call on the expertise of a coach, as he or she can help you to identify the areas that need the most attention, and design appropriate grids and exercises. As an example, my 2-star horse, Angelina Ballerina, is a nice jumper but a little hot, and has a tendency to come against the hand 2-3 strides in front of a fence. Therefore, my lessons on this horse (I’m also coached by Jamie) include lots of canter work, with the focus on shortening and lengthening the stride with her staying soft and round. Angelina can at times ‘switch off’ and drop behind the leg between fences, which results in a sudden ‘bid’ at a jump when she finally spots it, so we’re always concentrating on keeping her active and in front of the leg through the turns, drawing forward into the hand. Approaching fences off short turns is also an exercise we use to encourage her to keep her focus even when a fence is not immediately in front of her.

In contrast, my advanced horse, Pharinelli, is a little spooky and can get tight behind over his fences. As a result, we’ll school a variety of exercises with me riding in a light 2-point seat. I hate it, as it’s both tiring and makes me feel really un-co, but it encourages the horse to soften over his back. Jamie also stresses the importance of not finishing the jump too early with my position, especially on this particular horse – in other words, while for cross country we’re used to adopting a defensive seat, bringing our upper body back asap, this technique in the showjump arena can sometimes discourage a horse from freeing up his back end.

Certainly, the influence a rider’s position can have on the way a horse jumps has been a real eye-opener to me, and is another reason a coach is very useful: Common habits such as ducking your upper body, looking down over a fence, and not releasing enough can all have a profound affect on your horse’s jump, and are difficult to address without someone shouting at you from the ground!

Showjumping competitions
When a weekend rolls around with no eventing competition scheduled, resist the temptation to enjoy a sleep-in and Sunday brunch, and take your horses out showjumping! This opportunity comes up almost every weekend, whether its height classes at an agricultural show, or your local showjumping club. While the very thought of all the waiting around, and the squabbles over who is following who into the ring, make these competitions most unappealing to the event rider, the importance of exposure to the competition arena cannot be stressed enough: It is one thing to ride beautifully at home and in lessons, another altogether to produce the same performance in an atmosphere of hype and pressure, in front of spectators and fellow riders.

Try to force yourself out of your ‘comfort zone’ at these days, and ride at a height above what you are required to compete at in your eventing competitions. Your confidence in the showjumping phase of a One-Day or Three-Day event will depend largely on how comfortable you are jumping fences of the height required for your grade: Knowing that you’ve jumped bigger tracks in the past is a key factor in determining this degree of comfort.

Wendy, as I learned in our recent discussion, shares a similar opinion of the value of these showjumping competitions, and particularly of the advantages of jumping higher classes. Her reasoning is that, with the Olympic format now encompassing not one but two rounds of showjumping, selection onto the eventing team will be very much influenced by a horse and riders’ performance in this phase. Thus, Wendy makes sure she is very comfortable jumping a 4-star track, and achieves this by frequently jumping 1.4m classes and even – impressively – World Cup tracks. Using this formula makes the ‘eventing’ showjumping suddenly seem very do-able!

At the Event
Walk your showjumping course carefully, making a clear note of the start and finish flags – they’re not always in an obvious position, and plan your warm-up lap. You have 45 seconds to pass through the start once the bell has rung, so use the time to your advantage: If I’m on a spooky horse, I’ll try to let him take in as much of the ring as possible before I canter through the start. A sluggish horse might need to be ridden really forward and open in that initial lap. Look out for opportunities to save a second or two on the course, such as riding a tighter turn, and in the case of a related line, where the distance may not be conventional, try to make a decision – based on your particular horse – as to how many strides you’ll take. If possible, I like to watch the first few horses jump, to see how certain lines are riding, and this may cause me to revise an earlier decision.

Arrange for a helper in the warm-up area – it is frustrating, and a waste of your hard work in the lead-up to the event, if you aren’t able to warm-up in a way that will produce your horse’s best performance in the ring. Chris Burton, in the August 2007 issue of THM, provided some excellent advice for warming up the event horse, and rather than repeat his words, I’d encourage you to read his article.

When it’s your turn in the ring, your heart will most likely be pounding, and your lips dry! Possibly, you’ll feel as though you might be sick. Try not to let this distract you – when you’re nervous, your senses are actually heightened and your reactions improved, which enhances your performance. If you’ve done the miles in your training, and had plenty of experience in the ring at showjumping days, you can be very confident – and rightfully so – in your ability to produce a good round.
And so we reach the end of this 3-part eventing series – I really hope that, at some point in your eventing careers, at least one of the hints or suggestions will come in handy!

A big thank-you, also, to everyone who has responded with positive feedback thus far. Good luck and happy riding!

Eventing For Dummies – with Sharon Ridgway

Illustrations by Andrea O’Meara

Eventing is a wonderfully rewarding blend of challenges requiring so many different skills and emotions. The calm, controlled precision of the Dressage, the adrenalin rush and thrill of the Cross Country and the all important accuracy and skill required in the Show Jumping phase makes it in my mind the best sport in the world.

I am a little biased as it has been my passion for over 25 years now and in this series of articles I hope to provide some stepping stones to assist any newcomers to the sport. Don’t be deterred by thinking you don’t have access to one of Australia’s leading Equestrian Centres, Eventing for fun is perfectly possible with a few basic facilities and a bit of creativity.

I for one learnt to event on a tiny group of windswept islands in the far north of Scotland with little more than a shaggy pony and a few milk crates as jumps.
Determination and persistence will get you a long way as the likes of Greg Watson will attest to. His humble beginnings were in outback Queensland on a $700 ex racehorse. He had to make an 8-hour trip to Brisbane to receive coaching, turn around, drive home and work a full day as a fitter and turner on his return. Greg eventually moved to the UK and trained with the legendary Richard Meade, he went on to ride at two Badmintons and a World Equestrian Games. So it can be done.

Firstly there are a few important criteria to weigh up. Have you the necessary time to devote to what is a fairly involved sport? You really need to be able to ride at least five times a week to tackle training level eventing properly, so forget those long lie ins in the morning and those few relaxing beers on the way home from a big day at the office. You will have to be prepared to forget at least one of those to realize your dream of becoming an event rider.

Next, have you access to good instruction? Eventing is a sport with so many different skills to develop, you will find it impossible to blindly claw your way through the early stages without help. Any high-risk sport requires a great deal of respect towards the safety aspects, and what better than to have a knowledgeable mentor to guide you through the process? Where do you find a suitable coach? I am a great believer in letting a coach’s work speak for itself. Look for an Instructor who is either out competing themselves at a decent level or producing riders successfully. The NCAS system can be a starting point for your search, but don’t be fooled; a piece of paper with some letters on it is no substitute for experience. I would chose a non NCAS coach with tonnes of experience and a list of successful students all day long over a Level III that has never produced anyone!

Next, and quite obviously, you need a trusty partner in crime. A horse preferably with some eventing experience to help save you in those early fumblings when ignorance is bliss! They say, the more that you know about eventing, the more things that can go wrong. Confidence is a vital ingredient in the enjoyment of this sport, so make sure your new found friend is sensible and trainable and well within your comfort zones.

Don’t bite of more than you can chew with your first event horse; err on the side of caution and chose a well proven schoolmaster. Some would say a good schoolmaster is harder to find than a Unicorn, so good luck searching! I do believe there are suitable horses out there but be careful and take an experienced rider with you when you are trying out a new horse.

Unfortunately the really good ones are usually sold word of mouth, so get your name and number out to as many ‘In the know’ people as possible. You can scan the FOR SALE columns, but be warned, there is a lot of second-rate rubbish on the market. You may need to buy a horse with a little bit of age on its side for your first eventer, but as long as you have it thoroughly vetted for any reasons why it would not give you a couple of serviceable years, then age should not be an enormous problem within reason. (Within reason being the operative term, a 22 y.o. is well past its use by date and is nearly ready to push up daisies!) Remember too, that you may lose money on this initial purchase as it will be a couple of years older by the time you are ready to sell it on. Factor in an amount of money that you are prepared to throw away for the experience of learning on a great old timer!

In my experience, a great schoolmaster can really help to make a rider; I sold a lovely old advanced horse once, which at the age of 13 went to a junior rider Vanda Morgan. She came all the way through the Junior ranks on this great old chap and at the ripe old age of 17, (and Vanda was only 18) he came 2nd at the 3* at Gawler 3DE. Vanda has gone on to produce several other tremendously successful eventers and I’m sure she feels she owes a lot to having such a great partner to ease her into the big time.
Your budget will be a guide to the market you can search in, but I’m afraid I subscribe to the good old ‘you pay for what you get’ theory. A well educated, well mannered, serviceably sound, experienced eventer will probably not come cheaper than $7,000 nowadays and the flashier it is the more it will cost.

You would do well to choose something which has already competed at a level higher than you are planning to go to with this first purchase, for example at least Pre-Novice or Grade 1 Pony Club would be ideal. You can trade this one in at some point if you feel you have outgrown him and the flashy new updated model can follow on later in your illustrious career!

With your diary freed up, your mentor chosen and your trusty new four-legged friend by your side, you are now ready to embark on your newfound pursuit. Remember that first and foremost this is a hobby, and it should remain fun at all times, try never to lose sight of that. (Hard I know, after 40 minutes of sitting trot with no stirrups, a stitch and a very sore bum!)

The first few weeks will involve getting to know each other, building up you and your horse’s fitness and starting to work on a regular basis with your chosen coach. A lesson once a week is sufficient for now but try not to leave it any longer than that, as misunderstandings and developing bad habits are common in these early stages.

Presuming you have some previous riding experience, your coach will probably spend the first few months on the flat sorting out your position, balance, communication and control of the horse. This may seem a little boring but stick with it as a solid understanding of dressage is the foundation of all your new skills to come. Practice as often as you can but be wary of drilling your poor horse to the point that he gets sour and fed up. If you have access to hacking or rides out away from the arena then do this at least once a week or so, you can still concentrate on your balance and position while he enjoys the change of scenery!

A valuable way to learn is to watch the experts, so get yourself a copy of your State eventing handbook and find out where and when you local events are. We are so lucky here to have such depth of talent Australia wide, and I’m sure a visit to your local One Day Event will not only be educational but also fill you with enthusiasm and desire to get out there and have a go. Set some goals and plan which events you would love to ride at the following year. There is also plenty of literature available around about eventing and many educational videos. Beg, steal or borrow these and start to develop your own critical eye of what works and what went wrong. Don’t watch too many “Fall after Fall” videos just yet as although quite amusing, we don’t need to freak you out just yet!

In the next few articles we will talk through all the basics of evening, fitness including a training programme, saddlery and equipment and all the choices available, and finally your first competition and the preparation leading up to it.

Having now purchased our trusty schoolmaster, chosen our coach and hopefully started on our way to getting to know our new friend, we need to start setting ourselves some goals. Depending on the time of year, there are several options of where we should go for our first big outing!

In the winter most States have many little unofficial Dressage shows, Freshmans Show Jumping days and XC training schools. During the warmer months there are plenty of EFA competitions that run Preliminary and Introductory One Day Events.
Scan your local country paper and/or your Horse Trials Handbook for what is out there and pick a show you would like to aim for. Remember most ODE’s require you to enter several weeks in advance so pay particular attention to the close of entries date. Try and enter in plenty of time as poor event organisers have major panic attacks when we all send our entries in the day before the closing date.

Check to see if you have to be a member of the EFA (Equestrian Federation of Australia) or the ARC (Adult Riding Club) for your chosen event as some events you do and others you don’t depending on the organising body. If you have a good local Riding Club then it is probably worth joining as this will give you access to a lot more competitions, however be prepared to go through a fairly lengthy process of being graded before you are allowed to actually compete. This is purely to make sure you are competing in the grade most suitable to your capabilities.

Most clubs also expect you to turn up each month to rallies, so make sure that you can fit that into your busy social calendar. Obviously this will give you access to other coaches and at this stage you should be able to gain a little knowledge from most teachers but be careful not to get confused, if there is something you don’t understand or something that differs from the way your own coach has taught you, then make sure you discuss it in detail. Your personal coach will be happy to help sort out your confusion, remember there are many ways to skin a cat!

The main reason to go to rallies is to get out and gain as much valuable experience as possible. Loading your horse on the float, towing and all the joys of learning to back a trailer are all lessons you need to learn to make your day at your first ODE as stress free as possible.

If you choose a Freshmans Show Jumping day as your first outing then you need not enter in advance. You just show up at the required time, buy a ticket for each round and put your name down on the board, which has the running order. Most of these competitions start with the lowest height and work their way up, so I would be getting there as early as possible so you can do a nice low course for your first go. If all goes to plan and there are not too many hiccups then you can hang around and attempt the next height. Most organisers are very sympathetic to people with L-plates and will be happy to lower any obstacles you are having trouble with.

In a perfect world it would be nice if your coach could be with you to help out at your first show, but they are busy professionals so this may not always be possible, but there is no harm in asking if you can have your next lesson at the show. They may have some young horses they want to school and can kill two birds with one stone.

If you have chosen an unofficial Dressage show as your first outing then there is a little bit more preparation required. The dreaded PLAITING of the mane must occur. If you are a girl then you will find this relatively easy, as at some point in life you will have played with either your own or some girlfriend’s long hair. If you are a guy then you are in trouble! In my experience most guys are slightly lacking in talent in this department, a bit like ironing or washing up, a skill they have deliberately declined to learn or practice for obvious reasons! Have someone help you first time with your plaits and show you how to do it and I promise they will improve with practice. Make sure your horse’s mane is not too long or thick as you inevitably ends up with the golf ball plaits, not a good look!

Why plait at all I hear you ask, well Dressage judges (who by the way are a breed of their own!) need to think that we have made an effort to present ourselves in the neatest possible way and for centuries this has included plaiting. Wouldn’t we all love to find the guy who came up with this top idea in the first place!

Now you can get up at the crack of dawn and plait up, or if you are not a good morning person do it the night before, but make sure you put a neck rug or hood on your horse to cover the plaits or they will look very shabby by the morning. 24 hours is about the maximum time I would leave plaits in as they do become very itchy and uncomfortable for the horses after that.

I have heard stories of guys who’s significant other’s have done their plaits before they leave for a three day event and have kept the same plaits in all week, convenient I’m sure, but very mean to your pony!

The final type of competition you could choose is a proper ODE. This may possibly be a bit much to bite off for your first outing as there is so much to pack and so much to remember when you get there, but if you do chose a ODE there is an important issue to consider. Is your horse fit enough? A ODE requires a much greater level of fitness as you will be on board at least three times for lengthy periods and the XC phase takes quite a bit out of them.

If you have managed to ride five times a week then your horse should be OK but it would certainly be worth doing a little fast work in the lead up few weeks. By fast work I mean cantering your horse off his back for short periods of time to replicate what you will have to do on the XC phase. It will also improve your balance and stamina in forward position, which will help you on the day.
One fast workday a week will suffice for Training level eventing, find yourself a suitable place to canter. A proper racehorse training track is fantastic but a luxury most of us don’t have, you will find timing a problem as most trainers like to maintain their tracks during the day as their own horses will have all worked in the early hours of the morning. A large paddock is also suitable if the going is ok; try not to canter on muddy or shifting ground or the opposite, rock hard ground.

Keeping an event horse sound is something we will keep for a later article but it is very important to canter on a good even surface, a gentle slope is fine but not too steep as anything you canter up you have obviously to come back down. On your fast workday give your horse a good half hour warm up in trot, and then depending on his existing level of fitness, you need to build him up to about three X four-minute canters.

I’ve chosen four minutes, as that is about how long your XC phase will take at your ODE. In between your four minute canters you will need to leave three minutes for your horse to recover but be prepared to take longer if he is still not fully recovered in that time. Watch his sides to see how he is breathing and if he is puffing really hard wait a while longer. The speed to travel is important, you should be going at 450 metres a minute, now that may sound a bit technical bearing in mind your horse doesn’t have a speedo but in reality it is just a notch above working canter, more like a forward show jump canter. You can measure out an area if you want to get really clever, say 900 metres, just drive around and use your car speedo, that should take you exactly 2 minutes when on horseback. Two laps around will complete each four minute canter, repeat that two more times with your three minute gaps and hey presto, you are an eventing fitness whiz!

WHERE TO GO
In Victoria, I would recommend these three Introductory or Preliminary events: Wandin – Victoria’s premiere event with a fantastic separate training course out the back, including mini versions of all the challenges you will meet in the harder grades.
Yarra Glen and Lilydale – Great friendly event with inviting, well built obstacles. Designed by Wayne Copping and over undulating terrain. Needs a relatively fit horse.

Wangaratta – A fair drive from Melbourne but always worth the effort. Good hard working committee who always make you feel welcome. A fun event to camp and yard horses at. Weather usually lovely and a nice kind course for the first event of the season.

Niki Chapman selects her fab three in Queensland:
Kooralbyn – one hour form Brisbane or the Gold Coasts via Beaudesert. Goondiwindi – five hours from Brisbane. Warwick – two and a half hours from Brisbane. These three events have excellent facilities for both horse and rider. All have friendly, enthusiastic committees, but most importantly they are wonderful events with good level dressage arenas and ample warm up areas. They all provide well built and inviting cross country courses, that offer a wide variety of fences (the courses are not just log after log…) Goondiwindi does not have an intro course but the prelim is very inviting. The showjumping tracks at all these events are always very well designed – we are lucky to have Derek and Rita Dobson in Queensland.

Gill Rolton has a favourite five list of good start out courses in South Australia:
Early in the season – Jupiter Creek, Echunga
Mid season – Grand Cru, Mt Pleasant
May – Reynella – and in October, Reynella 2, and Wirrinna Cove on the South Coast.
All are up to height for each grade, but are well built with relatively good going. For a great fun event to camp at, nothing beats Waikerie in the Riverland on the Adelaide Cup Weekend – as long as it doesn’t rain!

In NSW, Shane Rose is our resident expert and he likes these few events:
Close to Sydney there are two suitable start up events. Macarthur which runs several events a year and Sydney (held at S.I.E.C) which also has multiple events. Both have great first start courses and a friendly atmosphere.
North of Sydney Dungog would be the best pick, nice friendly committee who will make you feel welcome as a newcomer.
South of Sydney Worrigee One Day Event is a must. Good Intro and Prelim track that is pretty straight forward on flat terrain with a dynamic bunch of organisers who will make sure you have a great day.

And in Western Australia Fiona Gerrard selects her best three events:
Brookleigh is centrally located only an hour from Perth and is a nice first run, relatively flat going with a not too testing course.
Woroloo is located in the Darling Ranges and is about 1 hour from Perth. A well constructed Wayne Copping course that will provide heaps of confidence for those starting out. The track includes lots of mini versions of more senior fences, great for educating both horse and rider.
Capel is built on a fantastic all weather sandy surface great in all seasons. They run two events a year and although a good three hour drive from Perth, a worth while drive for your trusty supporters as you can see nearly every fence on the course from one vantage point.
All your hard work and preparation for your first proper One Day Event is nearly complete and this month we will put together an all-important checklist to help you plan a smooth debut.

Four weeks before the big day, enter your chosen event and book stabling and accommodation. The relevant information should be available in your Horse Trials Handbook or on the entry form. Some events may be just for the day but most require an overnight stay. Check the close-of-entry date well in advance to avoid disappointment, as most events will not accept late entries. Check all your gear for any repairs that need doing, remember you will undergo a gear check at the event and stirrup leathers and reins must not have worn stitching.

Two weeks before check your horse’s shoes, a nice fresh set of new shoes with stud holes would be great, as studs may be required depending on the ground conditions at your event. Book in your farrier for early in the week leading up to the event, always avoid shoeing the day before just in case your horse is a little uncomfortable in his new set.

Organise a couple of extra lessons with your coach: a cross-country schooling session would be very valuable the week before to iron out any bumps. A dressage lesson where you can run through your test is also a very good idea, hopefully by now you will know your test off by heart.

Remember eventing tests cannot be called; you must perform it from memory. There are several clever ways to learn them, doodle them on paper or on a purpose-designed wipe off pad with the arena marked out. (Available in most tack shops) Another option is to mark out your kitchen floor with paper letters secured by any useful object available like soup cans or tins of baked beans! You then proceed to dance around them tracing out your test hoping that none of your neighbours can see in and think you’ve gone potty! At this point I always find the dog joins in and it all ends in disaster with pieces of paper and bean cans everywhere!
Try and see if your coach can set up a whole course of show jumps for you in a lesson so you are familiar with finding your way around the many twists and turns.

One week before check you have enough feed and some hay available to take with you to the event. Your horse will spend a significant amount of time hanging around either in a yard or tied to the float, some nice hay is a great way of keeping him amused and more importantly keeping you in the good books! Remember he will be missing out on his normal grazing time so hay is a useful substitute for his bulk intake.

I always pack some molasses, as I have found not all horses will drink strange water when they are away from home. It is vital to their well being that they don’t get dehydrated so a little molasses in the water often sweetens it and does the trick to get them drinking again. Give him a couple molasses drinks at home and he’ll soon look forward to his treat.

Do a washing check on your show gear, are your white saddle blankets clean and your show jumping and XC boots clean and ready to go? Some basic checks regarding your float are best done the week before, if hiring one book it in advance and check to see if you require electric brakes on your car. Most modern floats do require them as a safety measure and it is a relatively simple and cheap option to have them fitted to your car. If borrowing one check your car and the float are compatible, there a couple of different electric fittings and occasionally the chains are not quite long enough.

Also in the lead up week I like to do any trimming up that is required. You may wish to pull or neaten up your horse’s tail, trim his fetlock hair and any unsightly whiskers that are sticking out of his chin and ears. Be careful you can get a little carried away trimming, God put most of that hair on your horse for a reason so beware of making him look like a skinned cat, but a little less like a bush pig would be nice!

The day before is always a busy one, make sure you have left ample time to ride, wash, plait, clean your tack and load the car and float and pack your own riding gear. I love to have everything organised the night before so I can just get up on the morning of the event and load my trusty horse up and get going. Sometimes it is nice to stable your horse the night before you go, this will keep him clean and tidy and save time in the morning. Beware that the occasional horse becomes uncharacteristically wild after a night of solitary confinement so make sure you have practiced it once before, some also get very unsettled inside if they are not used to it, so play that one by ear. Another time saving trick is to plug your stud holes the day before, this will allow you to avoid wrestling with dodgy dirty feet on the big day. A piece of cotton wool dipped in Vaseline will push easily into a clean stud hole with a clench (horse shoe nail) and can be quickly and efficiently removed the next day as you need it. Studs should never be put in the day before as the horses can cut their elbows when lying down or badly rip up the rubber on the floor of your float or truck.
As a summary I will now provide a checklist for your first event and don’t forget to enjoy yourself!

Four Weeks Before:
* Enter event.
* Book stabling and Accommodation.
* Check gear for repairs.
* Two Weeks Before:
* Book farrier – stud holes.
* XC school with coach.
* Ride a Show Jump course in lesson.

One Week Before:
* Learn Dressage test and practice in a lesson.
* Order feed and hay.
* Clean show whites.
* Clean XC boots etc.
* Trim hairy bits!
* Organise float and check compatibility.

The Day before:
* Ride.
* Wash.
* Plait.
* Clean gear.
* Plug stud holes.
* Stable horse if suitable.
* Pack clothes in car.
* Pack car and float with gear including:
* Saddles, bridles, girths, breastplate, boots etc.
* Feed and feed bin.
* Hay and net.
* Change of rugs (prepare for all weather)
* Competition whites. (Saddle blankets, boots and bandages)
* Grooming kit.
* Stud box.
* Hoof grease.
* Whip/spurs.
* Bridle number set.
* Bandages and wraps for on the way home to ease tired legs.
* Ice tight/Swell down.
* Medical kit for horse and rider.
* Buckets for water (2)
* Washing bucket, sponge and scraper.
* Medical armband.
* XC back number holder.
* EFA documentation if required.
* Times and info with number etc.
* Horse Trials Handbook.

Happy Eventing…
Sharon Ridgway

There are those who call her the Hebridean Hurricane, since Sharon is never anything less than full on. If you’ve spent any time on the Australian eventing circuit, the chances are you have seen her (or more likely heard her – Sharon’s ability to keep the flow of words flowing is legendary). Sharon grew up on the Orkney Islands, but established her sound basis in horsemanship working for 5 years at the famous Yorkshire Riding School, where she accompanied Christopher and Jane Bartle to major international competitions in Europe. After migrating to Australia, Sharon produced a number of Advanced eventers, and placed third at Britain’s prestigious Blenheim *** on Kilkenny Castle. These days, Sharon leaves the three star tracks to the heros, and keeps her hand in bringing on a few select ‘babies’. She is one of Australia’s most successful agents in the business of buying and selling eventing horses and has a large national and international client base.

I must confess, at times I’ve found it hard to get a lot of words out of Stuart Tinney. He is not a naturally gushy sort of guy. This time I decided to try a new approach, cut straight to the deep and meaningful. And it worked! Stuart let fly with an interview that ranges far and wide and is packed with the sort of insight you might expect from the rider regarded by many as the world’s best when it comes to cross country style…

Is cross-country riding ability something you are born with, or something you are born with to a certain extent and can improve on – or is it something you can learn?
“Whew… Feel for horse riding is something you have or you don’t have. Whether that is specific to cross country riding I don’t know. I think it is probably for everything, and that comes to understanding horses, whether they need encouragement or a little bit of discipline. I think that is hard to learn, to get a feel for what they are thinking at the time, you’ve got to be in synch with them. I suppose that is something that you have or you don’t have. It shows up more in cross country riding, you can get away with it more in the other phases.”

“Just going cross country can feel lovely, when everything is going to plan and the horse is listening to you and the round is nice. Other times it feels like you are getting around as best you can. I don’t watch a lot of cross country but when I do it is very obvious the ones that are going with the whole thing – even correcting errors, because you can correct as you go around. If they drift over one fence, correct it. I think that’s a big thing actually: going round the course doing each little correction that needs to be done to keep the horse learning and doing the right job – then when you get to the tough fences, it works okay. Sometimes that can be encouraging them because they might be struggling; the fence might be daunting, a bit big. You have to keep them confident – don’t bustle them too much or do anything too quick or wild, because that just worries them more. You’ve got to know that, feel that, so you can feel when they are a little worried, as opposed to them saying – I can’t be bothered. You need to know the difference to know what you are going to do about it – that’s not something you learn, I don’t think… Well it is learnt through riding lots of horses and knowing horses, riding horses with this problem and that problem, and the more you can do that, the more you learn. The horses teach you and it is hard for someone to teach you that feel…”

Is effective cross-country riding also a function of the rider not being affected by the big adrenaline buzz? We know that horses can get too excited to concentrate on the job, but does the same thing happen to riders?
“The big thing about riding horses, is that you are the trainer. If I am a 400 metre runner, then I have a trainer who manages me, tells me that I went out too early, or whatever – I think running 400 metres is a little complicated. You can probably do that yourself, but it is easier if you have got someone helping you. If your trainer is a bit wild, and can’t concentrate and gets distracted every time you go to a competition, that can’t be great. It is the same for the horse; you are the horse’s trainer and even on the course, the more logical you are, the more focussed you are, the easier it is for the horse. It is easy for the rider to get a bit stressed.”

Are you are very confident rider, or do you sometimes find yourself scared before going on a big track?
“More the nervousness of being at a competition, but you can get just as nervous before the dressage, it doesn’t have to be the cross country. Anything can be bad. Being over-happy is bad because then you are not judging the situation correctly, being nervous you don’t judge the situation correctly, being scared… The more your brain is like it is normally, the easier it is to focus. It depends on what you are sitting on – that can make you stressed.”

Have you ever been scared?
“Yeah, heaps of times. It is usually at a lower level, usually pre-nov, because I am on a green horse that doesn’t know much about this eventing stuff, and I am coming down to a big tall vertical, thinking, ‘I hope you can jump this…’ But when I am actually on the course I am not scared very often.”

“Very rarely am I scared on cross country at all. I do remember at the Adelaide cantering down to that ditch. I wasn’t early in the draw so I knew a bit of what was going on there. Thinking…well can’t wait to get there! But what it made me do was do everything BETTER. It was a downhill approach and I knew you had to ride ditches like I ride them – except more, I AM GOING TO GET RE-BALANCED going down that hill, and I am GOING TO GET MY STRIDE… I was going to do all that anyway but I just made it more so, and if that wasted five seconds, which I don’t think it did, that was fine. Tex jumped it fine for me, but then while I wasn’t nervous coming down to that fence, I wasn’t saying, great I can hardly wait to jump this one… Like any time you want to take this out of the course!”

But it is important to control those emotions?
“Absolutely. Because what a lot of people did was kick down that hill, which was not a good choice. If you happened to get a good spot, which was luck, good on you – and if you happened to get a bad one while you were kicking on, just look away…”

Do you do any mind games before a big event – meditation… visualisation?
“I go through the course, I visualise it, but I think you’ll find a lot of riders do that. I usually fall asleep by fence six and have to wake up early in the morning to finish it off. I always sleep soundly the night before.”

Is it the same with horses – is the ability to handle a four star track something they had the first day they stood and suckled their mother?
“Yes, reaction is what is important. If you’ve got a horse that doesn’t react you have problems. You have to be able to say ‘wait now, now go’. There are some that you say go, and nothing happens and you have to train them to be better. You know that fairly early on because some of them don’t go at all – some you say, now go and they learn and they are okay – but there are some that don’t learn, six months down the track they are still not reacting to you and doing what they are told, or they do it after they go “…whaaat?” Too late.”

The first time you rode Jeepster did you say, wow this horse is going to take me round an Olympic Games course and I am going to end up wearing a gold medal?
“No because he is not a great jumper. The more I rode him cross-country, yes, absolutely because he loves it and he is so easy to ride, so focussed and so good. It didn’t take too many cross-country rounds before I realised that wasn’t a problem for him at all. Showjumping was a little harder because he is technically quite faulty, and the dressage I always thought it was there, but after a year or so it was getting a bit boring waiting for it to arrive. Cross country it didn’t take long to realise how good he was.”

But he wasn’t an easy horse to begin with – too nasty to other horses to race, too nasty to be a showjumper….
“He’s an exuberant thing. Like you will just be riding him around now and think he’s older now, and he scoots off. When Karen rides him he turns it up a bit for her. She’ll do a canter transition and he’ll shove his head up in the air and nick off… It is quite often sound related. If someone makes a noise down in the yard, whoosh, he’s off – then he can go into an Olympic Games arena and not care. So it is an excuse for him to do his thing and it is quite often nicking off with his head and his tail stuck in the air. That’s why he used to do in the early days of his dressage, lots and lots of 8s and then 3s because he did something bizarre.”

And before you got him he had been taught a bit of Spanish Walk and how to bow?
“I didn’t know that when I bought him. I haven’t found ‘bow’ but Spanish Walk I found a couple of weeks after I bought him. What is that! It’s sort of a weird thing with only one leg, and then it became full on Spanish Walk… He gets confused with it. He used to relate it very much to letting go his neck. I’ve found it with another horse, owned by a girl from Terrey Hills, that was also very tight in the neck, we had no idea but when you loosen it up – there it all is, Spanish Walk – and he’s got bow as well. They get very confused. Jeepster would do the Spanish Walk while he was trotting while cantering! We would start canter and he would let go of his neck, and do Spanish while he was cantering, which of course you can’t do, and he would fall over, then he’d get worried. A nightmare and it happened every time he let go of his neck, so then he would hold this frame and he would be fine, except you can’t move like that.”

“To let go of his neck – it’s really his back, he relates it to this Spanish walk thing. Even when he came into work this most recent time, when I asked for a bit more, out came the Spanish thing. I’d just apologize and try to get it to go away, now I’ve learnt to unblock him and he goes forward most of the time, but it has been a challenge.”
Stuart like most of Australia’s eventing stars – even ones who have won gold medals – finds that it is a financially demanding and difficult sport…
“It is hugely important to have sponsors, without support you would be selling even more horses, even the ones you think are the potentially good ones, you would have to sell just to survive. All my sponsors contribute to that, and help keep the horses in Australia. Horseland and Bates have been with me for years and they have been a wonderful support. Coprice with the feed, and now Nature Vet with Pentosan… they are all wonderful!

PS. And the best news? That horse in the photos is Jeepster – back on track and hopefully headed for a place in the Team at Athens.

Eventing star, David Middleton is legendary for finding his horses in all sorts of obscure places and usually for a couple of hundred dollars. So it was a big change in operating styles, to see Dave at the Auction of the Stars, trying out purpose bred Warmbloods in his search for his next frontliner. He bought one – paying the top price at the auction for Mr Shirvington, a colt, by the imported Dutch stallion, Salute out of a Thoroughbred mare by Grosvenor out of a Sovereign Edition mare, bred by Heath and Rozzie Ryan.

Thanks to some really lucky breaks in the otherwise dark and threatening Gippsland sky above the Middleton’s Warragul Equestrian Centre, we were able to capture some stunning shots of Dave and the new guy in action, and after that was all done, with the rain starting to patter down, find out what is was like to jump on the Dumb-blood Bandwagon…

Was it a shock to the system, buying a horse that was bred for equestrian sport, rather than chasing behind the man with the PAL cart?
“It’s getting hard to find good ones, and Thoroughbreds are getting scarcer. I heard about the Auction of the Stars, and Shirvington was the one I wanted. He had class. He felt a lot more balanced, and seemed a lot more obliging. He also had great technique over a jump. There was another one with an exceptional jump, but it was a bit feral before the jumps, and I’ve had enough feral horses in my life.”

He’d been broken in?
“He’d been broken in at Heath Ryan’s NSW Equestrian Centre and I think he’d been taken to some little combined training days by the students. When I rode him, he went in a lovely frame and was really up in front but when I got him home, I found he didn’t go forward at the time he should or slow down when I wanted. He was only a baby – so I’ve been working on the going and coming back.”

“I think he had only been jumping two feet six before he came down to the auction, and I said to Heath, come on, what can you show me, when he got to four foot three, he said I think that might be enough. But he was jumping really well.”

Since you’ve had him have you been concentrating on the flat work or the jumping?
“I’ve been working more on the flat because he has only just turned four, so I don’t want to over jump him. Over the next 12 months I’ll start to increase the jumping, but the better he gets in his canter, the better he will jump anyway. He found it hard to stay on his hocks and stay balanced, at the start. I’ve done a lot of work on the canter trying to get him up in front.”

“I’ve been doing quite a lot of canter shorten, lengthen, shorten. The thing I found with him, is that as you came into the jump and needed to shorten, because he didn’t know how to do it, he’d resist a bit. Certainly with the work on the lengthening and shortening, he is getting better at coming into his jumps now. You say whoa, and he comes back better.”

“I do a lot of canter / halt, even with the young ones because I find if you can do good downward transitions, from a canter to a short trot, or a short trot into a short canter, you get a much more balanced canter. I find especially with the ones that tend to want to run in the trot and get a bit unbalanced in the transition, if you do halt / canter / halt, or walk / canter, then when you make your downward transition to trot, they really think of coming back. So many horses run on in their downward transitions, and it is not because they can’t do it – look in the paddock and they all gallop to the gate, halt. It is that they just don’t have the understanding because every time they go into trot, they are used to just falling into it.”

Do you do most of your work in the arena or out over the hills, or a mix?
“I should probably get out a little more. Certainly in the summer it is a bit of a mix, with the worry that the going is hard, so I tend not to do too much cross country, and then in the winter you have to watch that it is not too wet. I like to do a lot of hill work for fitness – I base all my fitness work on hills.”

Are you doing intervals in your hill work?
“I’ve got a little routine where I tend to trot up twice, then canter up twice, with just a really slow shuffly trot down. Most of it is pretty slow work in the canter. I used to do the four runs up to four times, now with the Three Day format changed, I’ll probably cut back a bit. That’s really nice.”

So you are happy to see the end of the traditional three day format?
“Wrapt. We can all do rising trot, we can all gallop flat out at steeple jumps, so I think it was all pretty pointless, and at the end of the day, broke down a lot of good horses.”

Do you have anyone helping you with your dressage?
“Over the years, I’ve had Mary Longden help me – I haven’t seen her so much lately because she has been overseas. I’ve done little bits and pieces with other instructors, leading up to the Worlds and prior to the Trans Tasman, I went to some of the dressage coaches, and they were really good but very expensive! Right now I’m happy to just trundle on, and I think for the lower level stuff, I’ve got a pretty good handle on it. I feel that for a lot of it, I know what I’m after. It is only when I get a good horse, like Willowbank Jack (now renamed Autumn Sky and ridden by Eddie Stibbe – a stable shift that no doubt had something to do with Dave arriving cashed up at the auction), that I need to learn about that higher level. Most of the ones I have at the moment are at a lower level and I pretty much know what to do with them.”

And you put the flying changes on Mr Shirvington to one up Amanda Howell?
“Yeah, I went to a one day event and she was doing half pass with her pre-novice, I thought okay, I’ll teach my guy half pass and flying changes before the next one! Because he is so trainable, I like to get it done now so later it is not a hassle. He has been so easy to train with the changes, and when you are jumping you want to be able to change anyway, so why not teach it now.”

“I had to work on it a little – it was the same as I would do with a Thoroughbred, it just came a whole lot quicker! Teaching changes depends on the horse, generally I start off trying a little bit of half pass into the change. I’m no expert on the flying change, we’ve only been doing them for a few years in eventing… Then you might find that the horse gets a bit used to the half pass to the change so you might use a bit of leg yield instead – it depends on how they are coping. I think it does help with the young ones to get them moving a bit sideways, but like I said, I’m no expert.”

What does your jumping program look like for the babies?
“Obviously you have to keep it well within their capacity. With the young ones you can’t guarantee you are going to get to a great take off spot, like you can with the more advanced horses, so you want the fence height to be low enough that if you make a mistake getting there, they are still confident enough to jump out of it.
If you come into something too big, and you have a bit of a miss, you are going to blow their confidence. I do like to jump bigger fences on them, but I do like to do it in a grid, or in a related line. Especially in the related lines, you can set it up small, and you get the striding nice, then you can build it up because you know you are going to get there on a nice stride.”

How much cross country work do you want to do with a baby?
“I think you want to do lots, provided you are not going to pound their legs. I like to do a heap of cross country, and I quite often train a lot of that in the sand arena, with drums and apexes – even the grid work is really good training for your cross country because it teaches them jump, jump, jump. I like to do something like that with the young ones, twice a week – some sort of cross country paddock work.”

Even today – I guess he has jumped your ditch a few times, but the first time he went over it, he gave it lots of room. Is it important to give them a lot of experience over those sort of jumps?
“Absolutely. You see a lot of riders, they do three events, and they go home, get the dressage and showjumping better, then they come out at novice, do three more events, go home again and come out at Intermediate – in effect when they come out Intermediate, the horse has done six cross country rounds and hasn’t started cross country for three months! You are much better to go event, event, event, if you do go up the levels, well the horse has been doing it for the past five weeks. All I would say is that you don’t want to run them hard every time. If the young ones are good, I don’t like to run them hard, full stop. At the end of the day, winning pre-novice doesn’t interest me that much. There is no reason you shouldn’t be able to canter around all your one day events, and if you do that, they are probably putting in less effort than they do in a good dressage session. Certainly with the young ones the more they see the better. By the time they get to advanced, they’ve probably done 5000 dressage sessions, 1000 jumping sessions, and a lot of horses have only done 10-15 cross country sessions. Cross country is the one you don’t want to make your mistakes at – if you go in and you miss a change, or have a rail down, so what? Somersault on the cross country and it can get ugly.”

You don’t have a training water jump?
“I’ve got a hole in the ground that was going to be for water, but to keep water in it might cost about $5000 worth of concreting so I guess it will stay a hole in the ground. I teach them about water at the smaller events – it would be really nice to school it at home. Generally I find if you train them to jump everything else properly, the water is no different. Providing you haven’t done something stupid, like jump them into a dam, or a deep creek. As the horse comes along, if they haven’t got the experience they look at the water jump, much the same as coming up to a ditch. I tend to get them right back, really shortening the canter, then I can afford to drill them on the last few strides. I do exactly the same with the ditches, get them back a bit, then drill them in the last few strides – send them forward, make sure they really accelerate those last few strides, and because you got really slow at first, they don’t actually go so fast at the ditch, but because they learn to accelerate into the ditch, they are not coming in and backing off.”

“You see a lot of riders with problems with horses stopping at ditches, and I think ditches are just the easiest fence to jump but their problem is that they worry about the ditch, and they get up the horse and get it galloping, but they are galloping nowhere near the fence. If you look at horses that stop at ditches, it is only in the last two strides that they start stopping. If you train them that the last few strides are forward, you never have a problem. But if you come in fast, then you have to slow down to jump the fence. Better to get slow early then move on up to it.”

What’s the biggest problem with Mr Shirvington – waiting for him to get older?
“I guess so. I’m contemplating doing some dressage with him. I’ve only done a couple of dressage competitions when I had Jack. He was pretty good on the flat but he didn’t have a lot of motivation. This guy, I think it could be something else to do. I won’t say I am excited about doing it but I do think I should do a few dressage competitions – and I should do a few showjumping competitions too, because now I’ve got a few horses that jump nicely. I’m just looking forward to see what the future brings with this horse – I certainly think he is something special.”

Words & photos by Roz Neave

Our Lesson with Andrew Hoy and Lucy Bennett was conducted at the picturesque Hawkesbury Eventing Centre at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Although the session started before nine o’clock, it was one of those hot steamy New South Wales days, and already too hot for comfort. Triple gold medallist, Andrew started the session, which was the first of a three day clinic, in a very re-assuring manner.

“I want you to get as much out of this clinic as possible. If I say anything that you are not sure about, that is different to what you are used to being taught, something you are not sure about, don’t be afraid to say so. There’s nothing worse than walking out of a clinic wondering, what did he really mean by that?”

“I’m not a magician, I can’t just wave a wand and fix things. What I will do is act as a mirror, and tell you what I see. At the end of the day they are your problems and you are the only one who can fix your problems, and I’m the only one who can fix mine.”

“I feel that in many cases, riders get tied up with the technology of riding. They make it too complicated, and the more riding I have done, the more I go back to basics. Get the basics right, and you can then go on.”

“Although it is hot, I am not going to be creating a hot and sweaty lesson. Many people judge a lesson on the basis of how high they jump, how wide they jump, and how many fences they jump. I’m not like that. What I can do is get you thinking about what you are doing, I’m not Mr Fixit, I just want you to go away thinking.”

“In a lot of cases, we as riders do not have good body awareness. Instructors will say ‘raise your hands up and keep them still’ – we try to raise our hands and we think they are still, but they are not, because we are so tied up with other things in our minds. What I want you to be aware of, is what you are feeling and also what your body is doing.”

“You cannot get a quality jump with a bad approach – and the quality of your approach comes back to the way you work your horse on the flat. If you get a quality jump from a bad approach then you are a very lucky rider”.

“I try to keep what we teach the horse very simple. Four things – go forward, stop, turn right, turn left. Before we ever get on the horse, he can walk, trot, canter, gallop, do a flying change, jump a little log in the paddock. You hear someone say ‘I just taught the horse to do a flying change today’. They didn’t teach the horse to do a flying change, they taught the horse the aids for the flying change. We need to be very careful about how we assess what we’ve taught the horse.”

“Our communication tools are our eyes, our hands, our feet and our legs. This is where I feel riders get too tied up in the technology of riding. It really is pretty simple.”

“If you take your legs off and try to get the horse to go forward – nothing happens. If I take your reins away and say canter down that hill and stop twenty metres in front of the jump without any reins – you can’t do it. Legs make the horse go forward, seat to feel what is happening under you, hands to stop and turn right and turn left, eyes to view where you are going – and that is what we actually teach the horse: to go forward from the leg, to stop, to turn right, to turn left., and if you can do all those things when you want, and where you want, then we can produce a dressage test, or ride a cross country or showjumping course.”

“Riders make it so complicated, and they end up with mental overload. If at any stage you have difficulties in your riding, if you take it back to that basic drill: Can I go forward? Can I stop? Can I turn right? Can I turn left? Is the horse responsive to my leg? Am I actually feeling what is happening underneath me through my seat and then responding correctly?”

“Teaching horses the skills of the half pass or the shoulder in, it’s all how they respond to our aids. Use the KISS method – keep it simple stupid.”

So it was off to warm up for Lucy, and Andrew kept a close eye on her as she trotted and cantered around the working area …
“Your basic skills are fine, don’t look so relieved… but there are a few position things that can be improved. Your rein is too long, and you are not riding with your fingers closed enough. I don’t want you to think I’m rude but you ride a little bit in the ‘armchair’ position”.

“When you are sitting on the horse do you feel that you are in a position of balance? Without moving your shoulders forward I want you to stand in the stirrups.”

“I feel like I’ll flip over backwards.”

“See, in the position you are sitting, you can’t do it”.

Andrew had made the point to Lucy that she needed to work on her position by getting her legs more under her. So now Lucy was warmed up and Andrew moved on to the bane of many eventers, the showjumping phase.

“What are you trying to achieve when you warm up for the showjumping?”
“I’m aiming to achieve a really connected canter…”

“Now with the event horse, that is a little bit different from the showjumper, because the showjumper canters very much with the power from behind. Because as eventers we do a lot of galloping with our horses, and travel faster with our horses than the showjumpers, we want a longer and more open canter stride – that’s why it is difficult for us when we come to the showjumping to get our horses to really jump. You can’t change your horse’s gait for each phase but I believe the better we have them schooled for the dressage, the easier it is to make the adjustment. That is why the work we do on the flat is the most important factor to our success when running across country and also in the showjumping”.

“I’d like you to go out, and get your horse a little rounder, keep your leg underneath you rather than out in front, so that the horse is responsive to your leg”.

“With your hands, bend him a little to the left and a little to the right, but I want to see his body straight along the line you are riding him, don’t let his hindquarters swing out. Also I want to see you ride with closed fingers. I often see riders, all over the world, with the fingers too open”.

And to correct the armchair seat …
“Use your legs to support yourself, put your legs back under you and get back into balance. Keep your reins shorter and your legs more back under yourself. You are riding your canter too much off the hand – when he is resisting you, that is because there is too much hand and not enough leg. What you need to do is not soften with the hand, but keep the leg there, and stay elastic through the elbows. As soon as you go shorter with your reins, because your hands are a little bit further in front, what you do is automatically pull back. Because you’ve got a comfort zone, near your body, and I’d like you to be able to alter that comfort zone so your hands are a little bit more in front of you, and bring your upper body forward a fraction, take your leg underneath you – rather than being behind the movement, I want you stay with the movement. It takes time to get an understanding for that change, because we all get comfort zones, and the older we get the more difficult it is to change”….said Andrew with a laugh!

Now we come to the focus of this lesson, a single pole on the ground:
“I don’t doubt your ability to ride to a metre twenty fence and jump it, but what I want you to get out of our training sessions is the awareness of how you get to the jump. Is it sheer raw talent that gets you there, or guts and determination, or is it skill? This is where working over a pole on the ground can be so good because the horse will not make an adjustment itself coming to a pole on the ground, it is prepared to canter all over it and be all wrong. Coming to a metre twenty, the horse will make an adjustment. They’ll take off a little bit early, or a little bit close, they sight a fence and consciously make an effort to jump it, whereas cantering over a pole comes back to the rider’s skill, and you are looking at getting it right, ten out of ten times.”

Andrew is constantly working on increasing Lucy’s awareness of what is happening, and remember, we are only cantering over a pole on the ground
“How was that?”
“Not enough leg.”
“The canter wasn’t round enough and submissive enough, is that what you mean when you say not enough leg?”
“Can I make him really really round?”
“For today’s exercise why don’t you do that, so that when you come to the pole he can’t come up, so you can maintain the rhythm. What is happening is that you are losing the rhythm as you come to the pole – he sights it, then he goes against you and you lose the roundness.”

“When he canters, every stride he takes you are leaving the saddle too much. You need to stay in the saddle so that you stay with the canter rhythm. If you are leaving the saddle, that means you are a little bit against the horse’s rhythm.”
Lucy started to slip back into her armchair position, so Andrew encouraged her to slightly round her lower back and absorb the movement better rather than sitting with a hollow back.

“How well, how economically you can get your horse around a track, depends on how well you can produce the canter on your approach.”

“It feels as if he comes behind the leg in the canter. I haven’t been riding him all that long, but he feels a little gobby, a little out of control sometimes…”

“That’s unacceptable. If he is out of control at Pre-Novice, he is not going to be under control at Novice, Intermediate or Advanced – that’s when the accidents happen. People ask why the accidents are happening, and the sad thing is that the one common factor is rider error. People look at the safety of the fences, but it does come back to rider education.”
Andrew jumped on Lucy’s horse and asked him to come rounder.

“He is not really responding to the leg. When I tried to use my legs more, I found him running out through the outside shoulder, he didn’t respond to the outside rein, so I had to use more outside leg, to say ‘come on, keep coming through from behind’, then he automatically went rounder. He wanted to come against me from the start, until I really sat firm, felt the rhythm and then he responded. If he went against my hand, I increased my leg. I did not just pull back. What I was concentrating on was the roundness and the control of the canter – then the rest will come.”

Andrew worked until he got the horse coming through from behind, Lucy re-mounted and tried to get the same feel
“You’ve got to sit on the horse to feel what is happening under you – you won’t feel that if you leave the saddle. Use more outside leg, push his quarters to the inside, that’s better – be careful you are pushing yourself out of the saddle again. You are getting a rock through the shoulders as well, you need to keep your upper body quiet, keep very good posture on the horse, keep your lower leg under you so you almost feel that you are falling forward, that is the feeling you have to look for.”

“When you are trying to change your position, you have to work really hard at it, because just when you think you are getting better, it is easy to slip back into old habits again. When you lift your hands up, it makes you tighter through your stomach muscles.”

“In a body awareness program, the muscles you have to tighten all come back to the pelvic floor area, and also the control of the abdominal muscles, it all relates to your posture. It is a matter of focussing on your body and being aware of it. This is often where riders go wrong. This is why I am not doing jumping with you now, because jumping is not your issue.”

“Once you are aware of your body, then you can correct your position the next time. Whenever my position has gone wrong for me, it has been through it not being a clear thought – not keeping the leg on, or not keeping the correct contact, allowing the reins to get too long, then you end up missing a fence. So many of these things come back to rider position, not jumping technique.”

“If you want to be able to train a horse to jump over something narrow, what is crucial is being able to ride the horse correctly to the fence – and if you get it right the first time rather than running past a few times and then finally getting it right, that is much better for the horse, we are not wearing the horse out. Horses have a limited number of jumps, and a limited number of miles in their lives.”

After around an hour and a half of intense concentration on the part of Lucy, her horse, Brilliant Venture and Andrew, the session finished. While Lucy took him back to the stables for a well-earned hose down, I asked Andrew what he thought Lucy had accomplished in the session.

Andrew’s view:
“A lot of riders think that will make their jumping better by jumping as many jumps as possible. They will go and get a jumping lesson, as opposed to a dressage lesson or doing some physical exercises to teach them body awareness skills, and probably the last would help them most.”

“I have found that I am concentrating on body awareness more, because I’ve become aware that horses have a limited number of miles, of jumping efforts.”

“It takes much longer to get some horses going than others, some horses are naturally more talented than others, but is it partly due to the training skills of the rider. Klaus Balkenhol sits on my horses, they instantly go better – is this the horse, or is this the rider? It has got to be the rider?”

“If I get on Lucy’s horse, then there is a change, the horse hasn’t changed, but I’ve got to the tool to change the horse. This is a new aspect of my training philosophy. It is something that I have discussed a lot with Bettina (Overesch), about how our horses go and how we can produce the best performances with them – also watching what other trainers can do with my horses.”

“It also comes from looking at the very good riders. Why can Mark Todd keep competing at a very high level, and doing so well at that level? Why is it that he could get on horses at the last minute and they would still go so well for him? So far as Bettina and I can see it, it is the way horses are produced. Horses are made, they are not just bought. A classic example of this is Darien Powers – look at the dressage test I produced with him at Atlanta, and the dressage test I produced in Sydney. Same horse, so it just comes back to the schooling we have done. People described the test at Sydney as a ‘magic’ test, but there is no magic to it, just hard work. A lot of people think there is some kind of magic, but actually it is based on good basic riding skills. There is nothing new, the things I am doing now, were the essential things I learnt when I was very young and Franz Mairinger was helping me. Now finally I have learnt how to put them together and make it happen.”

Have there been any really significant turning points on the road from Pony Club at Culcairn, to gold and silver at Sydney?
“I have to say that one crucial thing was making the transformation from doing it as an amateur to doing it as a professional. When I moved to England and it became my job in the beginning of 1993, that was a turning point. Now working with Bettina, with a trained eye all the time when we work, it is not as if I am getting a full-blown lesson all the time, or that when Bettina jumps, I give her a full-blown lesson… we talk about the way we are riding, the way the horse is going. We go to Europe where we receive more coaching than we ever give. People say, ‘oh you are riding at the top level you don’t need any coaching’ but if you look at all the top level tennis players they all have their trainer with them, they have their physio with them, and they have their psychologist with them. Some riders say they are financially not in a position to get training – my attitude is that I can’t afford not to get training.”

You’ve won gold at three Games in a row – is it time to hang up the spurs and start riding the harvester on your family farm at Culcairn?
“The way farming is going that might not be the greatest move. I still get the same thrill out of riding horses and training horses and having those horses go well for me. I’m definitely not thinking of retiring. I’ve got horses, I’ve got a fabulous team working with me now, professionally as well as privately (laughs). Karen Hughes who has been with me for seven years now, is just wonderful. She is equally dedicated to the sport. We need a minimum of three people working for us, then there is Bettina and myself.”

And the future for Darien Powers?
“He has just started to do a little work. I don’t plan a Badminton or a Burghley for him at this stage. I’ll do a few CICs and see how he goes – then there are the World Championships next year. I just have to wait and see how his performances are, and how he is.”

The Conclusion
This lesson was the first of Lucy’s three day clinic with Andrew. I asked Andrew to comment on Lucy’s progress after the end of the Clinic:
“Lucy was working really hard all the way through, the bottom line is that when we are riding we only have to teach the horse to go forward, stop, turn right or turn left. What has happened over the course of the three days is that it has made Lucy really aware of what her body is doing. Our perception quite often is that we think we are asking the horse to go forward by using our legs but at the same time, we are saying, stop with our hands. It has made Lucy much more aware of what she is doing, so the aids have become much clearer. Now when she comes to a fence on the cross country, or showjumping course, she is very clear that she uses the leg to say ‘go forward’ and the hand actually stays soft and elastic through the elbow. She gets to the fence without confusing the horse.”

“To put it into a driving sense, a lot of people ride a horse as if they have got into the car and pulled the handbrake on, so they don’t get anywhere. Lucy is now very much more aware of what she is doing – and that is going to give her the opportunity to work on a solution. You can’t fix everything in a three day clinic. What I want to do is make riders aware of what they are doing. For instance with Lucy I wanted to make her aware of how she was sitting..”

“I said to her, ‘don’t become stressed with what I am saying, just take your own time’ – you’ll find your own ways to solve your problems.”

Lucinda Green has long been the doyenne of cross country riders, and super tough jockeys like Matt Ryan have consciously modelled their cross country style on Lucinda’s. Sixteen year old Lucinda Prior-Palmer burst on the eventing world, riding Be Fair, three years later the pair won Badminton! Lucinda went on to win a total of six Badmintons on six different horses, and a World Championship in 1982.

These days, Lucinda is only competing for fun, enough to keep her hand in, enough to keep her in touch with the expanding ranks of her pupils all over the world. She is in great demand as a television commentator, and the author of many books on her horses, and the sport of eventing.
We are lucky indeed that Lucinda Green makes regular visits to Australia, and is always happy to help our riders.

LUCINDA’s cross country philosophy

It seems to me that for a long time you have been a voice in the wilderness, while many instructors were working on perfect position, perfect stride, you always taught your students to ride ugly lines, and get out of less than wonderful situations?
“I have always felt that you want to give your horse a chance to work his way out of trouble, there are always going to moments when you are in trouble, no matter how brilliant you are, and no matter how well you see your stride. I never had a very good eye for a stride, so I always wanted my horse to learn to get me out of trouble.”

“The best part of the people I teach don’t have a particularly good eye, and even if they do, I don’t want them to use it. I want them to give their horse a chance to get in, and if necessary, get out of trouble. When the horse realises that he is not going to be dictated to, no one is going to tell him exactly where he is going to take off, so his whole mind starts to focus on to the fence and how to negotiate it. It is that attitude that I would rather come forward with, I want my horse to learn to use the best of his ability, and I don’t think he’ll learn to do that if he is constantly waiting for me to tell him when to take off. It is as simple as that.”

“I have no problem with people seeing strides, if you see it, go for it – but what I want people to learn is, how to deal with situations where they see nothing. And that is basically to sit up, balance, and keep your leg on. It is no good throwing your weight forward and praying the horse will take off, because then you wreck their balance, you wreck their impulsion. If you throw your weight forward they find it very difficult to take off. My feeling is that you stay absolutely in the centre of their balance, or just slightly behind it, and you just keep your leg on.”

“There are two things that I want to get through to people. One is to allow the horse to look after you, rather than you looking after him. The second is to make sure that he can see where he is going, and I feel that more and more strongly as the fences become more difficult and complicated. The horse has got to have time to see the problem ahead of him, and work out, what it is. So often you have horses coming into a fence, curled up on the bit obediently, but some horses can only see a fence if they have their head up high, others can only jump really well when their head is down. So I do want riders to, as they study their line, also to check that the horse is looking where he is going, not all coiled up and unable to see.”

Your exercise where you get the riders to pretend the first fence in the arena is a big drop, and to slip their reins and ride the next few fences on the buckle – that is very different from that American equitation approach that says you have to ride every fence perfectly…
“It happens, however good you are, you are, at times, going to be on the buckle, particularly as the fences get big, and sometimes it happens when you least want it to happen, and you’ve got to be able to steer your horse through the next series of fences without having a chance to shorten your reins up. A bit of practice never goes astray – pretend the first element of an awkward line is a drop, then take up the slack as best you can without actually shortening the reins again, and get to the end of the line using your legs and your taken up slack to steer. I want people to feel comfortable with that, instead of feeling, oh my goodness this is ugly I shouldn’t be here. If they get into that situation cross country, I want them to say, oh I’ve practiced this, I can do it. I haven’t got time to shorten my reins, it needs to be an instinctive reaction when things go wrong. Take up the slack by widening your hands, keep your legs on, keep sitting back and get to the other side of your problem.”

“As a teacher, I think you are constantly learning. If anything I have become more keen, that riders should be less obsessed by strides. It is dangerous territory this, because I know the Australian coach, Wayne Roycroft, totally disagrees with my feeling that you don’t need to see a stride and that balance and power are enough. No matter how brilliant you are you don’t always get the right stride.”

“I don’t want to start a public fight with Wayne Roycroft, he’s a very good friend of mine, and he has just coached three gold medal teams in a row. He doesn’t coach many lower level competitors, and maybe he would say he would teach the lower levels the same as me. I feel if you teach the lower levels to worry about strides, you’ll lose the flair, you’ll get them picking and punching.”

“I just want them to get the right spot for that type of fence, to get the horse balanced, which means the horse is not flying about on the forehand. I want them to get the horse focussed on a fence and keep the engine coming, to keep riding and let the horse sort it out. I don’t think you can get a better fundamental than that. If you go on through the stages, and you come to the finesse of advanced event riding, yes it is great if you have a really good eye for a stride, but if you have trained your horse all the way through like this, he is so good at seeing his own stride that it doesn’t matter. He hasn’t had to worry about being fired off when you see a stride – he is used to being balanced, with his engine under him, and he has worked out how and where to put in the short ones.”

“There is no doubt as you get to the bigger fences it is easier to ride them because the horse backs off them anyhow. There is an awful big deal about the seeing of strides, what I think is absolutely crucial is that the horse has his engine under him, that you allow him to keep his balance and you don’t throw yourself forward at the last minute – and that he can see what he has to do. Those would probably be the three things that are vital – and it’s probably a bit old fashioned, but I don’t think my teaching has changed in that area at all.”

You saw Amanda’s run at Sydney where she did end up hitting the deck – is there anything you can teach her that would have altered that result?
“I think she rode a tremendous round, on quite a difficult horse, he is very strong, and hard to sit up on – but when she came to the first water, she did just that, she sat up. The reins came out of her hands over the first element, and she rode down to the second element in exactly the right balance. She was sitting upright, she was on his back, she had a slightly lengthened rein so she could be at the back of her saddle ready for trouble. He jumped in, and as he landed, she was in exactly the right position – she was defensive, she was behind him, she had a long rein but she kept the connection, jumped up and out. She did a brilliant job.”

“When it came to the second water, an easier log fence going in, she stayed in her forward crouch and he pulled her over his shoulder, and that is why the whole thing went wrong. They lost everything when they landed over the log. Amanda is the first to admit it, if she had ridden into that log as she rode into the second element of the first water, I am sure she would have been alright.”

“We also talked about where she fell. He did get very strong, and Amanda stayed crouching over his front – which works really really well 99% of the time, but if he hits a fence really hard he is going to flick her off – if he gets long and strong and can’t shorten because he has gone over his point of balance, then if he comes in wrong, he is either going to run into the bottom of the fence, or stand off and either way possibly hit it, which is what happened at Sydney. When she felt she couldn’t get him back under control, coming into the fourth last fence, she could have afforded to get ugly which she hasn’t had to do before. Basically she should have put her feet forward, and leant back, and said ‘you jolly well have to come back, you cannot go in like that!’ But because she is wary of sitting on his back because it makes him go rigid, she has always ridden on a light seat, so when she was coming into that fence out of control, she didn’t instinctively do the ‘ugly thing’.”

“I think she will next time. Poor girl, I think we’ve all got to learn the hard way. It is very difficult when your horse does something that he has never done before. You don’t get that much practice at what happens in the fourth mile of a four star event. Amanda hadn’t completed a four star on Otto – and it is that much further, and they get that more tired, and in his case, that much stronger, that much more difficult to keep in balance as they come into a fence. But she is a hell of a good rider, and what she has learnt from those two mistakes at Sydney will stand her in good stead, because the rest of her riding is so classy, really classy. She is open minded and keen to learn. I am sure there have been heaps of people at her since then, but in my view she has analysed it absolutely right, and will have learnt a huge amount from it.”

The pupil – Amanda Ross
Twenty six year old Amanda Ross got her first pony when she was eight years old. Amanda showed her pony a bit but the first and enduring love was eventing. At the end of 1994, she bought Otto Schumaker, who had then had three pre-novice starts. It was Otto who was to take her to the Sydney Olympic Games with a win at the major selection trial, at Lochinvar.

Riding as an individual, Amanda had a mixed competition. Otto was pretty tense in the dressage and performed below his best. Going across country, the pair looked great, except for a little whoopsy at the second water, and then a silly fall at the fourth last fence.

Amanda is determined to succeed, and grabbed the opportunity soon after the Games, to go over the video of the cross country with Lucinda Green, and then to re-inforce the message, took her promising one star horse, Balmoral Ice to both the cross country technique session using showjumps, and the cross country school, the next day.

AMANDA before the cross country school:
Did you manage to get ‘ugly’ in the arena?
“I think I did get uglier than I usually try to be.”

How did that feel?
“I think the theory of ‘don’t lean forward into a jump’ is an essential one. I’m very open to suggestions. Lucinda has always had a very safe way of teaching, and she has always said to you, ‘the name of the game is to get between the flags and do that in the safest possible way, and come home with a sound horse.’ If she suggests this is going to help me, then I’m all for it. I tried it out over the showjumps last night, now I’ll try it over some ‘real’ jumps.”

Safety is the flavour of the month now…

“I think it has to be that way. Horses do have to be very clever, particularly with a young horse if you train it right from the start to be a beautiful jumper with an excellent technique, that is all very well, but if it gets into trouble, and it can’t get itself out of trouble, then it is no use as an eventer.”

And AFTER the cross country…
“Lucinda has been very generous, she has taken the time to dissect my cross country round from the Games, and said, ‘okay, these are the things that I think will help you ride better’. It was interesting watching me ride my other horse, and afterwards she said, ‘you’ve got habits that you have transferred from Otto (Amanda’s horse at the Sydney Games, Otto Schumaker) to Monty (Balmoral Ice, the grey horse Amanda was riding in the lesson) and he doesn’t necessarily need them.”

“Just because Otto is such a strong sort of horse, I’ve probably got used to bracing my whole body against him. I’ve had Otto for six years, and although he is a wonderful horse and has taught me everything I know, he’s not the sort of horse you would use to give someone a lesson on position. He’s not very comfortable or easy.”

“Lucinda pointed out that there were a couple of times on my Olympic round, where I probably needed to get my shoulders back behind my hips, get my weight back, and let my reins go a little bit, she said I was too stiff in my arms. I tried that with Monty and once I trusted the horse and let my rein go, I could feel him jumping a lot more softly, he has a natural ability to jump rounder and softer than Otto, but I think if you go across country with the horse always on a tight rein, then maybe you give out vibes that make the horse gallop and jump tightly, whereas you really need the horse to be very loose and scopey especially when you get into a sticky situation.”

“Monty is quite spooky but then he is careful and will be very elastic and get you over a fence – he is the perfect one for learning how to ride on. He is the one for position because he is very straight forward. I’ve had him for about eighteen months. What attracted me was that he is very flash looking and he is also very easy. I just got on him and he did everything I wanted him to do. It’s been a bit of a pain for him this year, with the other three horses all going advanced, he’s been on the backburner. What he has done he has done very well. I think he has won four starts and placed second in one. He is still pretty green but I think you could do anything with him. He’s got a great attitude, it wouldn’t matter who has him, then he’d adapt to them.”

“Lucinda is great because she has so much experience, and she is still playing the game, commentating all around the world, as a selector for the British team, still riding herself, and teaching all over the world, and constantly watching at the top level. Everyone has their own style, which obviously comes from their physical size and strength and what they have learnt, so it was great that Lucinda could offer some suggestions for someone my size and my ability.”

LUCINDA on teaching Amanda
“Amanda was really pleasing, a terrifically open mind. It is jolly difficult when you’ve got to the heights that she has, to look at your riding and say, something is fundamentally wrong, what is it? Lots of people will have talked to her, and I’m sure she has listened to them all. I said to her at the Olympics if you want to talk over the video when I come back to Australia in a month, come and see me.”

“We did that yesterday. Went over the video tape, had a good laugh, and hopefully one or two things came up in the discussion which may have helped. What was the most helpful thing was seeing her ride over those showjumps yesterday, and not being happy with what was happening, but not quite being able to put my finger on how to help, then today when we went to the cross country course, it was crystal clear – that’s where my eye is better tuned than in the ring.”

“The rigid hands we saw on Otto – because he has a tendency to run away – have become a habit on this horse. As soon as she realised what she was doing – and I suggested she change the bit because he was ducking down so badly in one of those beastly three ring bits. I really don’t like those bits, only one out of ten horses that wear them go well in them, they are much over-used and misunderstood. As soon as we put him in a Dexter circle bit, the horse’s head came up, and I just said to her once, you’ve got to get out of this rigidity of fixing your hands on the horse’s neck, I didn’t have to say any more than that. Ninety nine percent of her riding is really good – there is just one percent that needs a little bit of altering.”

“As soon as she stopped fixing her hands on the horse’s neck, all the rest of her talent just flowed through, and the horse and she just went from strength to strength. It’s wonderful, that’s when I love helping riders at that level, the tiniest thing can just finesse something that is just not going quite right. Provided the rider is open minded and you can have a real analysis and a bit of a laugh about it all, you can usually help someone. Sometimes you can’t and that’s the mystery of the whole thing. In this case, I think it has helped, the proof of the pudding will be how Amanda makes this a part of her own riding.”

“Then the biggest challenge will be once she has become naturally attuned to this way of riding, how she can make it work on Otto, and that is going to be much more difficult, because she has learnt to ride on him – and she has learnt all the good things on him, and one not so good thing, because that was the only way she could deal with him. It would be very interesting to be in the background and watch how she adapts with Otto…”

Bobby Dazzler has been one of those unlucky horses that seems to have a whoopsie when he is just about to do something BIG. It was a relief for Shane Rose to head into the two star at Sydney 3DE with a trouble free preparation for the chestnut Warmblood (by the Contact son, Close Encounters). Four days out from the start of the event, Shane took time out to show what he tries to do in the crucial countdown.

Were there any problems that you needed to sort out?
“This horse is a very spooky horse. He struggles seeing new things for the first time. If I’m going to have trouble with him it will be at a scary fence, one where he’s just not sure he’s going to go, more so than a big fence.”

George Sanna says that’s a Warmblood thing. Warmbloods are visually spooked whereas Thoroughbreds are atmosphere spooked…
“I haven’t ridden that many Warmbloods but of the ones that I’ve ridden, I’d tend to agree with that. Probably the only one that wasn’t was Beauford Miss Dior. She was very Thoroughbred in everything she did. Today with Bobby Dazzler I didn’t use a cross rail – I don’t feel that it helps him produce a shape over a fence all that much. I just jumped a little vertical. I then added a couple of drums underneath that he hasn’t seen on the arena before. I felt that was going to be a little spooky for him and he was a little quick the first time. I rode him a little stronger and a little deeper, a little closer to the fence so that if he backs up, he’s not going to back up so far that it becomes an away distance or a chip. I want to try and get him a little closer until he becomes confident.”

“The first two or three fences I tried to get a deeper distance until I get the feeling that he starts to jump up. What I mean by ‘jump up’ is, jump up through the wither. When he’s spooky, he tends to want to jump low. Some horses jump up in the air, he jumps low and slithers over the fence. To start with I get him deep to make sure that I get the right distance. I’d rather be a little deep than away when he’s spooking at the start. Once he becomes confident to jump the vertical, I would then get the distance more comfortable, maybe with a little more room.”

“I would work on that theory for warming up for show jumping on Monday. I will start to warm up and get him confident in the same way. Once we go into the arena, even though he’s quite tight in front, he’s quite good. If I get him too close sometimes he worries more about his front end and forgets about his back end. If he’s going to spook he goes low and has them down behind. As I go into the arena I will have him a bit strong into my hand, maybe a little more comfortable distance, not away, but with slightly more room than normal. I think of the many horses that are technically good in front, sometimes you tend to keep running them close to the fence because they bring their front end out of the way – quite often this makes them jump worse behind.”

“I then moved on to a little square oxer. On the vertical on both sides I have largish ground rails just to help him with his technique. The oxers I have more boxier, unless I want to get them to use their back end more. Then I’ll try with rising oxers but hopefully I will have done all that schooling in the previous week-and-a-half. Today was just tuning up, getting his muscles working in the right direction and re-affirming his skills.”

“I then started to test lots of different things for show jumping and cross country. I jumped fences, straight lines, curves, jumped fences on an angle. At first I gave him a good look at each approach, made wide turns, got square and as he got more confident, made the turns tighter, gave him less time to see each fence, just to make sure he keeps registering quicker and quicker. When I felt that he was jumping well enough, I introduced some drums.”

“He is generally a very straight horse. I didn’t use an apex today because he’s normally very straight. When you can see a fence and have a good clear approach and he understands what he’s got to do, he’s never run out. On a couple of occasions I have had a glance off of angle rails where I have been a little slack in my preparation and not allowed him to focus on where he is going.”

“I then jumped the drums. I jumped the two drums with a rail on them to start. He was comfortable with that so I jumped him both ways, adding a little bit of an angle. When he was very confident jumping the drums, I then did the same thing I did with the first fence. As I started I got him quite close in front of the drum and as he got more comfortable, gave him a little more room. I then jumped the drums with one stride to an oxer but it doesn’t have to be an oxer.”

“At first I made it very clear where he was going. He jumped that quite well so I went from the oxer to the drum which was probably a little harder on him. He was focussing through the oxer to the drums at the back. The first time we jumped the combination he was panicking and got quick. In cross country when they hit the fences they don’t come down, so I wasn’t unhappy with his careful response. He’s been in trouble recently for not doing that. Although if that had been a show jumping round, he would have had a fence down. But for me, he’s an eventer and it wasn’t a bad reaction.”

“I then jumped the oxer until he jumped it with a bit of shape and roundness. He became careful and got up in the air. As he becomes more confident he is more careful. He’s generally a careful horse and if he has a fence down it’s because he’s not confident, because he’s spooky.”

“When he jumped that quite well I then made it a little tougher. I made it one drum and for him, I put a drum on both sides, a little tight the distance was, about fifteen yards, just a yard short in three strides. I knew he would try to run at it. I wanted to keep a feel of his mouth so that I could keep him straight. Generally with his jumping, I’m not sure if you’ll see it in the photos, I keep a little more contact on his mouth than my other horses. If you soften your hand and let him use the fence to back up, he struggles more with his technique. If I do support him he’s quite good technique-wise, so I generally ride him much more with a stronger contact and keep that contact stronger over the fence. Occasionally, I will soften my hand over the fence just to make sure that he is still keeping a shape. If he does, I know that he’s jumping quite well and confident.”

“Once he jumped that as well as I felt he was going to jump it, I opened the canter up more like a cross country type fence, galloping at the oxers a little. I then changed that up to jumping a couple on the angle, shorter distances, deeper distances, just to make sure that he’s thinking. I don’t want to go to an event having him jumping really well but not knowing that I haven’t tried all these things. He did all that reasonably well and I was happy with him.”

You’re not going to jump him now until cross-country day?
“No, I don’t think so. He’s been jumping really well for the last couple of months. I’m not as happy as I have been in the past with his flat at the moment. He’s only just coming back from a spell for an injury. He’s a horse who, the fitter and stronger he gets, the easier he is to ride. I’m only just getting him fit and strong enough, so I’ll work the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on dressage. He may be doing his dressage on the Friday or Saturday, I’m not sure.”

How much warm up are you going to want before you do your cross country?
“I prepare for the three day events without steeple chase, exactly the same as I would for a one day event. I feel that the reason we got rid of the roads and tracks and the steeplechase was because it made them tired so I don’t believe that tiring my horse out is going to be of any benefit for me. I’ll be on them for about twenty minutes and most of that will be walk. I’ll have a little bit of a canter and a jump after I’ve got on and then I’ll just walk around until I’m ready to go. And then maybe as much for my benefit as them, jump a couple of fences before the cross country. That’s just a general thing with all my horses. With Bobby Dazzler, I’ll probably do a little more jumping just before I go. In the events that I’ve had trouble with him, it has been early on at spooky fences. Courses like Worrigee just recently and Goulburn last year have sunken roads and fences that you don’t see a landing early on. If there’s going to be a fence like that I want to have him feeling as though he’s seen enough jumps and is confident enough to jump if we get something scary early on.”