If one thing is certain in Eventing, or really riding in general, it’s that you don’t have to be of a certain body type to succeed in the sport. If you are a person with a short upper body, long legs, and narrower shoulders than hips, count your blessings because you have the ideal body type for riding. If, along with this body type, you also possess attractive features and blonde hair, you might as well just book your ticket to Hollywood right now and skip the whole horse thing. But, if you are like the rest of us, each with our own physical strengths and weaknesses, riding well simply means learning some coping mechanisms to balance and control your body. Denny Emerson wrote an article for the Chronicle awhile back, in which he talked about the importance of good mechanics in a rider, especially over fences. He said,

“Good technicians don’t leap up the neck, lie on the horse’s neck, look down, or let their lower legs slip back toward the horse’s hipbones. Their eyes and chins are up, their legs are underneath them, their backs are flat, and their hands and arms are allowing the horse to make a bascule over the fence. If the horse were to suddenly disappear, the good riders would land on their feet.”

Denny’s description is textbook for what a good position should encompass, as it defines the essential elements for achieving balance with the horse.

First, as with everything in life, it’s necessary to define what the weaknesses are, in this case conformational ones. Daniel Stewart, a coach of the Paralympic Dressage Squad, wrote a book called Ride Right, where he talked a lot about balance within riders. He even outlined a formula for finding one’s upper-body/lower-body ratio, a vital statistic as far as balance is concerned. He said, “To find the upper body/ lower body ratio, start by measuring your upper body. You’ll need to sit on a table and have a friend measure (in inches) the distance from the table to the top of your head. Once you have this measurement, find the length of your lower body by subtracting from your total height. Then, as the final step, divide your lower body height into your upper body height to find the ratio.” If your ratio is less than 1.1, you have the ideal proportions for balance and riding. If your ratio is between 1.1 and 1.2, you are moderately well built for balance and riding. And if your ratio is 1.2 or above, (que sob soundtrack) according to Stewart, “Riding situations requiring balance may be a little challenging.” The upper body/lower body ratio is important because it helps define where your center of gravity is. Knowing whether you have a high or low center is possibly the most necessary element in achieving and understanding balance. In riding, a low center of gravity is always desirable as it places your balance closer to the horse and comes in very handy in those Thrills and Spills cross-country mishaps. It is also the reasoning behind why it’s preferable to have wider hips and narrower shoulders.

When that information in mind, it then becomes possible to study the mechanics of riding and jumping position, with better understanding of the function behind the form. I’ve found the gallop position to be one of the easiest ways of experiencing the center-of-gravity concept in action. A rider with a long torso and high center-of-gravity will find they have to close the angles of their hip and knee to sustain the proper gallop position, more so than a rider with a low center has to. Even when demonstrated at the halt or walk, the gallop position makes that concept very clear, for if you lose your center, you quickly fall back into the saddle. Another great way to see balancing technique is by watching upper level cross-country riding. All those riders ride in balance, if they didn’t they’d quickly be on the ground, but the way in which they maintain their balance over the terrain and fences is different. For example, William Fox-Pitt maintains his rather high center of balance by staying very close to his horse and the saddle, and folded in his hip and knee angles. When he jumps a fence, those angles don’t change; it’s like his jump position is merely a continuation of his gallop position. Karen O’Connor, who’s shorter than William and has a lower center of gravity, gallops with open angles at the hip and knee, she doesn’t have to lean as far forward because her balance doesn’t force her to. These two riders are examples of the different, but equally effective, positions by virtue of individual conformation.

With a new competition season on the horizon, now is a great time to go back and study those basic but very essential skills. George Morris’ classic Hunter Seat Equitation, although obviously geared towards the hunter/ equitation competitor, is a great book for eventers to learn from as well. He does a great job of illustrating the theories behind the “classical position,” how it puts the rider in the best position to raise their effectiveness and communication with the horse. Training the Three-Day Event Horse and Rider, by Jimmy Wofford, is definitely my favorite training book. I’ve read it cover-to-cover more times than Harry Potter, which is to say a lot.  It’s a great book for every aspect of Eventing, but the cross-country section is especially great as it focuses a lot on the proper gallop position and the balance of the horse on cross-country. Jimmy also wrote an interesting article for EquiSearch last year, in which he wrote about balance at speed, and some common misconceptions that phrase holds.

Here’s to a New Year of better riding from all of us! Happy Reading.

As most of us were either making fattening food for Thanksgiving, or eating the fattening food at Thanksgiving, one of our loyal readers was using the holiday break to refine her dressage skills. You go, Katie! 

Happy Thanksgiving. 

And remember, if you’d like to submit your “ears” photo, send it along with a caption describing it to: [email protected]

Howdy!  That’s how we supposedly say “hello” in Texas.  I am a big fan of Eventing Nation and the “Ears” submissions.  I am sending you my own “ears” taken Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve.  I am a dressage rider and this is my horse, aptly named ‘Red’. We are located just east of Dallas, TX. We decided to take advantage of the windy, muggy 72 degree weather that just screams “happy holidays” and go for a pre-Thanksgiving ride out in the field.  Red and I want to be eventers when we grow up.  He’s in his element when we are riding out and today was no different.  We love walking out towards the pond and checking out the herons, the kingfisher and the odd mallard that make stopovers here. Right after I took this picture, we galloped around for 10 minutes before Red grumpily agreed to go into the ‘sandbox’.  Happy Thanksgiving, EN! 
Go Eventing (and Dressage!)
 
Katie C.
Dallas, Texas

A few days ago, I e-mailed several riders asking them to explain what the Thanksgiving holiday meant to them. It was funny but very fitting that every single response echoed some version of the same phrase: how extremely lucky and blessed we all are to spend our lives with horses and the many people they’ve connected us with. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the mundane, everyday struggles that are present wherever horses are concerned, so much so that we can forget the bigger picture of how wonderful it is to even have horses in our lives. 

I challenge everyone to remember and appreciate all the many things we have to be thankful for this season. Thanks to our riders for taking the time to send us their responses, and as always thank you for reading.

 Go Thanksgiving.

Becky Holder

(Tom, Becky’s husband and Comet’s owner, gets to gallop ride his horse once every year on his birthday)

From Becky: “I am thankful for the friends and family that have stood by me through lameness and victory, and parents and a husband who constantly help me to reach above myself, while always helping me back to my feet when I stumble. I am grateful, in hindsight, for past challenges I have faced in my life, realizing now that those obstacles shaped who I am today and who I hope to become tomorrow. It rocks that my husband just got a new tractor and it’s even better that he likes to do stuff for me on it! I am thankful for the wonderful horses, past and present, that I’ve been allowed to learn from and their owners for trusting me with those horse’s lives.  I am thankful my husband finally let me become 49% owner in Comet and now we are both on his passport! I am seriously lucky to have been chosen a worthy human by my amazing dog “Scrappy Doo.” I am grateful when it rains in Georgia and then ever so grateful for Quicksilver shampoo when it stops. I am blessed to earn a living doing what I love and even more blessed to be able to help others do it too. I hope everyone has a super Turkey Day surrounded by two-and-four-legged family.  — Becky”

Sinead Halpin

From Sinead: “I remember growing up and anytime something did not go as I had planned I would go to my Mom, looking for an explanation or sympathy. Pretty much, like clockwork, her response was, “Come on Sinead, this will build character!”  Later in the tough times she would joke “Come on Sinead, you have enough character, don’t you want to become a librarian!” Not a chance, most of these “character building” experiences have been with a horse, about a horse, or in the quest of a horse.

As a rider by profession, I have experienced frustration and desperation in trying to survive financially in the horse sports, let alone succeed in competition. As a person I have made mistakes and learned lessons the hard way. As an athlete I have broken my body in more ways than I can count. I am so thankful for all of these experiences because they have given me the opportunity to learn, as one can only do through experience and fighting for something that you really want badly. I have had the best moments of my life so far with horses.  I wake up every morning and get to share my life with animals that mirror who I am. From each tear cried, each lesson learned, and each victory achieved the picture gets clearer to me. I am a horse trainer by trade but they have taught me far more than I could ever teach them.

I am so thankful for my horses, and for the people and friends they have brought into my life. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to learn lessons from these animals that are more valuable than anything that can be bought, or any ribbon that can be won. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks EN for making me take a few minutes and appreciate how lucky I am!”

Sara Kozumplik

From Sara: “Dear John and Annie, Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for including this….. I am thankful for Somerset and all of my beautiful horses. Which leads me to the humans that are obsessed with them as well……. their owners! Without their support, through the good times and the bad, I would never be able to do what I love everyday. A good owner is as certifiably a horseman as their rider. Thanks to Chris and Rob Desino of Ocala Horse Properties and Wellington Equestrian Realty, Sean Rameika, and most of all a huge thank you to Edy Rameika who has been my rock over the last 10 years. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Love, Sara”

From Jennie: “Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday simply because I love food and think it’s great to get together and not have the pressure of having to find the perfect gift for everyone! I haven’t been home for Thanksgiving for four years now and that sure seems like a long time.

The thing I am most thankful for is a question that would make a lot of people think! I would have to say that I am most thankful for being able to be making a living at something I truly love doing. There are some specific people that have made that possible, number one being my family who supported me and made it possible for me to get my feet off the ground. Also, the Duttons whom I love working for, the Gardners who own two of my wonderful horses, Doctor Bogenrief who owns Walkabout and saved my old partner Kozmo from colic numerous times. Kozmo now spends his retirement at Estrella Equine in an irrigated field, he is a very lucky boy!

I am thankful for Beth Battel,  who was my first big client here at True Prospect, and for all the other great clients, friends, and supporters I have in my life. Mostly I am thankful for Cooper, who, more than anyone, gave me a shot at being in the top levels of our sport. I miss him very much and am thankful he taught me to not take any moment for granted. Last but not least I am thankful for Ping “Cambalda” for stepping up far more than I could have ever expected. He gave me a lot of hope when things looked down and I know just how lucky I am to have the ride on him. I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving!

See you in 2011

Jennie” 

Boyd Martin

From Boyd: “Thanksgiving day for me in America is always spent the same way.  Racing around the mountains of Unionville, half out of control, jumping post and rail fences with a group of lunatics from the Cheshire Hunt…  Whenever there is a moment to stand still (usually while a rider is trying to re-mount), I take a breath and look around at this beautiful country…  Often at this time I think: How the hell did I get here???  How does a Pony Club drop out from Sydney, Australia end up being a professional event rider, riding in America, with great horses, awesome owners and a good looking wife???  I am not sure what the answer is, but I am very thankful for it!!!”

Chelan Kozak

From Chelan: “First, Canadian Thanksgiving was LAST month. I imagine we celebrate it earlier as winter arrives in Canada far before it arrives in the United States. Which leads to a generally earlier harvest, so the tradition began earlier in the fall. The rest of the Holiday is similar (turkey-food-family) except we don’t have black Friday shopping, and for us Christmas is a way busier family meet-and-greet. I remember staying at my ‘Maryland Mom’ Barbara Wendt’s place one year before Fair Hill and she decided to do up a turkey in honour of Canuck Thanksgiving. It was tough to find a turkey in October. She is certainly one of the things I am thankful for- friends and family! Which leads me to my fab husband. Here is a classic Jason-ism which ties in nicely with the previous fashion post. I brought home a Vanity Fair magazine a few years ago with French first lady and former model Carla Bruni on the cover. Obviously she had on a virgin while blouse (because that’s the natural colour to wear to the barn) buttoned down ‘to there’ with just the right amount of cleavage showing. Carla was reclining on a chaise lounge with a come hither look in her breeches and faux riding boots. Alluring, seductive, perfect hair, etc. Me, ‘what do you think?’ Jase, (without missing a beat in his typical deadpan) ‘That’s false advertising! Those clothes come with a smell and horse/dog hair that is not mentioned in the fine print.’ He has been with me for 15 years, comes to the barn once a year whether he needs to or not, knows the truth about my life, and loves me anyway.

Speaking of my lifestyle, that is what I actually intended to focus on with the writing, but as seems to happen, I got distracted along the way. Of course we are all appreciative of our family and friends. What I most appreciate about my life is that I LOVE my job. Love it. Oh, there are moments, hours and days that I could take or leave, but that’s just life. I am far from wealthy (horses are a great way to almost make a living) but if I had all the money in the world I would still ride horses and teach people to ride. In my brand new fancy truck and trailer with a string of new horses mind you, but the theme would not change. I think that is a pretty big deal and I appreciate the fact that I do what I love on a daily basis. Happy (US) Thanksgiving everyone and safe travels! Maybe we will cook a turkey this weekend in your honour. That is, if there are still some leftover from last month at the grocery store.”

In the last few seasons, it seems a larger more and more eventers have started migrating south for the winter, some leaving even before most birds do! This trend could be progressing for many reasons; the riders’ fears of temperatures below sixty degrees, their want of competitions to go to ten months out of the year, or maybe they just prefer to get the entire farm moved, set-up, and settled before the holidays arrive. Regardless, it makes the many of us still up north wonder what to do for the next few months without a coach and with limited facility usage once the weather really does turn cold, as some don’t go South until the new year, and some don’t go at all.

The cold (pun intended) reality is that without the proper facilities, training an event horse becomes a difficult task. Simply due to the nature of the sport, eventing requires various settings to practice on. In an ideal world, you’d have access to a full-length dressage arena, another flat area with show jumps that’s also large enough to school in, hills with good footing to do conditioning work on but also to practice flatwork on, and an area with various cross country fences. These are the basics, you could go on to include the need for hacking trails, a prepared gallop, and if you’ve recently won the lottery, a swimming pool and hyperbaric chamber. Anyone who has daily access to a dressage arena, course of show jumps, hills, and cross-country schooling should count themselves lucky, but even those lucky individuals are faced with the prospect of limited riding areas once the snow and ice arrives. The question then becomes, how do you improvise and make do with what you have?

As most northerners (myself included) know, if you spend the entire winter schooling in an indoor arena, on the flat with an occasional jump school, you will come out in the spring with a very stale and rusty horse. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to craft exercises that keep your horse sharp and ever progressing up the training ladder, even when you can’t practice outside. Winter is the perfect time to perfect the many varieties of those hateful ground pole/cavaletti exercises, or really any exercise that fits into the category of “simple to understand, difficult to correctly complete.” Every case is different, but those types of exercises will probably improve your horse’s training more this winter, than say, jumping a large show jump course set at competition length distances would. Also, winter can be a good time to improvise and practice certain cross-country obstacles that may have been your nemesis last year. Barrels can be fashioned into corners or skinnies, tarps can be used as ditches, and with careful thought, you can place those fences in a way that best simulates the reaction you’d get from your horse on an actual cross country course. For example, if you were to place a bounce coming out of a corner so it’s late into the horse’s line of vision, you’ll get some version of the “holding” feeling that you’d feel while approaching a bounce into water on a cross-country course. It’s important to remember though, that while certain pieces of cross-country technique can be improved in an arena setting, cross-country is most effectively and safely ridden with pace in the flow of a course. Just be sure appropriate questions are being asked of your horse when you practice cross-country simulations in an arena. 

Another problem that winter presents is conditioning, either in preparation for a late winter season south or an early spring season up north. It’s impossible to correctly and safely condition your horse solely in an indoor arena. You are going to need some outdoor area that has passable footing, and that area really needs to have some form of an incline. Indoor arenas are almost always too small to do canter sets in, and even if they weren’t, having no incline and completely uniform footing wouldn’t produce the hardened and tough athletes that event horses need to be. In most cases, the conditioning dilemma simply means waiting until the ice melts to start conditioning work more intense than the regular arena work your horse has been in up until this point. Just make sure that your horse has been conditioned over a long enough period of time so that, by the first competition, he is truly fit in all structures of his body; heart, muscles, tendons, and ligaments, taking into consideration that the heart is the first structure to gain condition, while the soft tissue structures are the last.

So, Eventing Nation, I’d like to hear your thoughts. What are some of your favorite schooling exercises? Any tips on conditioning with limited facilities? Any other winter words of wisdom?

Go Eventing. Or try this.

Sports psychology is a funny thing–its simple to understand but difficult to put into practice. I am no expert when it comes to the field, but I do find it very interesting. We’ve all seen the really good riders compete in the big, pressure filled competitions, I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that most of them seem to have it all together; completely in control of the horse that is under them and the situation in front of them. Who knows, maybe they are. More often then not though, even the best riders will ride differently under pressure; some for the better and some for the worse. The pressure has to go somewhere.

I think one of the most interesting things to watch in good riders is the different ways in which they react to pressure. Every upper level rider, through the course of their education with horses, will have had to train their mind in some way, to some degree. Some riders will recognize this mental training more as they have had to work diligently to become focused competitors, while others may not realize they have even trained their minds at all. Regardless, every top rider has recognized the way in which they handle pressure and then devised a system for preparing for, and riding in competition accordingly. The art lies, however, in those riders not only handling the pressure, but in using it to their advantage.

There are probably about as many different reactions to pressure as there are different personalities in the world… a lot, however most people’s reactions to pressure seem to, in some way, influence their communication with the horse. Some react by losing control in their body language and becoming loose, sloppy, and not as precise as they would usually be. Others respond by getting tense and impatient in their signals, and “quick” in their sense of rhythm and pace. And still others become overly quiet and frozen in their bodies. All of these reactions affect negatively the most important part in riding, the communication with the horse. If you think about it though, those negative reactions, through training and practice, could be reversed to affect the rider’s performance in a positive way; maybe even enough so to give them an edge on the competition. For example, a person who reacts to pressure by getting quick and impatient could work diligently to channel that pressure-induced energy into creating sharper aids and higher accuracy in their movements, two desirable qualities in competition. My point is that each rider’s individual reaction to pressure, now seemingly a menace to performance, could really become a future key to success. The greatest riders of all time weren’t great because they became mirror images of other great riders; they were great because they had an individuality that made their game special and extraordinary. Instead of viewing pressure as a hindrance to performance, we should be learning how to turn it into an advantage.

With the off-season quickly approaching, it might be worth it to pick up a book about mental training like Mind Gym or In Pursuit of Excellence which were both recommended to me by top riders. Who knows, maybe that extra edge in competition you’ve been looking for could come from simply within your mind.

The Virginia Horse Trials have just come to a conclusion, and with that conclusion sadly comes the retirement of a person that has contributed much to our sport over the past years, dressage judge Lucy Eddins. In celebration to Lucy’s contribution to our sport, she is featured in this week’s view from a horse.  Thanks to Lisa Burnett for sending us this photo, and as always, thank you for reading.

From Lisa:

So a little background on this.  We, the Area 2 Adult Riders, did a fund-raising calendar for the Waredaca Training 3 Day in 2006.  So we stripped nekkid to make money to continue the long format.  Yeah, we’re that nutty. This weekend at the VA Horse Trials, our dear Lucy Eddins retired. The Ross’s put together a retirement dinner at the horse center for her to boot.  And this was her calendar shot.  Definitely a view from my horse.

I woke up this morning feeling bitter. Not the kind of bitterness I feel when two my favorite characters break up on the latest Grey’s Anatomy episode, but the type that occurs when I realize I had another “learning experience” of a show season. The 2010 season is basically over, with Fair Hill taking place a couple weekends ago, and several other one-star and training three-days finishing up just this past weekend. You either had a season where most (or all) of your dreams came true or, if you’re like me, you had a “learning experience” season. I hate that word, learning experience. It basically means that you got better, but you still lost. And I don’t like losing. During this time of year, you will find a lot of tired and crabby eventers. Everyone is worn out from the traveling and competing that has been going non-stop since last January, and it still isn’t even time yet to go home for the holiday break! Most of the horses right now are either on their break or just in light work, so on top of your fatigue and crankiness, you also now have time to reflect on any lackluster competitive results the past year may have held.

The other day I came across a sheet of paper in which, around this time last year, I had written down my goals for the upcoming 2010 season. I had forgotten about some of those goals that back in January I thought were so sure to happen, but through some bad luck and a few mistakes on my part, didn’t. So the year turned out fine, just not the way I thought it would. I think most eventers right now can probably echo some version of that same story. Either through injury to rider or horse, lack of experience, or just too much of a rush to make things happen, we miss out on the goal that was our reason for doing in the first place. But maybe that’s the real value of goals after all, not whether you actually accomplish them but that you keep trying to. Sorry to quote what is quite possibly the cheesiest horse movie of all time in International Velvet, but there is one scene in which the coach of the British team, Captain Johnson says to Sarah Brown, the young star of the team, “In life, the important thing is not the triumph, but the struggle. In other words, not to have conquered, but to have fought well.” Whether we won or lost, we made it through another year. 

After just a few more three-days, the holidays will arrive soon, the 2011 season will draw near, and any feelings of disappointment over last season will be exchanged with the excitement, anticipation, and everything else that the start of a new show season brings. We will all assemble at the first event; rested, happy, and smiling once again, ready to take on another year of challenges that this sport of ours has to offer.  

What kind of year did you have Eventing Nation? 

Last week, I wrote a “Let’s Discuss” post about the importance of foxhunting young horses as it relates to their preparation for future careers in the event world. This week, one of our readers, Kathy, sent us an ears photo taken at the opening meet of the Fort Leavenworth Hunt. Although by reading her caption (and watching the linked video) it’s clear she hunts for the sport of it rather than preparing her horse for eventing, I thought it was fitting nevertheless. Thanks Kathy for sending us the photo and thank you for reading.

Remember, if you’d like to submit your “ears” photo, please send it along with a caption to [email protected]. The photo doesn’t just have to be a scenic shot, it can be of anything you come across while on horseback (Your newly built barn, your pet pig…anything!)

Dear EN:

I thought you might enjoy this fall scenery from the back of my whip horse, Artyme, during today’s opening meet of the Fort Leavenworth Hunt. 

He’s a 10-year-old OTTB that I evented sort of successfully (he’s won at training) before he made it perfectly clear that he’d rather fox hunt than do that dressage thang. In fact, we almost got eliminated when he was expressing this to me in the ring at Lamplight a couple years ago: the judge blew the whistle because she “feared for my safety” (video of that ride is at http://www.clipshack.com/Clip.aspx?key=502042CA34025603).

Turns out, what he really wants to do is whip-in to a screaming pack of hounds and he has developed into a fantastic staff horse. Today, according to the GPS on the iPhone in my breeches pocket, we covered over 12 miles and hit a top speed of 33.6 mph and I must say we both enjoyed every minute of it. I’m delighted he has found his true calling and I event my other horses instead.

Yesterday, I was in the library where I was supposed to be studying for an impending astronomy test, but instead found myself wandering the section of the library containing all the horse books. I guess that’s called procrastination but unless I managed some incredible feat of memorizing 25 constellations in one hour, I figured I was pretty much sunk whether I studied or not. One of the books that caught my eye was an older one entitled “Riding For America”; it was published by the USET a time ago and contained articles by some of the “eventing elite” of the day, including Mike Huber, Torrance Watkins, Jimmy Wofford, and Bruce Davidson; It’s a good book, you should read it sometime. Bruce’s section was titled “Making the Event Horse from Scratch.” I thought he had some very insightful and interesting thoughts regarding the bringing up of event horses. Since this book was published twenty-some years ago, it got me thinking about whether his theories are still relevant to modern eventing, or more to the point, are they even applicable with all the changes eventing has seen over the years.

Even if this was article was the first thing of Bruce’s that you had read, you’d still know he is about as tough as they come. His approach is the same with each–tough yet fair–and every training method he uses has a specific and clear purpose. He stated some of the basic things of bringing up young horses, such as the importance of having them spend their early lives in a field, where they are able to run and interact with other young horses. That time in the field, he believes, teaches them more about their balance than a human ever could. Bruce wrote extensively about the importance of horses getting physically tough and fit when they are young, because that fitness and durability tends to carry on into their later lives. Racing was his primary example regarding that point, which would of course only apply to Thoroughbreds. He also mentioned the importance of foxhunting in a young horse’s education, not only to awaken in the horse its bravery and survival instincts, but also in terms of physical toughening and conditioning. In his words,

“We hunt our horses very seriously. Our four-year olds will hunt one or one-and-a-half days a week. And of course each day’s hunting is considerably more work than a preliminary three-day event. By the end of the season, my four-year olds will probably have done thirty days’ hunting, and that’s a lot. They are fitter than they would need to be to go intermediate or advanced, because we hunt from four to five hours and cover twenty-five miles on the hills.”

 By the young horse programs that I have seen in recent times, the kind of fitness Bruce mentioned above is unheard of. Ex-racehorses, of course, will come off the track very tucked up and fit, but purposely getting a young horse that fit was never something I realized had benefit or was even appropriate in terms of horsemanship. Although event horses may fit into the lower price category compared to a top show jumper or dressage horse, nowadays the top event horses still cost more than an average American’s yearly salary! It seems to me that in today’s current economic climate, most people would view foxhunting their special young horses as having more risk than benefit. At the upper levels, these horses are being trailered regularly to the pool and hyperbaric chamber, not carrying their riders across rocks, mud, creeks, and all other natural obstacles seen in a day of hunting. The recent trend, at least in terms of the professional horse world, is for young horses to be produced literally by the dozens. It isn’t uncommon to see a professional competing between 5-8 novice and training level horses at the same event. In a program of that size, riders simply don’t have enough time to spend with each individual horse to take them hunting, for example. 

So I’m leaving it with you Eventing Nation. Are we as a community slowly losing our horsemanship in an attempt to produce a greater number of event horses? Do traditional activities like foxhunting and racing still have their place in a young horse’s education nowadays? Is having that background even beneficial to horses today when technical skills are often tested on the cross-country course more often than just sheer bravery?

Ready, set, and go eventing.

Even the local hunter riders came out to support our event riders at this year’s WEG. Like gooooo USA!!!

The World Equestrian Games are finally over. I don’t need to add a paragraph in about the feeling of disappointment that’s in the air–we have already heard that enough. And no, I’m not going to write about a newly devised sixth stage of grief, as I think five are plenty and John has them all pretty well covered.

This year’s WEG was a learning experience for everyone involved; riders, coaches, and spectators alike. Yes, our team didn’t win, and that is a major bummer, but we can’t forget about the special, intangible qualities that having the WEG take place at the Kentucky Horse Park. I quote Jimmy Wofford often, as he is a person who knows his stuff, and phrases it in a way that’s either very comical or poignant, this quote in particular is the latter. He wrote a daily blog of his time at this year’s Games for Equisearch and said “My day started at the eventing vet check Wednesday morning. This is one of my favorite parts of a big time event. It takes place early in the morning, up above the infield. Usually there is a mist coming out of the infield on the race course, and if you look closely you can see Might Tango thundering down to the finish of the 1978 World Championships, or Mike Plumb warming up, or Winsome Adante showing his disdain for massive fences. They are all there, if you look into the mist and wait for a minute.” When attending an event that holds so much history, it feels as if you are walking among giants. The Kentucky Horse Park was no exception.

Most of the people reading this will have had about as much say in the choosing of the US team that I did, which is absolutely none. I’ve noticed there has been an awful lot of criticism going around about the management of the US team and even critisism regarding our riders’ management of their horses and their own personal fitness. While it’s great that everyone gets to express their opinions so openly, we need to respect the people that are dedicating their lives to the sport we all love so much. We don’t have to agree with their decisions and methods, but we should at least acknowledge all the things they have done to make our sport better. This goes for our riders, team selectors, coaches, and organizational committees. They didn’t win this time but they are still our team.

Ever since I was a little kid I’ve collected old VHS tapes of various Badmintons, Burghleys, and Olympics; some of them dating back a couple decades ago. When I was younger I used to watch those videos constantly. At the end of each one, the scene was always the same. The winning rider, smiling from ear to ear, wearing their medal, and sitting atop their stunning horse would take their victory lap around the arena while the crowd cheered and the music played. By the time the credits played I was sold; whatever rider had won was my new hero, the person I wanted to grow up to be. As you can imagine, my hero changed quite often! My point is that although everyone loves the winner, there is more to it than that. We should learn to recognize and appreciate good riding. That is something we saw a lot of at this year’s WEG. Go watch any event at any level; you’ll notice that best round of the division is often not the winning round. Event riders practice, train, and compete fiercely to win, but at the end of the day we know it simply won’t happen every time. We are all in this sport because we love it, but mainly because we love the horses. If winning was simply all that mattered to them, they would have taken up driving racecars a long time ago. Same adrenaline rush, but machinery is always more predictable. 

Anyone who aspires to ride at the international level someday should be studying these riders’ techniques; watching what worked, watching what didn’t. My favorite place to watch the show jumping of the big levels at events is beside the in-gate; out of the way but still within earshot of the exchange between riders and their coaches as they exit the arena after their round. You’ll often hear the rider or coach comment about some small, intricate detail of their round that you didn’t even notice watching. It’s a good way to learn. Watch everything, even the way the riders act off horseback, in the stabling area or while coaching a student. It won’t take long before you recognize who you want to act like, and who you don’t.

Strangely enough, the WEG has actually left me feeling pretty inspired. For the team riders, and young riders hoping to one day make a team, their experience at this year’s WEG is only going to light their competitive fire even more. That’s the funny thing about eventing, one day you are fighting for the title at a World Championship, and the next weekend you are fighting to stay in the saddle at the local event where your young horse is acrobatically leaping across the warm-up arena– horses keep the star appeal to a minimum. The only thing for the riders to do now is the only thing they can do; keep practicing, keep refining their skills, keep striving for excellence and developing their relationship with their horse. Our day didn’t arrive this year, but it will come. 

This week’s ears photo is coming to us early as it’s from EN’s friend Doug Payne. Doug is currently in Holland getting set to compete his horse Running Order in the Boekelo CCI*** this weekend, and has generously been providing Eventing Nation with regular updates and pictures of his adventure. Thanks Doug for sending this, and thank you for reading. 

NJ would normally be the location, but today were straight from Holland. This is the access road behind the trade fair and stadium for dressage and xc fences 3-5. We’ve had a peak at a few, but we are not allowed to walk the xc until Wed.

The weather here has been beautiful. Certainly cold enough in the am (mid 40s) but then mid 60s without a cloud in sight in the afternoon.

Monday was spent in search of SIM cards and chargers for everyone’s phones.

The horses had leisurely walk this morning through what looked exactly like the enchanted forest or maybe the Smirf’s backyard. They then went out this afternoon for some long and low/ light flat work. In barn inspections were also completed.

D

This week’s “A View From My Horse” entry comes to us from Idaho. Those mountains must make for some pretty neat riding! Thanks Jeanine for writing, and as always, thank you for reading.

Not Woodburn

Like any good horseman knows, in order to become a better rider, it is necessary to not only practice riding in itself but also to watch and study the techniques of other good riders. One of the things I find most interesting to watch is the different methods upper level riders use when it comes to jumping, more specifically to seeing a stride. Seeing a good stride or distance to a fence means the rider has put their horse at the most optimal place to jump the fence well. If you have ever attended a Grand Prix show jumping competition, or even an Advanced level horse trial, you will know what I mean when I say that almost all of the horses seem to canter around the course and leave the ground in the seemingly ideal place every time. To the untrained eye these horses and riders seem to have perfected the art of seeing a distance. The more one watches though, it becomes evident that even at the highest levels horses will have to jump both from slightly deep and slightly long distances. In other words, even the greatest riders won’t see the perfect distance 100% of the time. Each rider has his or her own way of keeping their pace and rhythm to the fence. Some count down from a certain number, some count up, and some don’t count at all but rather feel the distance. A coach once told me that ever since she started to see a stride consistently, each time she approaches a fence she hears the melody to a certain song being played in her head! These methods allow the rider to know where they are in the approach to a fence, good riders will know several strides out whether they are long or short, and then can adjust their stride accordingly.

The difference between a “miss” for a horse jumping an Advanced level course to one jumping a Novice level course is simply the degree. If you watch lower level show jumping at an event, it won’t be long before you will see a horse leave an entire stride out in a combination and take off long, or do the opposite and put a very short “chip” stride in before the fence. As the jumps are raised, the margin for error narrows and a “miss” becomes a matter of mere inches. It is really then when it becomes crucial that the horse be placed at a good distance to jump the fence from.

Many trainers, especially at the lower levels, preach that the only thing needed to produce good jumping is having a quality canter. A quality canter involves having enough impulsion or “engine power” while maintaining a step in an even rhythm without getting “quick”. As it relates to the lower levels, this does seem to be all that is needed to keep both the horse and rider safe and out of trouble. Horses, being the kind creatures that they are, generally seem to help their riders out more often than not. It makes me smile to see an amateur’s horse cantering around a cross country or show jumping course with an “It’s alright Mom, I can fix it attitude” happily readjusting their stride to jump each fence and continue on their way.

I’d like to hear everyone’s opinions. Do you think it’s important for riders at the lower levels to practice developing their eye? Should they only be concerned with having a good canter? Or do those two things go hand in hand?

This week’s A View From My Horse entry is from one of our younger readers. For her age, she is certainly learning a lot about the realities and heartbreak of having horses!