The Professionals

Getting your horse fit and how to do it can seem like an overwhelming challenge especially on the back of a difficult winter, with both the weather and lockdown working against us all. So where do we start?

“First thing to understand is fitness comes in two different forms; cardiovascular fitness and muscular fitness, or the trendy term ‘core strength’ “General riding a couple of times a week should establish a very basic level of fitness but for the competition horse this is unlikely to be enough. “Raising the heart rate is the key to cardiovascular fitness, so increasing the amount of canter work within your schooling session may be a very easy way to start to increase cardiovascular fitness. Incorporating some medium canter and some more collected canter on a smaller circle will start to strengthen and condition the muscles too. Changing from a medium canter and then to a more collected canter and then back into medium several times, will provide a good workout for both the heart and lungs as well as the muscles. (Provided your riding your horse’s way of going is correct of course! If it’s going round like a giraffe, then its not working the right muscles in the right way!). “This very simple principle of changing gears in canter is key to developing a horses stamina and fitness for top level eventing competition. An event horse is expected to gallop cross country and change gear multiple times over a sustained period of time, over various terrain, all whilst staying in good balance and maintaining self carriage. Good, correct flat work training is vitally important because if a horse cannot work in balance and self carriage on the flat, there is little chance it will be able to do so once challenged by terrain and obstacles. “If you are blessed with hilly areas for hacking this is fantastic for getting the horse’s heart rate up and also strengthening the muscles. Walking up very steep hills will be enough to make a horse puff or blow, whereas trotting up more gentle inclines will have the same effect. “You can make it into a strength and conditioning workout for the core too by repeatedly changing gears within the trot or canter, all the time imagining you have a dressage Judge watching you so you keep your horse’s way of going as good as possible! “Working your horse in this way is fantastic training for them for several reasons as it is less mental pressure for them than being in an arena, and if you can train your horse to politely canter faster, slower, bigger, shorter etc out in the open, you can do it anywhere! “If you don’t have access to tracks with good ground you may need to use an all weather gallop to ensure good going. Incorporating pole work, cavaletti work and gymnastic jumping are good ways of building strength in the core muscles. There are also other forms of ‘training equipment’ such as a water treadmill which will make the cardiovascular system work whilst encouraging the core to strengthen as the horses lift their limbs up and out of the water.”

www.harriet-morrisbaumber.co.uk

IS YOUR HORSE FIT & RARING TO GO?

HAVING RIDDEN FOR GREAT BRITAIN INTERNATIONALLY AND TRAINED WITH THE WORLDS BEST COACHES, HARRIET MORRISBAUMBER IS IN THE UNQIUE POSITION TO BE NOT ONLY A TALENTED RIDER BUT A TRAINER TOO. HERE SHE ASKS...

If you’re lucky enough to have a friendly landowner with fields and tracks where the going is good enough to trot and canter, then this can be the ideal for adding in some extra cardiovascular fitness.

WINDRUSH FOUNDATION: STUDIES AN EVENTFUL LIFE

The Windrush Equestrian Foundation are pleased to announce a new partnership with leading cross-country video provider, An Eventful Life.

The partnership will allow members of the Foundation’s Young Eventers’ Programme to benefit from access to their cross-country videos from a range of events across the UK. The videos capture all elements of a cross-country round, from start to finish, often with a variety of angles at each fence. This provides the programme’s riders, and coaches, an additional tool to review performances and analyse what went right and where improvements can be made.

TREC GB: TEAMS UP WITH EQUITOOLZ

TREC GB and EquiToolz, the online equine training provider, have collaborated to create two free courses aimed at promoting TREC to newcomers.

‘Welcome to TREC’ and ‘Starting Your TREC Adventure’ explore each of the three phases, detailing the equipment needed, how to get started in the sport, what to expect at a competition and more. www.equitoolz.com

ZOOM INTO THE DRESSAGE ARENA... WITH CONFIDENCE

An exciting new digital coaching concept launched recently, which will bring accessible coaching to riders of all levels.

Classical dressage rider and BD accredited coach, Maddi Burchell, has been riding for over 30-years. In which time, she has amassed an extensive knowledge, qualifications and expertise, including becoming a Centre 10 Advanced Coach and NLP Practitioner. Mindset and nutrition are at the heart of her training, as she sees the rider as an athlete and wants to provide a holistic approach to more riders at all levels. Spurred on by the pandemic and the changes that have been seen throughout the world, The Dressage Coach was born. The Dressage Coach is a digital coaching platform offering a range of services for all riders whether they’re an everyday rider or elite equestrian athlete. The Dressage Coach includes virtual training, mindset and performance coaching, as well as a wide range of distance learning resources.

www.therdressagecoach.com

EVENT HORSE OWNERSHIP: FOR ALL

Eventing enthusiasts can now buy a share in an exciting young event horse sourced by Laura Collett and imported by the Event Horse Owners Syndicate for just £65.

Camouflage is an athletic fiveyear-old gelding from Peter Thomsen’s performance horse operation in Northern Germany.

www.eventhorseowner ssyndicate.co.uk

BREEDING THE BEST: BREEN EQUESTRIAN

Showjumping team Breen Equestrian has launched a luxurious new breeding facility close to their base at Hickstead in West Sussex.

Pook Bourne Stud is a state-ofthe-art breeding premises with space to accommodate up to 85 mares and young horses. Nine stallions will stand at the stud, including Golden Hawk, Can Ya Makan and Clyde VA.

www.breenequestrian.com

Following a short winter break, event riders like Terravesta Equine’s brand ambassador, Hector Payne, will be cracking on with preparations for the season ahead.

This year will be extra hard as nobody quite knows what, if any, restrictions there will be, but competition horses must be fit and ready to go when they can. When motivation is low it is a good idea to mix things up in training and do something different to keep things fresh for both you and your horse. You could set a goal to improve a weakness or teach your horse a new dressage move. Having a focus will keep you on track and give you an incentive to tack up every day. A simple thing to improve is straightness. Achieving straightness when riding is vital, whether that is for approaching a fence when jumping or achieving a perfect straight line when riding a dressage test. During your schooling session, ride on an inner track or the 3/4 line as this means your horse has to ‘stand up’ and not use the fence for balance. If you are lucky enough to have arena mirrors, ride towards them and look at whether the horse is trotting straight. If you have a young horse it is a good idea to introduce leg yielding to their training early, even if it is just a few steps. Starting in walk, leg yield back to the track and then as it improves leg yield away from the track. If you teach it well in walk, it will come more naturally in trot. For more experienced horses it’s good to leg yield in from the track as it encourages them to put their hind legs underneath them more, without the rider having to work too hard. To help ensure your horse is in front of your leg and responding to your aids try this simple pole work exercise: Set out four sets of poles on a large circle, two sets of trot poles

HECTOR PAYNE, BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR TERRAVESTA EQUINE'S MISCANTHUS HORSE BEDDING, OFFERS HIS PROFESSIONAL ADVICE

Hector Payne’s TRAINING TIPS

just over one and a half yards apart and two sets of canter poles, three yards apart. The aim is to complete the circle as smoothly as possible. To make this harder try using raised trotting poles or cavaletti’s. Build up slowly by first isolating the trot poles and then the canter poles before riding the complete circle and repeat the exercise on both reins.

www.terravesta-equine.com

NEW: HORSE CLINICS

Horse Clinics is a unique website which allows riders to find equestrian clinics, demos, lectures and training camps to help them learn, develop their riding and achieve their goals - all currently free! This one-stop-shop allows riders to easily discover the training clinics for their

chosen discipline, in their local area. This new initiative has support from some of the country’s leading coaches and riders including Richard Waygood MBE, Ernest Dillon FBHS and International 5* event rider Georgie Spence.

www.horseclinics.co.uk

VALEGRO: INSURANCE PROVIDER

The insurance cover for Valegro Triple Olympic dressage gold medalist, has recently been moved to SEIB.

Following the, now retired, Valegro’s newly found title as SEIB sponsored, Horse & Hound ‘Horse of the Decade’ his owners approached SEIB to find out more about the cover they could offer this national treasure. www.seib.co.uk