Articles Written 2
Article Views 2,936

Kate Brown

Achievements

Become an Eventing Nation Blogger

About Kate Brown

Latest Articles Written

A Hat Tip to the Thoroughbred Incentive Program (TIP)

Kate Brown, age 14, shares her story of the benefits of being involved with the Thoroughbred Incentive Program as a Youth Ambassador and OTTB owner. Best of luck with Sport, Kate! 

Kate Brown and Sports Revenge. Photo by Liz Crawley Photography.

My name is Kate Brown and I am a 2018 Thoroughbred Incentive Program Youth Ambassador. I own a 14-year-old Thoroughbred named Sports Revenge, also known as Sport. The Thoroughbred Incentive Program (TIP) was created to help encourage the retraining of off-the-track Thoroughbreds into careers outside of racing or breeding. The Thoroughbred Incentive Program offers accolades for competition horses, young riders, recreational horses, and Thoroughbreds in non-competitive careers, as well as an annual champion horse show is offered.

I’ve had lots of success of retraining my Thoroughbred, Sport, in dressage and evening. I received Sport as a birthday present on my 11th birthday in 2015. Sport was a surprise gift for me, as he was originally a sale horse in at my farm. In our time together, Sport and I have accomplished many achievements, including qualifying for the USDF Region 9 Dressage Championships at Training Level and, in 2017, being named reserve champions at Training Level for the central United States in the Thoroughbred Incentive Program. In July of 2018 we competed in our first recognized event at Chattahoochee Hills at Beginner Novice.

Kate Brown and Sports Revenge. Photo by Liz Crawley Photography.

The Thoroughbred Incentive Program offers several ways for one to become involved with their Thoroughbred, both competitively and noncompetitively. At participating local shows, TIP offers high point awards and divisions specifically for Thoroughbreds. This aims to increase Thoroughbred involvement within the sport. In order to be eligible for these awards and divisions, a Thoroughbred must have a registered TIP number and a membership with the Jockey Club. This number and membership also allows a TIP member access to recreational riding on their Thoroughbred within the program. For more information on how to register, visit the Thoroughbred Incentive Program’s website, www.tjctip.com.

What’s in Your Ring? with Kate Brown, Presented by Attwood

Kate Brown and Victor Z 54. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld. Kate Brown and Victor Z 54. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

What’s in Your Ring? is an EN series sponsored by Attwood Equestrian Surfaces in which riders share their favorite jumping exercises. It’s easy to get stuck in a training rut, and we hope this will inspire you with fresh ideas that you can take home and incorporate into your own programs.

This week’s edition comes from Kate Brown, a 4* event rider as well as a USDF bronze and silver medalist. She operates her training business, Kate Brown Eventing, in Aiken, SC, year-round. She is currently campaigning a lovely young horse, Victor Z, who is new to the Prelim level — we wish them the best of luck in 2017!

16667218_10104204732080130_1555675342_o

I like to use this exercise to get a horse’s attention sharper and to get riders thinking ahead. There are a number of routes you can take depending on the level of your horse/rider combo but I will discuss the paths I primarily use.

As a warm up I start with cavaletti vertical cavaletti line. I keep the obstacles about the same height and let the horse figure its foot work out. Once that has been done I raise the height of the verticals appropriate to the level of the horse and start to incorporate the other elements.

I will do one vertical line turning to the center oxer (often I begin with the center oxer as a tall X to keep the riders/horses straight) and from there add a left or right turn to a skinny. From here you can vary tuning left and right to keep your horse listening and focused.

I find using tall Xs and cavaletti and skinny fences really forces the rider to ride through good turns and get straight to their fences.

The height of the fences can be as large or small as necessary. I do this with green/beginner novice horses using X rails and placing poles rather than tall cavaletti but they still use the skinny fences. For the more advanced horses I find using a wider square oxer really challenges the rider to ride forward through the turns and not get stuck waiting or backwards.

With the more advanced horses I then continue on to another bending exercise that adds more of a cross country feel. I have an oxer bending 8 to a corner, then 3 strides to an angled vertical. From there continue in a large roll back turn back to angle the vertical the other way and then 2 strides to a skinny.

Usually after they’ve warmed up through the S curve exercise previously mentioned, they’re straightforward to this one, but if they aren’t, omit the bending line to the oxer and just ride straight through the two fences on their own so the horse understands.

Watch Kate’s student Sydney Bolton, who is getting ready to move her thoroughbred up to Prelim this spring, demo the exercises:

Many thanks to Kate for sharing! Do you have an exercise to share or is there an eventer you would like to nominate for the “What’s in Your Ring?” series? Email [email protected].

Badger Hill Farm – Attwood Equestrian Surfaces from Bold Horse Media on Vimeo.