Progress

One of the constant topics in eventing, as we all know, is how to make cross-country safer (for both horses and riders). Our sport has evolved so much in the past 30 years -- changing radically even within just the past 10 years or so -- yet those who are trying to ensure its future are some of the very same people who factor heavily into the great history of three-day eventing.

Hugh Thomas (yes, he of the esteemed Badminton horse trials...the very pinnacle of eventing) talks in this video about how the course at Badminton is continually being altered, outfitted, and updated to allow for "safer" cross-country fences, while still maintaining the integrity of an ideal 4-star track. I like his consideration of this as a scientific development (they don't expect an easy answer over night) and I also like his viewpoint on the proposed penalty system for a horse/rider combination who does err badly enough at a frangible fence to break the pin or "deform" the obstacle. I, personally, would gladly see them impose a 20 or 40 penalty rule for breaking a frangible fence....as opposed to the current penalty, which often times these days over primarily non-frangible fences seems to be either a serious fall, a tragic injury (to horse or rider or both), or the highest price possible: their very lives. I also thought it was interesting that he mentions David O'Connor's aversion to using the styro-logs at drops into water because he feels they would break too easily (thus being costly and time-consuming to keep repairing/replacing throughout a typical cross-country day). Of course, this very approach was employed this past spring at Rolex, to great success (thankfully).

As we all know, the dangers of cross-country are foremost on many people's minds, but it is a grave oversight to assume that nothing is really being done about it, just because courses haven't been magically transformed by utilizing Nerf sticks, Jell-O, and whipped cream to build the fences. I am much more for the frangible, deformable construction options everywhere, but I also don't want courses to begin resembling a "beefed up" show jump track or a hodge-podge of a gingerbread house in order to make all the jumps collapsible upon heavy impact. There is sophisticated engineering out there and creative mechanics testing is going on everyday. As with all innovations, it will take time, but the right answer(s) will come eventually. I do believe in that.

Redneck Eventing

Photo of Australian eventer Michael Dagostino on the 
cross-country course at Brigadoon Horse Trials

This picture cracks me up! It's actually in Australia....not Alabama....but I think it might be an inspiration for a creative new use for all these old junker cars we see piled up everywhere. It's no Mitsubishi jump, but it does the job just the same! 

Release

Holly Breaux and Flecken Awesome at Rocking Horse
Horse Trials in Florida (2010).

I've been thinking about (and analyzing) my typical jumping position and noting places and times where/when I should be adjusting that position and not just always riding the same way, in every situation. For an eventer, having a natural and quickly changeable riding style is such an asset, since no step, effort, or movement is ever the same or even predictable. Having come from a mostly hunter, dressage, and pony club eventing background, I have a mix of instruction that has influenced the style of riding that is mine alone. I have a fairly good seat, decent sense of balance, and relatively soft hands (hunter/equitation); a --usually-- good eyeline (chin up, eyes forward) and occasionally correct elbow-hand-bit connection from my dressage instruction; and, I have a scrappy way of managing to stay in the saddle when I'm not particularly tight, strong, or centered (learned through pony club eventing and growing up riding a scopey pony). However, I would like to work towards training myself to ride more like an eventer on a regular basis (and, I mean a talented eventer; a good eventer; a capable eventer) who has established a style and position that is light and balanced in dressage, strong and forward for cross-country, and accurate and controlled during show jumping. Basically, what I want to do is learn how to ride EXACTLY like my friend, Holly Breaux. But, then again (judging by this fabulous photograph), who wouldn't want to ride like Holly?
                            
I don't endeavor to look like Holly (I haven't been that small since I was in the 4th grade!), but as a rider she is always centered, always secure, her upper body is not falling forward (since she doesn't collapse over Fleck's neck like other people I know do to Eddie their horse), and -- most of all -- her release is soft and very giving, yet she always maintains solid contact and she is balanced and in control under all circumstances. In this particular picture, Fleck has twisted slightly over what is a very big and solid table, yet Holly has hardly moved in the saddle and her body is not in the way of her horse as he adjusts to this effort. Her hand is forward, freeing Fleck to move as necessary to land well and continue on to the next fence at a gallop, and not have to regroup for 3 or 4 seconds after an awkward landing. Although I can't see the take-off in this picture, I would imagine they didn't trickle down to the fence, prop, leap heavily off the forehand, arc over it with little to no momentum, and then land in a heap on the other side. This is how I would characterize not just a few of my and Eddie's jumping efforts. Rarely do we come down to a fence when Eddie is moving out, in front of my leg, allowing him to jump up to me....instead of me collapsing down onto his neck. 
     
I want to work on riding Eddie's canter and gallop so that he doesn't have to prance over courses like a hunter (loopy, trickling, flat, and sucking back) just so I can sit his jump. I want to ride like Holly so that I can let Eddie jump 4 feet over a 3-foot-fence, because I need to be able to ride my horse......not force him to jump my ride (if that makes sense). Otherwise, I'm not rising to the level of my talented horse, but rather asking Eddie to "dumb down" to my comfort level. I know this is a lot to take on in one schooling alone and it will take some time this spring, but I will start with sitting tall down to the fences and giving forward with an automatic release, and not leaning into the fences and releasing way up his crest, thereby throwing away my contact (sometimes even before we take-off, effectively "dropping" my horse at the fence.....which I have not paid for nearly as much as I'm sure I should have in the past). This will be a good start, at least. Then, maybe one day, we'll have even one fence that rides as successfully as Holly and Fleck!

Me and Eddie show jumping at a combined test. Notice
how my leg has slipped back slightly, my toe is pointed out,
I'm too far forward on his neck, and my release is broken over
at the wrist (making the contact too loose and ineffective).
But, hey, I'm not exactly falling off, either!

Think Sunny Thoughts

Well, I'm ending one more week by NOT riding. January is part of the "off season" for a reason, I guess. But, I read this fabulous article on EN today that has me very excited about my next jump school.....whenever that might be. Here are a few highlights I gleaned, so I am looking forward to a day when the sun shines and the mud dries. 

• Have a plan BEFORE you get on to ride (move jumps prior to getting tacked up, if you don't have someone to set jumps for you while you ride).
• Jump at home at least once a week, which will help keep your horse from being silly when you do jump them (yep, excellent advice.....maybe if Eddie was jumped often enough that he got bored with it, he wouldn't act like he'd never done it before and that it's just the most exciting, outrageous thing he's ever experienced. Wheee!!! ).
• Distinguish between jump schools that focus on technique versus those that are educational exercises. Questions that hone technique allow horse/rider to both practice what works, and make it better or more effective. Educational lessons are designed to follow-up with or revisit something that has gone wrong or "needs fixin'" and should focus on that one specific area until the situation is resolved, or at least until progress is shown.
• To tie-in with that last statement, know when to stop for the day.....being aware of when your horse has reached his limit or is on the edge of "shutting down." Know when he is mentally worn-out before he is physically worn-out. Rome wasn't built in a day!
• Jump schools that emphasize technique should have questions that involve asking the horse to shorten his stride/lengthen his stride, jump more roundly, avoiding landing short, and move strongly off both leads. Some ways to practice these goals include using raised placement poles (I mentioned this same suggestion in my earlier post that referenced the USEA professionals panel), using angled jumps or bending lines, and jumping on a circle to get a horse quicker up front on his one lead or the other (depending on which is his weaker direction). In terms of working on rider technique, try a few different aids or approaches to asking for something in a different way (such as shifting weight/seat differently, altering your release slightly, or perhaps sitting taller in the saddle.....which I also learned when reading about Sharon White and how she rides green youngsters cross-country). 
• Jump schools that emphasize educational opportunities are not as prescriptive and may depend entirely upon what happened (or DIDN'T happen) at the previous event. Typical competition errors might arise due to bad timing, an awkward approach, or an unbalanced horse too much on his forehand or leaning too much on one lead or the other. Ways to improve upon these errors in an educational jump school might involve bending lines, angled fences, or a line of related distances (which helps when trying to tweak the approach to a jump, since the exact distance is easier to "find" when coming from a related effort). 
• Ultimately, if you jump often, there will be a fair amount of technique schoolings as well as educational lessons, sometimes with both purposes being combined. There is no rule that says you can't work on things you do well to make them better, while at the same time perhaps introducing something new and bringing that to the jump school on the same day. Sally's advice to know your horse and what makes him tick is a sound suggestion that will make schoolings more productive and customized.....and, will require the rider to be aware, observant, and involved in why he/she is doing what, and what the subsequent result should be. 
• Finally, she says "If I have introduced something new, I will try to finish the school on something that the horse finds relatively easy so he goes back to the barn in a good frame of mind." Or, in other words.....end on a positive note!

I can't wait to have good weather here so I can practice some of these schooling exercises. I know that I need to be incorporating more related distances, as well as jumping Eddie on a circle to the RIGHT, since he is stiff to the right and that is his weaker lead. I am so ready to see some amazing improvements in 2011!

Derailed.

Tennessee snow

Yesterday, I vowed to "Ride my horse today," but unfortunately, that just didn't work out. It snowed here unexpectedly. A lot. So, I will have to try and get back to a regular schedule with my riding next week. Until then, I'm going to be checking weather conditions and making a plan for a January/February conditioning regimen (for Eddie AND me). I need to get back to my running just like Eddie needs to resume trot sets!

My arena about an hour or so after it started snowing
so....um.....no riding!

I will......

.....RIDE MY HORSE TODAY. I will ride my horse today. I will ride my horse today. I will ride my horse today. I will ride my horse today. I will ride my horse today. I will ride my horse today. I will ride my horse today. I will ride my horse today................................

What the world needs.....is a few more Rogers.

This entry was taken from a recent USEA Area I newsletter and it made me laugh first thing this morning. Very funny, and very true!

The First Six Months
Advice to all those dating or wed to an eventer.
by Roger Demers

When I first met Katie Murphy I had no idea what eventing was, nor had I ever been near a horse. She periodically came into Blue Seal where I worked part-time during graduate school to pick up grain and pet supplies. There was something different about Katie that motivated me to ask her out. Fortunately she agreed and two weeks later we had our first date. The only thing I knew about horses was how much a bag of grain weighed. As we spent more time together I asked about eventing—the most important thing I learned was to not call it “horse racing”. My only association with equestrian competitions was the Kentucky Derby, and I figured all horse competitions were called racing. Not true! I understood that eventing was made up of three different disciplines, often over the course of three days—a triathlon for us non-horsey folks. In an attempt to impress my new girlfriend, I studied YouTube videos of Rolex, the USEA website and various photographer sites. Then, I attended my first event.


The following are some guidelines to eventing gleaned from my first six months in the eventing world. May it be of benefit to an eventer’s boyfriend/girlfriend, who do not yet know what they’ve gotten themselves into. After dressage, we set out to walk cross-country. Those fences looked NOTHING like the ones on YouTube! They were big. They were solid. And they were everywhere. To think, this was only Preliminary and not the four-stars I had watched. At fence one, I let a profanity slip and confirmed with Katie that she would be jumping this. She told me to pipe down and walk faster, and then “Just wait until you see the slide.”


For those of us who have never ridden XC, it is important to not do the following things while walking the course with the rider:
• Ask how any horse could jump that
• Swear
• Proclaim appreciation to God that you are not jumping that fence
• Ask if you can jump the smaller one next to it instead


The weekends are very long, tiring, and you never stop working. You’d think as the boyfriend I’d garner attention at some point. But no, the horse gets it all. She warned me that no part of a competition weekend is about me: the horse comes first, then the rider and boyfriend/girlfriend are somewhere at the same level of importance as the dogs. I was not expecting it to be true, but it was—the whole weekend, it was as if she wasn’t my girlfriend! Another tip: Everyone had a dog. Get one and you’ll fit right in. Also, bring a camera. Know how to use it.


The eventing community is great, someone is always laughing and they help each other out. Like the time Katie’s horse, Fitty, spooked, knocked me into the air and took off, galloping through stabling. A complete stranger caught him while I lay on the ground in disbelief. Thankfully, I could return to Katie as though nothing had happened. (Thanks stranger!) Once you start meeting people and getting to know other riders and their teams, events turn into big social gatherings. At first I didn’t know anyone, but I now look forward to seeing many of the same friends. If I’m lucky, they bring a husband, a boyfriend—or even a dog.


Over the course of the weekend, you will experience a vast range of emotions. You’ll see riders elated as they leave the dressage ring, while others refuse to make eye contact. Cross country brings excitement, angst and an awareness of the tact and skill necessary to negotiate those horrifying fences. Katie tells me eventers compete for the rush of cross country, but given the port-o-potty traffic the morning of, I wonder if adrenaline is the only rush these competitors are feeling. The final day of show jumping offers the opportunity to move-up in the standings, clinch the win or just be done already. I’ve witnessed many reactions from the sidelines and in stabling. People scream, joke, recap every stride of their ride or cry. Lastly, if your rider ever has a problem while competing, do not say a word! Let them talk first. And never, ever offer advice. These riders train for months – MONTHS! – all to compete for 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes can make for a very long drive home.


Rising before the sun, hours in the truck across state borders, the constant smell of manure, seeing your girlfriend cleaning her horse’s sheath, these are some of the things which make dating an eventer challenging. But, as this season drew to a close, and saddles were replaced by blankets, I found myself missing the weekends away, the cool evenings in the gooseneck and the canine camaraderie.

Roger is pursuing his masters in Fluid Mechanics at UNH. When he’s not grooming, he enjoys competing in downhill mountain biking. Follow his adventures on Facebook.

New Year, New Possibilities!

Well, the big news right now in the U.S. eventing world is that Phillip Dutton and Bobby Costello have applied jointly for the positions of U.S. eventing team coach and chef d'equipe. What a fabulous pair! With experience, knowledge, connections, intelligence, communication savvy, and loads of well-earned respect, these two are already existing strengths on the American scene and have opened the door for some exciting potential with this announcement. What strikes me more than the unbelievable qualifications that make them excellent candidates for leading our team is the concept that they are clearly individuals who do not want to sit by and ask for change while not taking action themselves. What stronger message of "we need change now" could there be than for them to forfeit their own chances for international glory by standing up to lead others on to it in the future? Very commendable on both their parts, and very exciting (on my part) as a member of the U.S. eventing community!