The PHC meeting was a full house, with Jon Holling and Jonathan Elliott in charge

Professional Horseman’s Council: Jonathan Elliott, of Aspen Farms in Washington, will be taking over for Jon Holling as chair of the Professional Horseman’s Council at the end of the year. Jon has been a brilliant president, but I think he feels more than anyone that Jonathan will bring a fresh energy and enthusiasm to the council.

Jon Holling started the meeting by saying that the blessing and the curse of the PHC is that it is all-inclusive. This can make it hard to get things done, so Jon Holling said that they are planning to take nominations for an official working group of 7 members to help make decisions along with Jonathan Elliott. He also mentioned the hopes of becoming an official committee. The PHC formed an informal working group last year, and the nominations signal a formalization of the working group this year.

Rider Rep Feedback Form:

The first item discussed is the PHC rider rep feedback form for events. The 2012 response rate was just 45%, and one of Jonathan Elliott’s challenges will be getting more participation. Jon Holling stressed that the forms have been a great tool for improvement and that even organizers who are opposed to the form are trying to help make the form better.

Footing Management:

Last year the PHC started a footing management program, which is still in its infancy. The PHC has two potential paths to go from here– paying for testing equipment vs funding footing improvement. First, we could take footing measurements from instruments through all the areas and gather data. The alternative is to try to provide equipment such as aerators to improve footing (rather than just to test). The testing equipment would cost $8,000-$12,000 for all areas. According to Jon Holling, providing just one aerator to each area would cost as much as $150,000.

Phillip chimed into the discussion by saying that even the discussion about the program over the past year has led to positive results. Phillip also said that he felt we could get by with a few aerators specifically targeted. Marilyn Payne raised the issue that you can do all the testing you want but if you don’t have a path to improvement the testing is pretty worthless. Phillip also suggested that one route might be to bring a footing expert in to meet with organizers and educate them on what they can do to improve the footing. Jonathan Elliott raised the excellent point that footing is super important but not always the most noticeable improvement, sometimes events decide to pay for new jumps rather than footing improvement.

Course builder Travers Schick stood up and said that measurements of soil impaction and moisture depend on many factors and different events can have many different types of solid–he didn’t feel that testing was worth the cost because there are so many variables. Phillip responded by saying the testing route is more about bringing awareness to each event about the quality of their footing. Marilyn Payne proposed that if on the rider rep or TD evaluation forms the footing is rated really low, the USEA is automatically triggered to contact the event about helping with footing awareness. Phillip said that ultimately footing changes will be caused by riders voting their preferences with their entries. Richland put an emphasis on footing early in their development and now they are packed with entries.

More FEI Qualification Rule Discussion:

As Jon Holling said, the reality is that this is happening and we just need to figure it out. Robert Kellerhouse came up to the front to address the FEI rules since he sits on the relevant FEI committee. I have to say that each time Robert explains the rules they make a little more sense–a tribute to Robert’s ability to communicate. Once again, I’ll present this just as it was discussed in the meeting, but I have to say it made a lot more sense than in the Technical Committee meeting.

Robert explained that there is a new group of riders under FEI qualification rules called “uncategorized riders.” Most of us are uncategorized riders. He said that the one major change for those of us who fall under the category is that as an uncategorized rider’s qualification rules is that you have to qualify at each level as a pair with each horse. Like the past, you need a CCI at the level below qualifier and a CIC at the level of the CCI you are targeting, but now you need a clear round at either the CIC or the CCI and you can have a stop at the other, rather than being able to have the stop at just the CIC and needing to be clear in the CCI. Robert said that in theory it doesn’t make sense to have the most experienced rider (William Fox-Pitt, for example) qualify the same route as the least experienced rider.

As a result, there is also a new category called “categorized riders.” For categorized riders, you can be a member of a given category based on if you have 20 “international qualifying results” at a given level (CIC or CCI) over the past 8 years. An IQR is a result with the combination of 75 pts or better dressage, a clean XC with less than 90 seconds over time (120 for 4*), and 16 faults or less in SJ. As for whether past results with 20 penalties on XC will count as IQR’s, that all depends on whether they were qualifying results in that year of FEI rules (the rules have changed a few times in the last 8 years). Moving forward they have to be all clear.

If you are a member of any given category then you can buy a horse at that level or lower and you don’t have to go back and requalify at every level with the horse and the horse doesn’t have to be qualified all the way up to that level (uncategorized riders would have to go back up through the ranks with the new horse). For example, assuming that Phillip is a category A rider, he can buy a 4* horse and compete at the 4* level without having to go back and requalify at each level (which an uncategorized rider would have to do). A category B rider would have to go back to the three-star level and get a qualification. An A rider could start a new horse at a higher level more quickly as a result of their higher category status.

Hugh Lachore pointed out that the number one rider in the world, Michael Jung, would currently be a category B rider under the new system–that sounds pretty absurd. Jon Holling also pointed out that one effect is that owners who want to move a horse up through the levels quickly will target A & B category riders because they can move horses up the top levels more quickly. Robert said that the new system isn’t perfect, but it is a step forward in his mind.

Max Corcoran spoke about the Horsemanship Taskforce and mentioned the importance of using lower level three-days to educate the lower levels as well as increasing the number of educational seminars at future USEA conventions and the AECs. As Max moves onto life beyond OCET she will have more time to focus on building these initiatives–good news!!

Go eventing.

David O’Connor’s open seminars to the US high performance program continued at the Broadmoor on Thursday at lunch time.  In contrast to the morning session, which focused on higher level concepts of program development theory, David’s lunch session focused on technical riding concepts.  David has the most developed architecture of riding technique theory of any coach I have ever worked with and it showed today.  The lunch session featured a few open discussions, and even the use of a marker on a large piece of paper for David to draw diagrams.  David is perhaps most comfortable as a coach when communicating about technical theory and it really showed today.  My notes from the open forum below.  As always, these are meant to capture the key points rather than being comprehensive.

At the end, expert eventing dressage “O” judge Marilyn Payne stood up and said that this is the best lecture she has ever heard on dressage in all of her years listening to dressage lectures.

Position:

Three parts of the body — From below the knee to the foot: That’s the gas pedal, that provides the energy.  Above the knee to below the rib cage: This whole part is your seat because you can’t move any one part of this system without moving another part of this system.  Shoulders up: This part is about turning and the use of weight

Use of hands — The most important part of riding is “the give.”  A person who is tense with the hands makes a horse with a tough mouth and loses the ability to give and reward the horse.

Communication:

Pressure and the release of pressure.  David explained that good communication is simple communication, especially with young horses.  Ask a horse to do something with pressure then reward them with the release of pressure.  It’s so simple yet so important.

The Training Scale:

Editor’s note: If you ever take a lesson from or have a clinic with David, know this scale.  There’s a decent chance he will put you on the spot and ask you about the training scale.

1) Rhythm: Clear definition of the gaits.  The two easiest gaits to lose the rhythm are the walk and canter.  David noted that we should stay away from horses with a natural “four beats or more” to the canter–it’s really hard to fix.  Trying to collect too early in a horse’s development can lead to four beats.  David did not address my favorite gait for approaching fences–the tranter.  I swear you can’t miss a spot in the tranter.

2) Looseness/suppleness: The head and neck is a natural counterbalance for the horse.  David asked “if you put a horse loose in a roundpen and have them canter around the neck goes to the outside.”  When you can change the way a developing horse uses its feet, then and only then can you change the bend.  This proper progression lets the horse stay loose and supple.

3) Contact/acceptance of aids: David said that quality of contact is a big issue in the US right now.  We get nailed on bad contact when we go to Europe.

4) Implusion: The desire to go forward over the back of the horse.  David said that the expression “my horse is not in front of my leg” is very overused.  He pointed out that impulsion is 4th on the pyramid and lack of impulsion is often caused by holes in the development.

5) Straightness: Horses need to be able to push evenly and straightly behind.  It’s a progressive scale that leads up to straightness and beyond…

6) Collection: David stressed that collection is last and only comes when all 5 previous levels have been mastered.

Frames:

Stretching: dressage gymnastics, long and low frame.  Dressage gymnastics is about stretching the neck of the horse from the wither, not over-flexing the poll.  David is a big believer in stretching and dressage gymnastics because it builds the strength of the horse’s back.  David said that one of the most athletic things a horse can do is collecting and lengthening while stretching.  If dressage gymnastics is not done correctly then it causes problems.  The easiest test if you are doing dressage gymnastics wrong is if you put your hands forward and the horse doesn’t stretch into it.

David said that you have to be careful with a show frame because show frames can be false.  He said a good show frame involves great communication because the biggest competitions involve big challenges to communication (such as a large crowd).

Definition of throughness: “Throughness bridges training scale.”  Throughness has to do with quality of contact, impulsion, and straightness.  David stressed that “throughness” should not be a dressage-only term.

The Half-Halt:

The beginning of the half-halt is to change the length of the stride.  Then it becomes a rebalance.  Then it is to increase cadence.  David says the half-halt aid is in the seat, which is why he teaches half-halt at the rising trot–this instills the idea of changing cadence by lifting the seat (even in sitting trot).

Lateral Work:

The difference between leg yield and shoulder-in is the bend.  A leg yield has four tracks because the hind legs and front legs cross.  In the shoulder-in the hind legs don’t cross.  The key to shoulder-in is that the horse’s hips stay in line.  Leg yield is a stretching exercise, it increases engagement (the ability to take a big step), it is not a a weight-bearing exercise.  Shoulder-in puts the hind leg under the stomach, that is a weight-bearing exercise.  Other lateral work movements: shoulder-fore, pirouette in walk, working pirouette (in canter).  David stressed starting the pirouette with just 90 degrees, then walk out–don’t let the horse get stuck, almost extend the step out to keep them moving.

Changing the Lead:

Simple change through the trot (change canter leads).  David said that many upper level horses lose the ability to do simple changes through the trot.  For simple changes through the walk, David stressed that the key to a good movement is having a good canter before asking.  Then David moved onto discussing flying changes.  He said that changes are about controlling the hip–as soon as you lose the hip you will get late changes behind.  Teaching proper control of the hip starts with the simplest changes early in development of the young horse.

Halt:

As a rider you have to make sure that your horse is comfortable at the halt.  If they get nervous, walk forward, “give them a place,” and then do it again.

David stressed that you should always practice above your level of showing.

Corners:

David said that in the US people try to ride their corners too fast and too hurried, getting their horses off balance and requiring a stride of recovery on the exit.  He teaches the five step corner and said that one of the biggest things to work on with a top horse is making the horse come out of the corner coiled and ready for the next movement.  When you go into a corner at the trot the horse has a tendency to release out to the outside in the deep part of the corner, and then you come out trying to recover.  David said that sometimes with younger horses he will ride a more shallow corner to keep them with the outside aids and not the rail.  I’ve never heard the importance of corners described so well as in this seminar.

Definition of Cadence: Lift, an element of suspension.  You have to get the horse where he/she carries himself more, then you have cadence.

The three jumping positions: two point, half seat, full seat.  David said that beginning riders can do a lot more two point because it builds strength and balance.

David explained that top eventers tend to use more hands than top show jumpers because top show jumpers have huge strength in their backs.  He stressed the importance of keeping still hands and using the back so the horse learns how to pay attention to the rein aid.

What do you need to jump a fence?  Direction, speed, rhythm, quality of canter (impulsion), balance, and timing.  Timing is the ability to recognize the distance relative to the length of stride of the canter.

David said that 6 or 7 strides is a tough line because 6-7 strides is just enough time to panic.

David ended the talk by saying “You can do this, it’s achievable, but to achieve this you have to study.  You have to be a student.”  This is going to be a fun next four years, folks.

Much more from Colorado soon.  Go eventing.

The beautiful Broadmoor lake

Let me start this post with a few details that I won’t mention nearly enough this weekend.  First and foremost, I want to thank our wonderful USEA hosts.  Eventing in the United States is led by a team of amazing people who work incredibly hard and deserve all of the recognition and thanks that we can give them.  This year the USEA has brought us to the beautiful and palatial Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  The bathroom floors are heated, so you know it’s an awesome place.  I also want to thank Area IX for hosting the convention.  We don’t make it out to Area IX nearly enough, but just a few hours in Colorado convinces me that I want to come back as soon and as often as possible.  I can’t imagine a more beautiful setting for eventing and my only regret is that we will spend most of the next three days indoors.

My reports from the convention are most often written from within the meeting themselves.  Please forgive the typos, downright confusion on my part at times, and terrible pictures that are sure to head your way all weekend.  Major thanks to Visionaire and the entire EN Team for holding down the fort back at headquarters.  For a preview of the convention, be sure to check out Jenni’s post from Wednesday.

I suppose I can’t delay writing about rules any longer, so here we go…

Chaired by Malcolm Hook, the Technical Committee is a USEF committee responsible for recommending the rule changes that govern our sport to the USEF Board for approval.  They don’t put rules into law, so to speak, but they make the recommendations that shape what rules become laws.  I won’t pretend to understand half of the nuances that the committee debates, but I am, as always, left with a tremendous respect for the committee members who volunteer their time to help our sport sort out the complicated details that make our competitions possible.

Committee Chair Malcolm Hook was kind enough to open the meeting by expressing my sentiments exactly “Thank you everyone for attending the open part of this meeting.  By the time we get to the fourth rule change you will wonder as much as we do why we are still in this meeting.”  If you make it through the sixth paragraph of this post then you deserve an official EN medal.

I was thrilled to see committee member Karen O’Connor in attendance and contributing to the meeting.  Samantha has done an amazing job reporting on Karen’s fall and recovery, and Karen is one of the toughest riders I have ever known, so it was no surprise to see that she made the trip to Colorado.  Karen is one of eventing’s true rider-leaders and we are very fortunate to have her here this weekend.

The meeting started with a run-through of a discussion of various smaller rule changes including, for example, a new parameter for which judges are allowed to judge which level.  Then the excitement started.

Reversing the one fall rule for beginner novice and novice:

Malcolm Hook mentioned that whatever happens this weekend with the one fall rule, we need to avoid the controversy and mess of last year caused by disunion within the Technical Committee and disapproval by the USEF Safety Committee.

The proposed rule change is posted on the USEF website, with a noted change below:
EV141 Cross Country Scoring [CHAPTER EV-3 Rules for Horse Trials] change to read:
1. b) Falls –
(1) First fall of competitor Elimination (RF) (Beginner Novice, Novice and Training) 65 Penalties
(2) First fall of horse Mandatory retirement. Second fall of competitor (Beginner Novice, Novice and Training) Elimination (RF)
(3) First fall of competitor (Preliminary, Intermediate and Advanced) Elimination (RF)
(4) First fall of horse Mandatory Retirement
*to facilitate accurate administration of EV105.3 (Loss of Establishment) Competitor Falls
will be denoted as “RF” on official score sheets and results.

NOTE: The rule change introduced before the Technical Committee open session today had already been revised in the committee to stipulate that the beginner novice or novice rider has to land on his or her feet to be allowed to continue.

As a bit of history, at the USEA Convention last year, the USEF’s Eventing Technical Committee decided to postpone their vote on modifying the one fall and out until their January 2012 meeting at the USEF convention.  During their meeting at the USEF convention, the Technical Committee narrowly voted to move the rule change forward but with a significant modification to the rule discussed at the USEA Convention–the rule change allowed riders at any level to continue after one rider fall under certain circumstances rather than just riders at beginner novice, novice, and training level as was discussed at the USEA convention.  The revised rule narrowly passed the Technical Committee but was voted down by the USEF Safety Committee.  The rule went on to the USEF Board (without the ability to be re-worded).  Ultimately the USEF Board Members, particularly non-eventers were uncomfortable making the change considering that we eventers apparently couldn’t even make up our minds.  The eventers pushed to have the USEF Board vote up and down, so the USEF Board voted it down.

Malcolm asked that if the Technical Committee reaches an impasse this year, like last year, that he would have the power to withdraw the rule change before it goes to USEF Board.  A clear consensus, and perhaps the only consensus of the meeting was that eventing needs to present a unified front to the USEF Board for the rule change to have any chance.  I’ll present points made by committee members during the debate as best I can.

Mr. Hook stated that he is opposed to repealing the one fall and out rule because, with emerging research on traumatic brain injury, he doesn’t believe there is any such thing as an inconsequential fall.  He said that all of the experts who have been consulted said that everyone who falls off needs to be evaluated.  Of course this is a challenging thing to do in eventing while the cross-country is in action.

Former US coach Mark Phillips said that his understanding is that allowing riders to get back on is about training the horse and that if we aren’t going to allow it for the upper levels we shouldn’t allow it for the lower levels.

Robert Kellerhouse said that having a separation of rules between levels creates confusion and doesn’t always make sense to competitors.  He mentioned a personal case of his wife falling off in the warmup and having a delayed onset concussion.

Former USEA President Baumgarnder said that he has concerns about how we are trying to make more and more complicated rules for safety.

Allison Springer, who was auditing the meeting, spoke up and said that we all accept the inherent risk of the sport and that you can’t legislate rider safety.

Malcolm Hook said that more and more sports around the country are changing how they treat traumatic brain injury.  He is worried that we might take a step back in safety by stepping back on the one fall and out rule.

Robert Kellerhouse mentioned that this discussion is for the (roughly) 95% of people who are fine and want to get back on.  Clearly, we all want to stop a concussed rider from getting back on to a horse.  He said we need a better plan to reengage riders who fall off rather than just letting potentially concussed riders back on a horse.  Mr. Kellerhouse seems to be in favor of allowing riders who fall off to be evaluated and then allowed to school the course after they have been confirmed to be uninjured.

USEA President Sabo said that this rule will have to go through the USEF Safety Committee and he said the USEF Board will absolutely NOT pass the rule change unless the Safety Committee approves it.  President Sabo said that there’s no way a full change of the rule will pass the USEF Safety Committee, so from a political standpoint the only hope for this rule change passing the USEF Board is to pass the partial level version.

President Baumgardner said that it’s important that we can discuss safety issues without letting every claim for safety take over and dominate the issue.  He said (and I completely agree with this) that in many ways eventing runs in contrast to cultural norms in this country.

A member from Area IX stood and proposed making the rule change apply to to the lower levels only for falls where the rider lands and remains standing.  Malcolm Hook mentioned this was a very reasonable proposal.

Outgoing USEF President David O’Connor said that it is really rare for the USEF Board to not follow the advice of individual sports.  He said that the USEF Board is a reasonable arbiter for rules because one of the major things it considers is the unity of a sport.

Carol Kozlowski of the USEA Safety Committe said that there’s a big disconnect between the membership of eventing and our governing bodies.  Most of the USEA’s constituency is comprised of lower level riders and Carol said our sport needs to listen to them.  As an editorial note, EN polls last year and earlier this year consistently showed that the membership is in favor of letting riders get back on.

Again, Malcolm Hook asked that the motion include that if the USEF Safety Committee doesn’t approve that Malcolm can withdraw it before going to USEF Board.  Malcolm Hook is also the chair of the USEF Safety Committee.

The formal wording of the motion that was put forth included that the beginner novice and novice riders who fall must land on their feet “and with no apparent injury” to be able to continue on.  All other levels would be immediately eliminated for any fall.  The motion also included giving Malcolm, as Chair, the authorization to withdraw the rule proposal before it goes to the USEF Board if the USEF Safety Committe votes it down, thus avoiding the disunion of January.

The vote on the motion was approved by a large margin.  Malcolm Hook, Jon Holling, and Robert Kellerhouse were the only members of the committee who voted against.

FEI Qualifications:

This rule situation is as complicated as it gets.  It seemed like the goal of the Technical Committee discussion was to help members of the committee understand the new qualifications better.  We are all on a journey together trying to figure out what the heck is going on with the new FEI qualifications and I’ll try to provide as much information as I can get regarding the qualifications throughout the convention.  The Eventing Committee has asked the FEI to delay implementation of the new qualification matrix until 2014.  [Qualification Changes PDF]

I write the below fully understanding that it will probably make things seem more complicated.  I’m just trying to convey some views expressed in the Technical Committee, not give a full description or clarification of the qualification changes.

Derek Di Grazia started by trying to describe the qualifications.  The FEI has chosen to only use FEI competitions as qualifying competitions.  In the past if you had 20 penalties at a CCI, you could still use that as a qualifying result.  Now, for the most part you need to have clear XC rounds.  However, where there are two FEI requirements, one can have a stop and the other needs to be clear.  Robert Kellerhouse clarified that the attempt from the FEI was to make the rule more liberal.  For example, allowing a rider can now have 20 at either their CCI2* or CIC3* before their CCI3*.  Riders who are categorized only need one qualification to move up and that result should be clear.  One nuance is that, categorized riders can jump out into the uncategorized rider list if they have an issue getting qualified.

The FEI qualifications for uncategorized riders have to be done as a combination of horse and rider.  This is a new thing and a big change.  Derek mentioned he and David are opposed to this, for example when an uncategorized rider goes out and buys a 2* horse it might not make sense for them to have to go back and do a 1*.  Mr. Kellerhouse said that the push for licensing riders comes from wanting to divide riders based on skill/experience.

Questions still include what happens when a rider has done one four-star and is uncategorized goes out and buys a top four-star horse?  The FEI rule committee didn’t want the pair to be able to go to a four-star immediately.  Robert Kellerhouse mentioned that this next year, with no major international team competitions, will be a great chance to figure out the nuances of these new FEI rules.  Many committee members, including Jon Holling, were really frustrated at the short time frame the FEI has given on the implementation of the rules.

One committee member excplaimed “we might as well cancel Young Riders right now and save the money.”  Another change is that the new qualifications are good for life, rather than having a time limit.  According to Roger Haller, if you are an uncategorized rider the qualification rules are the same except that you have to qualify horse and rider together…which is a big change.

For more clarity on these rule changes, please open up a quantum physics textbook and begin reading.

Much more on rules throughout the weekend.  Go eventing.

Incoming US eventing coach David O’Connor held an open, but unpublicized US high performance seminar at 8am Thursday morning at the 2012 USEA Convention, where he presented his vision for the future, specifically directed at the high performance athletes. The seminar focused on specific techniques and principles that high performance riders need to adopt to make them successful.  Needless to say the meeting was extremely well attended by the high performance riders of today and the future.  My guess is that this was the kind of meeting that you either attend or don’t plan on being part of the program.

The seminar  stuck me as, most of all, evidence that US eventing high performance is changing before our very eyes.  A public meeting held by the coach?  Clear principles presented to the riders based on scientific principles, technology, and lessons learned from other sports?  Openness?  Where has this kind of thing been?

David projected confidence, command of the topic, and ambition to get the US to the top.  The meeting was very serious, but there were a few moments of humor from David to keep the riders engaged.  As someone who has spent a fair amount of time ranting about US eventing high performance leadership, I found David’s seminar was an incredibly welcome, and very tangible step in the right direction.  I can only describe the meeting as a fresh of breath air.  Also, there was no breakfast.

To set the scene, David used a projector and powerpoint to guide the seminar while we all sat in chairs in the ballroom.  Note pads were out for about half of the riders.  I don’t know that this year’s convention will feature a more important or instructive meeting, so hopefully I do it justice.  Below are my notes from the seminar, typed while it was in progress.

David started the presentation with a discussion about how eventing needs to pay more attention to how other sports work.  He first mentioned the developmental systems within soccer, rowing, and other sports including developmental high school systems and scouts.

He said that he has spent time looking at other National Governing Bodies.  He rhetorically asked how much time soccer and football players spend in the classroom with a whiteboard learning as an example of something that helps other sports to thrive that eventing doesn’t take advantage of.  His point was that we need to be open to learning from what makes other sports successful.

Self assessment is critical, including strengths and weakness as well as goals.  Wanting to be an Olympian is different than wanting to be #1 in the world.  Being the former doesn’t by any means mean you will be the later.  Being the later means that you will almost surely be the former.

What does it take to the top?
1) Ambition — Ambition is the driver.
2) Intelligence/emotional control — You need intelligence because you need to figure out the game to beat the game.
3) Technique
4) Selecting Appropriate Horses — In the horse/rider importance scale, the horse is most important
5) Horse Management/time management — Competitors have to set aside time for just them and the horses. He said he doesn’t believe this is all day, and that he understands riders have business, but top riders should take 2-3 hours a day to shut out all else in the barn.
6) Talent — The least important part, according to David.  He said the top 5 principles are much more important than talent.

Book Recommendation — The Talent Code.  It’s not about practice, it’s about determined practice.

Rhetorical question: Do you “get it?”  Do you understand the sacrifice that it takes to be the best? “This game is about being the best that you can be.”  Do you understand the sacrifice and are you willing to do everything you can to get the job done?

Two words for improvement — Awareness and responsibility

Awareness — Perceiving things as they actually are. Self awareness is recognizing those internal factors that distort one’s own perception of reality.

Responsibility — The correct action taken in a moment.  The correct action to set up a required feeling.

Levels of Learning:

1) Technique
— Videos: People are getting better about using videos. Stop looking at your horse in the video and look at yourself. More importantly, look at videos of other people, people you want to learn from and emulate. Pick someone with your body type — short riders shouldn’t spend a ton of time watching William Fox-Pitt, for example. Use of Dartfish technology to perform video analysis.
–Mirrors: Use of mirrors is important. Don’t spend time just admiring yourself.

2) Theory
–The step by step process that leads to competitive excellence.
–Understanding your riding position to communicate — “The most important aid is your seat, the second most important aid is your seat, the third most important aid is your seat.” If your seat changes something should change in your horse. Make sure you improve your seat rather than just blasting a bunch of “noise” at your horse that they learn to ignore.
–Appropriate exercises for level of the horse
–Use of aids
–Timing of aids
–Search the internet of all theoretical thought process

According to David — Two books you have to have in your library: The Principles of Riding and Advanced Techniques of Dressage (both from German Federation). You absolutely have to have these books and read them according to David.

3) Instinct
–David says that he believes the US has very strong instinctual riders, but we are being beaten by programs with more structure.
–The ability to react properly without thinking about it.
–Technique must first be perfect to achieve instinct.
–In competition you must let go of thinking about the technique
–Sports psychology

4) Intuition/philosophy
–What are your most basic beliefs that are unchangeable for you that drives how you train and compete your horses?

5) Imagination
— The highest level
–Can you see the “field” differently?
–The ability to process multiple inputs without thinking of them and setting up a plan.

The point of presenting these principles is that as riders we need to evaluate where we are and figure out how we can get better.  David says that he doesn’t think anyone in the US has all of these five principles mastered for all three phases.

Use of coaches — What are coaches for?
–To help you achieve your goals
–To perfect technique
–Put into your own words the theoretical process
–The step by step process of goal achievement
–Creating necessary tools
–The timing of those tools for situations
–The assessment of horses

Goal setting:
–Set both long and short term goals
–Look at small achievements on a daily basis, not at the total picture every day.
–Over a day, a week, a month, and a year.

Here endeth the lesson.  The seminar was one of several that David is hosting for high performance athletes this weekend, including a seminar Wednesday night.  The next session is at 12.  Go eventing.

The Ocala eventing community has built an awesome eventing mecca built upon top coaching, good facilities, good support staff, and of course great events.  Rider, event organizer, and EN guest writer Jon Holling is kind enough to write to us today about the progress of the November series and a shout-out to Ocala Horse Properties, an EN sponsor.  Thanks for writing this Jon and thank you for reading.
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From Jon Holling:

Ocala Horse Properties

It’s beginning to feel a lot like winter here in Ocala.  Part of that is absolutely due to the cooler temperatures, but the biggest reason is the upcoming horse trials in the area.  The one that is most pressing on my mind is of course the Ocala Horse Properties Horse Trials.  The kick off for this fantastic series held at the Florida Horse Park is just two short weeks away on November 17^th.  The aggravator that has been generously lent to us by Sharon Will has been hard at work in the show jumping field, and the rental equipment we need to move the jumps into place will be arriving first thing Monday morning.  In addition to the great cross country fences that our designer and builder Jay Hambly has put together for us, we are very excited about our new show jumps.  A huge portion of our budget for last year went into replacing the aging course that we had been using, and I am happy to report that all of the jumps are now ready.  I am certain they will add a huge amount of atmosphere to the already great facilities at the park.

The thing that always amazes me about being a part of this great series of events are the man hours involved in putting it on.  Without the endless hours that our volunteer base puts in, these competitions simply would not run.  Honestly I know that we as competitors hear that all the time, but as someone who sits squarely on both sides of the fence on this one, I can tell you it is true.  Just think about that….no volunteers absolutely no events…..period.  The really interesting thing is that most of the volunteers we get are not even competitors.  The majority of them are actually people that are inspired by their love of the horse, and by all of us as eventers.  Pretty cool stuff really.

The other really neat thing going on with this year’s series of events is that Equiventures has put a huge amount of time and money into publicity.  The Ocala Horse Properties Horse Trials sits right in the middle of one of the biggest and best horse areas in the world.  Having the community of Ocala and Belleview become a huge part of the events is really a no brainer.  However, getting the word out about our great sport has taken a tremendous amount of work from a lot of great people.  What this means for our competitors is a bigger audience, a bigger and better trade fair, more fun things for spectators and competitors to do throughout the events, and of course better courses and footing.

We sincerely hope that you can come to at least one of these great events.  I know you will be impressed by the quality of the competition, and the fantastic time you will have.  Of course none of this would be possible without our good friends Chris and Rob Desino and Ocala Horse Properties, and all of our other sponsors.  Please check out our website at www.equiventures.com so that you can get to know each and every person and the company that makes this all happen.  Every piece that we write about our series ends with the slogan “Competition by eventers for eventers.”  I can’t think of a better way to define our events than that.

Good morning Eventing Nation!  As you are waking up and eating your rasin bran, please enjoy this helmet cam video from the always awesome Doug Payne.  Doug and Crown Talisman finished 5th in the indoor eventing at the Royal Winter Fair in Canada last weekend.  For more from Doug, follow him on Twitter or visit his website.  Go eventing!

From Shannon:

Sunday at Galway Downs didn’t disappoint!  I was talking to my counterpart, Dayna Lynd-Pugh, and one of our clients on our ride home this evening, and we discussed how Robert Kellerhouse has done so much for west coast eventing.  We said how he is so innovative in the ways he tries to make it more of a spectator sport.  Dayna brought up the point that Robert realizes that there is a limited amount of money in the sport–riders don’t have it and the owners or people who do have money are tapped out.  I could not believe the amount of people that came for the wine and music festival and just happened to see the horse show while being there.  I heard a bunch of fraternity boys in line at the competitors party talking about how cool the horse thing was last night.  If Robert keeps doing these types of things, the word of mouth marketing will take effect and hopefully the money will start flowing, in theory….

But I digress, the show also did not disappoint today.  The courses were different for each division.  They were even and fairly appropriate for each level.  The T3D course seemed a bit small for the level but it had its fair share of problems.  The winner, Madison Kauffman, jumped a clear round on a horse who gave new meaning to the word bascule.

The one-star course beefed up quite a bit from the T3D, and the majority of the field until the top ten were pulling lots of rails.  Kelly Pugh on Spot On put in a flawless round to start off a string of clear rounds.  Taren Atkinson on Gustav put in a great round and the best part was that James, her husband, was riding it for her on the sidelines behind me.  Julie Flettner, on the amazing horse Ping Pong, had a fantastic weekend winning the one-star in style.  She has worked extremely hard with this horse bringing it up from novice.  It is refreshing to see an adult amateur win the CCI*.

The two-star jumped next with a bit of a shake up in the division.  FTF’s own Zachary Brandt jumped a clean round moving him from 5th to 2nd.  Gina Miles and the new ride for her, SVR Ron, had a great weekend with a clean round to end up in 4th.  Lauren Billys on Ballingowan Ginger won the two-star deservedly so, even though she had one rail down.  Bea di Grazia finished 3rd on a one rail round which made her extremely happy with her great partner, Lad’s Night Out.

Last to jump was the three-star.  With only eight left, James Alliston had a great chance of winning, which he did on the wonderful chestnut, Tivoli.  Everyone in the division with the exception of Phillip had at least one rail down.  Michael Pollard deserved to have a great weekend, which he did on his Pan Am partner, Schoensgreen Hanni. Michael was pleased with his round today even though Hanni may have been a bit tired.  Buck also had a good weekend on the Apprentice.  He pulled two rails today but the green horse is improving and by next year will surely come into his own at this level.

The weekend on the whole was a great representation of what west coast eventing is all about.  Great riding, good team support, and fun times.  Thank you to Christina Gray, Katie Trafton in the office and especially Robert Kellerhouse for a wonderful weekend.  We at Flying Tail Farms feel so fortunate to have quality destination events such Galway Downs.

Go west coast and go eventing!

From Michael:

I need to start with an apology to Eventing Nation for being incredibly slack in updates the last two days. Despite only having one horse to ride and plenty of time between rides, I have managed to fill my days with all things but updates!

So far so good for Hanni and me.  I was very pleased with her dressage test and although she carried the lead into the cross country, I felt like she could have had a bit better score.  Having said that, I gave away some marks in my halt rein back and I lost fluidity in my first change although it was clean.  So, in the end I know I could have done better, but overall a good start.

The course was quite big and I knew it would be a test of boldness and fitness.  With the strange lead up for Hanni, I went a bit conservatively the first couple of minutes.  At minute three I was about 20 seconds down, and I basically stayed there the rest of the course. In hindsight I could have probably saved ten to fifteen seconds, but again I couldn’t be happier with the result and the effort that Hanni put in.

I hope that I can give her a good ride today, and that we can finish strong.  She is such a resilient mare and I feel really lucky to get to ride her. Special thanks to Nathalie again for this opportunity:)

Enough about me…

The three star has been an interesting competition.  Despite the small numbers the field was fairly strong.  No matter the numbers in the end a three star is about competing with the course as much as the other competitors.  On this front, Ian Stark gave us a true test.  Quite a few jumps wouldn’t have been out of place at Kentucky, and I think anyone who finished clear felt they had achieved a serious result.

Good luck to everyone today in show jumping, and win, lose, or draw I’m sure we will remember this Galway with fondness.

From Shannon:

Saturday at Galway was a fairly seamless day of FEI and T3D cross country.  Talking to Katie and Christina, the women behind the flawless organization of the show, they were extremely happy with how the day turned out.  As I said before, Robert Kellerhouse, the organizer, did an incredible job catering to the spectators.  He had three oases out on course with different types of food, live bands, and beer and wine. The guests were still listening to the music long after the three star cross country had been over, and they were begging the artists to play one more song!  Most people raved about the experience and it seemed too attract quite a few spectators.

The weather was gorgeous for a November day, but it was a little hot for the horses who had to run cross country, especially with the three star going so late in the afternoon. There were some tired horses coming through the finish.  Ian stark designed fantastic courses that matched the difficulty of each level really well.

The day started off with the T3D with a coolness in the air that made our job in the vet box very easy.  The leader after the endurance phase, Lindsey Weaver and Sintra, had a great trip around and her horse recovered very easily.  Kelly Pugh  and Tito, from Flying Tail Farms, reminded all of us why we love the thoroughbred horses in full format events.  He breezed around steeple chase and came in after D with slightly elevated numbers, which came down in a few minutes.  Sophie Hulme and Sportsfield Delight, also from FTF, had a wonderful trip around the course. The beauty of the T3D is that so many different types of horses can and complete the full format.

The one star cross country was also an overall success.  Erin Kellerhouse and Roxabelle are the overnight leaders.  But 7.5 point separate the top seven spots.  Show jumping could prove to be a nail biter.  I watched many rounds, but our own Kelly Pugh and Spot On had a round that was indeed that–spot on!  They stand in 7th for now but have a good chance to put pressure on the top riders tomorrow.

There were some exciting rounds in the two star that caught some people’s eyes, not for the right reasons.  For the most part the division was well represented by the riders.  Lauren Billys’ and her Pan Am mount, Ballingowan Ginger, are standing in first going into show jumping.  Another FTF rider, Zachary Brandt and Cavallino Cocktail, had an incredible round moving them up to 5th place.

Last to go was the three star, which was inspirational to watch. The trail blazer was James Alliston on Jumbo’s Jake, not only because he was assured to get around but also because he had three horses in the division. All three of his rides were impressive.  Tivoli was his last ride of the day and was fantastic to watch.  James is a brave soul to ride him. Hawley Bennett-Awad is back in action and had a very solid, almost easy looking, trip around the course.  Buck was shortly after Hawley and, although Buck felt like the horse is still green at this level, he got better and better throughout the course.  Michael Pollard, needless to say, has had a rough go of it this year but he had a clean trip around with a few time faults. It is a great way to put light on a very sad and unlucky year.  As the three star grew nearer to the end, many people started to have problems.  Three of the four riders at the end fell off including Hawley on 5 o’clock Somewhere.  It sounded like he misjudged the ditch and wall going into the infield and Hawley came off. The most important thing is that Hawley and chunky are ok!

Tomorrow will be an exciting day of show jumping, starting with the training three day at 9:30. Setting our clocks back an hour will give us one more hour to rest up before having to prepare for the jog.

Good luck and go eventing!

Michael Pollard is competing Schoensgreen Hanni this weekend at the Galway CCI3*.  Michael and Hanni rerouted to Galway from Fair Hill after Hanni was diagnosed and treated for A Fib.  Michael has generously agreed to keep us updated on all the happenings from inside the ropes.  Many thanks to Michael and his entire team and thank you for reading.
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About this time last year the Badger was competing at the Pan American Games

From Michael:

Day one in the books here at Galway and so far the weather is batting 1000.  Perfect temperatures and a warm smile on most faces make California a sweet place to come to a horse show.

You have to hand it to the Galway organizers; there are concerts every night, beer tents on course (oasis points, as this is the desert), and great courses at all levels.  The improvement from last year is as visible as Robert Kellerhouse’s enthusiasm for the event is palpable when you speak to him.  Even some of our prestigious East Coast events could learn a thing or two here.

The vet inspection went down without too much incident and Hanni in particular looked great (no bias here though). Buck provided a bit of comic relief when The Apprentice took exception to the flowers on the first trot up.  180 steps of perfect rein back later he got things going forward and was easily accepted.

I must say, it is always nice to have the first inspection out of the way. No matter how sound my horse is, I’m always relieved to hear I have been accepted.  I believe announcers pause over my name intentionally, but I can’t prove it.  Given the length of this journey and the difficulty in getting here it was particularly nice to get today done!

I had a chance to walk around the three star track with Phillip and Buck, and, like all Ian Stark tracks, it is big and bold.  The bogey fence from last year (fence 5-6) still looks imposing, albeit with a slightly new look.  I think the second water will cause some trouble, and if your horse doesn’t like ditch and walls…don’t start 🙂

It was nice to get insights from two guys who I respect a lot and I feel good about the course for Hanni.

One other nice thing about being out here with such a small east coast contingent has been to be able to talk and brainstorm ideas for the future with Phillip, Buck, and Samantha Lendl.  We normally only see each other at horse shows where we are each riding 6-12 horses . The relaxed atmosphere out here and the spare time has gotten some good ideas on the table…stay tuned.

Relaxation ends tomorrow though…

I am really excited to watch some dressage tomorrow (maybe only a handful of times that sentence has been written in eventing).  The horses out west are fewer in numbers, but I think the per capita quality is maybe even higher than the east coast.  I have a relatively early ride in the three star and I’m really happy with how the Badger is going right now. She feels great since her A Fib has been treated and I think she is loaded for bear.

I think I hear some elevator music in the background as I write this so it must be party time!  More to come…

PS: don’t forget to Like Hanni’s picture on the Galway Downs Facebook page, there is a pair of Dubarrys to the winner of most likes and super groom  Katie has her eye on them 🙂

Deb Furnas, Graeme Thom, Juliet Graham, Grit High, Fleur Tipton, Jenn Holling and the DOC

As Bob Dylan said: The times they are a-changin’.  The group pictured above together led Team Canada from mediocrity to an international eventing force.  They took one last picture together at Fair Hill before David officially moves into his new role as US Coach.  The photo was taken by Juliet’s daughter, Annie Bishop.  Not pictured: Canada’s amazing horses, riders, support team (especially Randy Pawlak and Dr. Ober), fans, and sponsors.  As Juliet wrote: “We are sad, but being Canadian, we had to smile for the camera!”  Canada will move into a new era with Clayton but I will always remember this team as one of the best our sport has ever seen.  Go Canada.

Hanni Badger is back in action and headed to Galway, photo via Ms. Katie

Next weekend features the Galway Down CCI3* and Horse Trials in California.  The east coast PRO flight made its way to California today possibly along with, I might guess, a few Breeders’ Cup horses.

Horses on the Flight:

The Apprentice owned by Sherrie and Randy Martin for Buck

Titanium owned by Caroline Martin

Atlas owned by Thomas Tierney for Phillip

Schoensgreen Hanni owned Nathalie Pollard for Michael

Titanium and Caroline safely in California, via Hawley

Go Galway.

Take The Mick and Mary Frances Cargile, photo by Mary

From Mary Hirsch:

The Area V Championships are underway at Holly Hill!  A quick Saturday evening update of a few divisions.  David O’Connor’s courses are riding well, as one would expect when the best are assembled.  Nonetheless it is the tale of the time faults that is shaking up the order after dressage.

Emma Kate Fisher and Carlingord’s Forever, photo by Mary

Emma Kate Fisher and Carlingord’s Forever of Mounds, OK, are leading the Intermediate Championship division by less than 1 point over the next two with 45.2, all four entrants having jumped clear in cross-country.  Angela Gryzwinski and Novelle (Fort Worth, TX) barely has the edge ranking 2^nd over Mary Frances Cargile and Take The Mick (San Angelo, TX,) both on 45.6 after cross-country.

Ellen Doughty and Sir Oberon

In Open Intermediate, Mike Huber and Patent Pending(45.6) lost the lead to Ellen Doughty and Sir Oberon (Weatherford, TX) after cross-country (41.6.)  Ellen is to be commended on a mere 1.6 time faults, when most of the upper level competitors are nearly or well into the double-digits.  Mike is based in Bartonville, TX, while Patent Pending belongs to Tiffany Lunney of Littleton, CO.

Lynne Partridge and El Cid

It will come as no surprise to those familiar with Lynne Partridge and El Cid (Bartonville, TX) that the pair has an iron grip on the lead in the Preliminary Championship.  Lynne and El Cid have the only sub-30 dressage score among the upper levels, a 25.2 – and they still have it, with a solid double-clear cross-country.  The best of the rest to date are Laura Szeremi and Argento (Killeen, TX,) in second and also still on a 34.8 dressage with the second-fastest double-clear.

[Live Scores]

More to come!

Video from Saturday courtesy of Tom [riderboy] and Jaycee.  Go eventing!