Maggie and her Thoroughbred Divine Comedy are headed to the Fair Hill CCI2* on Oct. 15-19 for their fifth attempt at a CCI2*. This is their second year at Fair Hill, and they are looking for redemption after a temper tantrum in dressage last year left them just barely over the qualifying score of 75. Follow along as Maggie brings you a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most prestigious events in North America.
Final gallop at Nelson's Hill!
One of the best things that has resulted from my move to Philadelphia has been the increased availability of hills for gallops. When I lived in Texas, everything was flat. Flat, flat, flat. As a result, we spent a lot of time running intervals for our gallops, working up from 2 x 5 canters at the beginning of the season to 3 x 8 gallops by the end. Usually these were preceded by a 10-20 minute trot, so there was quite a bit of pounding on his joints.
Here in Unionville, we have access to three stages of hills. The first was the polo hill, which Dante and I began in August. The polo hill was a short but steep hill only a ten minute hack away, and we could gallop up it in about forty seconds. Dante learned very quickly that he got to GO when we hit the bottom of the hill, and it tended to be a game of how quickly we could get turned around before he shot off like a cannon.
The polo hill was great when he was making the transition back to event horse after spending all summer as a dressage pony. Within a couple weeks, the fat melted off and the fit thoroughbred emerged. We did the polo hill until three runs up was easy.
Next came Green Gate, a three stage hill that is right across the road from Plantation Field. Green Gate is on established loam, so never really got hard even when dry. It begins with a sharp but short incline, levels out for about ten strides, then shoot up sharply again before ending with a gradual pull. A full run from bottom to top was perhaps a minute long.
Dante began doing Green Gate about two weeks prior to Plantation, eventually running three times up it.
The final locale is the famous (or perhaps infamous) Nelson’s Hill. Dante has been running up that one since just before Morven, but due to work conflicts, I haven’t been able to do his gallops myself. Yesterday was the first time I was able to take him myself, and it was absolutely amazing.
When I was younger, I wanted to be a jockey. I love eventing dearly, but sometimes I find a flat-out gallop as exhilarating as any cross country round. Nelson’s Hill gives me that. From bottom to top, it’s about three minutes, and the horses can pull as hard as they like up it. It’s a strong enough incline that it’s difficult for them to reach their full speed, but can still move swiftly up it.
We ran up it twice, with me grinning the whole way. Fair Hill is up next, but I probably had just as much fun flying up Nelson’s.
