The Aiken Training sessions seem to be extremely popular among spectators, and we expect several reports to follow. Here is the first one to whet your appetite. EN would like to thank Megan Moore of Team CEO Eventing for sharing this report of the Monday morning session. It sounds like it was fun to watch! Thanks for writing, Megan, and thanks for reading!
Boyd and Neville, photo by Lee Lee Jones
From Megan Moore:
The Aiken training sessions today played host to Lauren Hough coaching, with the added bonus of input from Captain Phillips. There was a huge turnout of spectators, and despite the breeze and chill in the air, everyone was consistently murmuring approval and enjoyment at watching these great horses jump.
The theme of the day included courses with one skinny on the short side, and an outside line of 4 strides of verticals that also incorporated very big cross poles balanced on the standards. The centerline had a bending line of oxers, and the other outside line featured a triple to an oxer. Fascinatingly in the triple, all poles were square except one which was round but wrapped in bubble wrap.
Boyd and Otis, photo by Lee Lee Jones
First up, Boyd jumped Otis and Phillip on his first horse. (I’m afraid I can’t tell the difference between Mighty Nice and Ben–he rode them 1st and 2nd, but I’m not sure in which order). Lauren helped Boyd with his already excellent position, because he is so tall she had him focus on being incredibly quiet with his body. At first the correction was to avoid being ever so slightly too far forward, then slightly too far back, and finally perfectly in the middle. It is such an incredibly subtle concept, but since he is so tall he has to be so impressively perfect with his upper body, and he definitely succeeded. For Phillip, once his horse had a few hard rubs, she encouraged him to ride down the triple and loop his rein on each takeoff, referencing what she did with this horse the last time she rode him. She encouraged Phillip to let the horse learn, and he responded by jumping beautifully and absolutely exploding off the ground with overwhelming power.
In the second group, Boyd rode Ying Yang Yo and Phillip had his second horse of the day. Ying Yang Yo is a surprisingly unorthodox jumper. Lauren used a placing pole, first before the fence and later 18′ after the fence, as she commented that he works too hard before takeoff and after landing. Phillip’s horse was given guide poles on the ground to focus on straightness.
In the third group, Boyd and Phillip brought out their big guns, with Neville and Mystery Whisper, respectively. Both horses enjoyed the brisk air while warming up, spooking and playing. Phillip used flying changes down the long side and counter canter to help his horse focus in warm-up. The crowd really enjoyed watching these two jump, and collective giggles could be heard in Neville’s warm-up as he played in mid-air, stretching out like superman a couple of times over small oxers to play. Everyone enjoyed his enthusiasm. Lauren repeatedly mentioned, “Because you know each other so well…” Neville was jumping his heart out and barely touching a thing, and I think that the session ended with both coach and rider very pleased with the day’s work. Phillip and MW are obviously a new combination, and MW has an incredible front end with absolutely classic form. Lauren helped Phillip to focus on the idea of riding this horse leg to hand, as well as riding him more fluidly. They improved notably by the end of the ride, and Lauren commented that she was pleased with the day’s improvement. Boyd notably patted each horse he rode today, and had a bit of a conversation with Neville while riding, including telling him “easy fella” down the triple, to a bit of a giggle from the audience.
We only stayed for the morning session as we had our own horses to ride, but it was a great morning to watch some great horses, who hopefully have big things to come in 2012!
