Horse&Rider – April 2014

ROAD

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world

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Italia!

In the run-up to the World Equestrian Games, get to know some of Italy’s top riders who all compete in uniform

Photo: Christophe Bricot. Horse&Rider recommends you wear an up-to-standard helmet when riding.

Valentina Truppa One of Italy’s rising stars, the young rider was her country’s sole representative in dressage at London 2012. She rode her own Italian-bred stallion, Eremo del Castegno, a horse she says is one of the best in the world.

The remark isn’t unsubstantiated. In a sport where it takes extravagant movement and extreme precision to top the leaderboard, the pair has notched up many wins at Grand Prix on the international dressage circuit.

There’s no doubt who she is when she enters the arena – Valentina doesn’t wear the conventional top hat and tails. A member of the Carabinieri (the Italian military police), she usually wears the police uniform.

But it’s not just her rather stylish outfit that sets her apart. Her training methods are a blend of many different approaches, including a heavy influence from her father, a dressage rider himself. The medley of methods, including classical dressage and natural horsemanship, has led to a unique, and successful training system.

If a horse performs a movement perfectly in training, she will often dismount, stating that this is the ultimate reward for the horse. Training at her stables in Asti is slow and progressive, without the use of training aids such as draw-reins.

Top placings in Frankfurt and Saltzburg make her a likely contender for world championship glory.

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Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton

Steffano Brecciaroli If you attended Badminton Horse Trials this year, you may be familiar with Steffano. He led the dressage going into the second day with a superb test.

His accurate geometry on his flashy-moving Apollo VD Wendi Kurt Hoeve earned an impressively low score of 36.8, including several nines and a 10. He finished Badminton in a very creditable sixth place. Steffano, like Valentina, is a member of the Carabinieri and wears the striking uniform in all three phases of eventing.

Vittoria Panizzon

Photo: FEI/Roland Thunholm

Gloucestershire-based Italian eventer Vittoria Panizzon is a well-known rider on the British and international eventing scene. She is a corporal in the Italian Air Force with the rank of Aviere Capo and wears an elegant uniform for all three phases. She finished 11th at London 2012 with the big grey mare, Borough Pennyz – a prolific winner on the British Eventing circuit.

She won the WEG test event, a threeday event held a year prior to the Games as a ‘dry-run’ for the big event, on Merlots Magic. If that form is any indication of things to come, she will be a contender for world championship titles in Normandy.

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As told to Kelly McCarthy-Maine. Photos: Bob Atkins, Kit Houghton. Thanks to Lucinda’s sponsor, The Pure Feed Company thepurefeedcompany.com. Lucinda teaches internationally and takes working pupils, lucindafredericks.com

PART one In this feature.. .

Our trainer Lucinda Fredericks has won some of the world’s toughest four-star events, including Burghley, Badminton and Kentucky, all on her 15.3hh chestnut mare, Headley Britannia, ‘Brit’. Brit officially retired in a special ceremony at Badminton Horse Trials in 2013.

Our equine pupils Little Britannia, ‘Millie’, is Brit’s six-year-old daughter, a feisty and talented chestnut in her own right who’s had great success as a young eventer.

Britannia’s Mail, ‘Marley’, by Jaguar Mail, is Brit’s eldest son.

Six years old, he’s an eventer and a Sport Horse of Great Britain-approved stallion.

ProBono, ‘Bono’ is a seven-yearold gelding enjoying his first year eventing and hunting. Bono is ridden by Lucinda’s ‘right-hand girl’, emily Young-Jamieson.

Zahir II, ‘Jasper’, is an eight-year-old chestnut TB gelding who came to Lucinda’s yard, Rosegarth, to further his eventing education.

Latini, ‘Rosie’, is a nine-yearold bay mare owned by Nicole Pearson, who hopes to qualify for the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

Flying Finish, ‘Christie’, is Lucinda’s top horse who’d only been eventing for two years when Lucinda competed him at the 2012 Olympics.

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➤ Getting your horse fit ➤ Schooling for

In the saddle

suppleness and response ➤ Rein-back and lateral work ➤ Canter poles in a fan

World-class preparation Whether you want to step up a level or compete at your first event, Lucinda Fredericks’ three-month plan will ensure you perform at your best

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nyone can rock up to an event with a plaited horse and a shiny pair of boots and hope for the best, but how do you take your competition preparation to a world-class level?

“Every time you put your foot in the stirrup you have the chance to get the little details right,” says Lucinda Fredericks. “Even if you aren’t doing anything terribly complicated at first, you’ll be amazed what you can accomplish with that kind of attitude over the weeks and months leading up to your first competition.”

In this three-part series, we’ll join Olympic eventer Lucinda, her pupils and her team as they prepare horses of all levels for a successful eventing season. In the first part of the series, she explains how you can use hacking, schooling and polework to build basic fitness and suppleness in your horse – and get you into the right dressage and jumping mindset!

Lucinda and Flying on Finish at the Lond t, lef d an s pic ym Ol jumping at home

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quest

Join in the

Have fun competing in dressage in the new Team Quest, run by British Dressage and sponsored by Horse&Rider magazine!

Photos: Adam Fanthorpe, Kit Houghton

Charlotte backs Team Quest

Double Olympic gold medallist and European Champion Charlotte Dujardin is enthusiastic about Team Quest. She says: “Riding dressage is my passion, and I want to see as many riders as possible taking part and experiencing this great sport. I love riding in a team; it makes everything that bit more fun – sharing problems, helping each other, having a joke and, of course, friends to share the good and bad times.”

She continues: “Standing on the podium with my team mates in London was my proudest moment and Team Quest means everyone has the chance to try and experience that. What could be better than trying dressage with your friends and family at great venues all over the country? Team Quest gives you the chance to improve you and your horse, meet new friends and try to qualify for a great championship. What are you waiting for?

Come and try dressage!”

Where and when?

BD has offered Team Quest competitions to all its venues and as we went to press, over 75 had 34 HORSe &RIDeR

Form a team and have a go!

signed up with 275 dates. The Team Quest League runs from 1 March to 21 September 2014, and teams will earn points at each competition if they place in the top 10. The top 15-placed teams will qualify for the Championship at a super-smart venue, Bury Farm in Buckinghamshire, on 1-2 November 2014.

BD Sport Operations Manager Paul Graham comments: “Team Quest has really caught the imagination of riders from all over the country.

We’ve enjoyed some fantastically creative names coming in. We have one team with a combined age of 221 years and our youngest team notch up just 45 years between them! Teams have been formed from riding clubs, yards and family members. We have a team of all ex-racehorses and even one where none of the riders knew each other – they met on Facebook!”

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ave you always wanted to compete in dressage but found it a bit daunting?

Or would you like to put some fun back into your favourite sport? British Dressage (BD) has launched a new competition for riders of all ages and abilities, Team Quest, that’s aiming to do just that.

How? By making it a team affair, so you’ll have friendly support and good company while you compete at great BD venues. Rules are relaxed, so you can wear what you like (within reason!) and you can compete at any of the first three levels – Intro, Prelim and Novice.

Teams of three or four will ride as individuals in their chosen test levels, in any combination of tests, and the best three scores count towards an overall team total – the highest percentage wins the day. There are three age categories for teams: 16 and under, 25 and under and ‘mixed’ – riders of any age. Teams all have a name, captain and can ride in their own colours, so it’s very different to any dressage ever seen before.

We’re hoping that new riders will be tempted to try the sport that we all love so much Amanda Bond, British Dressage Chief executive

In the saddle

Charlotte Dujardin, Double Olympic Gold Medallist and European Champion

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Standing on the podium with my team mates in London was my proudest moment... what are you waiting for?

Choose your favourite team colours

Relaxed rules

Just one team member must be a paid BD member, with a free Team Quest membership for anyone not already with BD. Horses can be any height but must be over four years old, and can be shared. Entry fees are just £15 per test for each horse and rider at all venues for the first round.

British Dressage Chief Executive Amanda Bond comments: “While British Dressage is synonymous with affiliated competition, we’re hoping that new riders will be tempted to try the sport that we all love so much. But this will also be

fun for our current members who really love the team format.

“Family, best friends, yard colleagues, college buddies, work mates – your team can come from anywhere, but one thing’s for sure, you’ll have fun competing alongside all of them!”

Turn the page for test riding advice from List 3 judge Wendy Jago

More information...

See the Team Quest page on the BD website, britishdressage.co.uk, under the ‘Competitions’ section and you can also follow on facebook.com/TeamQuestBD or Twitter @TeamQuestBD. HORSe&RIDeR 35

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Shortcourse When space is at a premium, you can still jump a course says H&R’s Céleste Wilkins

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f you’ve only got a small arena or you compete regularly indoors, you understand the challenges of jumping in a confined space. What’s more, if you’ve only got a limited number of fences at your disposal, training at home can be a challenge! Don’t fret, you can still work on your showjumping skills, even with a small arena.

Here are three showjumping exercises that use no more than six jumps each for a course of simple uprights (but more if you want to use parallels), that target key skills you’ll need this season. As I haven’t specified distances between fences, you can tailor these exercises to suit your horse, the arena shape and jumps you have available. If you’re short on wings, use poles on the floor and practise the same skills you would use if they were jumps – after all, you shouldn’t drastically alter your riding as the jumps go up!

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ExErcisE onE: Practise adjustability Being able to alter your horse’s stride on-course is a vital skill to have in your repertoire. You should be able to collect and extend his canter confidently, but if this is something you struggle with, do this exercise first over poles or smaller fences.

With the related distances on the diagonal, you can afford a bit more space for a few more strides between the jumps. Choose the distance between the jumps to suit the shape and size of your arena – but it should be greater than three strides. The single jumps on either long side allow you to rebalance your horse on the straight, but don’t slack off – make sure you ride these with straightness and accuracy!

Use your outside aids to turn to the first jump of the related line and use the corners between the

In the saddle

Being able to adjust your horse’s stride on-course is a vital skill to have in your repertoire

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diagonal lines to rebalance his canter.

Once you feel confident and balanced around the turns, and you can jump the single fences straight, increase the difficulty. If you originally set the related distances at bang-on five strides, try lengthening his canter to jump them in four strides, or collecting his canter for six strides.

Remember that you must set your tempo before the first jump of the line – once you’ve turned to your fence, it’s too late! Maintain your rhythm and accelerate or collect through the corners – this is an essential jump-off skill!

For an even greater challenge, try alternating between extending on one line, and collecting on the other. This will require quick thinking from you and will test if your horse is truly on the aids.

Walking your course can help you plan how you will ride the jumps – even at home!

ExErcisE onE: start with a single fence on the long side, then a diagonal line of two fences, to the other diagonal line, ending on a single fence on the long side. You can make the final fence a parallel.

Space-saving tips ➤ Only use simple jump stands – wider wings take up space. ➤ If you’re in a darker indoor arena, make sure you use brightly-coloured jumps so that your horse can see the fences clearly. ➤ The length of poles in normal fences at many competitions is about 12ft. To save space at home, use 10 or 8ft poles in training. Not only will they save space, they will also make the jumps at shows seem more inviting! ➤ Related distances in training can be set on a shorter stride to create a greater gymnastic challenge and save space. Courses for horses at competitions are usually based on a 12ft stride, but in training, you could base your distances on a 10 or 11ft canter stride. As always, adjust the distances to suit your horse’s ability and stride. Don’t be afraid to ask an instructor for help setting up a related distance to get it right. ➤ If you lack confidence, first try the exercises with poles on the floor, then you’ll know if you’ve set up the exercise properly, without the risk of falling over a jump. ➤ Multi-directional wings can allow three separate jumps using one wing.

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Jump 4 Joy multidirectional wing - showjumps.com

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PART ThRee In this feature. . . ➤ Communicating verbally with your

Photos: Bob Atkins

Our trainer

emma Massingale takes in problem horses for reschooling and training, and runs her own ‘Free Riding’ team, demonstrating ultimate trust between horse and rider.

Recently, she bought five Connemara geldings to train as her new ‘Free Riding’ team. She’s pictured above with her Shetland star, Albert.

Visit free.riding.co.uk for more information.

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The story so far...

In her first feature,‘Great groundwork’ (March 2014 H&R), emma explained how to build a trusting relationship with your horse on the ground. She covered how to work horses in a rope halter, controlling them with your body and voice, and also how to teach them to stand, respect your space and move their quarters. In ‘Learning to be brave’ (Spring H&R)) she explained how to solve problems and ‘spook-bust’ your horse gradually, so he accepts scary things calmly and learns how to manage his own fear.

You can order Horse&Rider March and Spring 2014 issues from our website, horseandrideruk.com/shop, or download the Horse&Rider app to your iPhone, iPad or Android device.

Mind matters

horse ➤ Liberty training ➤ Creating a calm, safe, happy all-rounder

Trouble-free training

Create a great riding horse

Training your horse to be a pleasure to ride, handle and be around is well within everyone’s capabilities, says Emma Massingale

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“Get in line, Albert!” Emma teaches her horses words and even sentences

ith horses, Emma says that it’s important to start as you mean to go on and be consistent with everything you do. This is why she spends a lot of time on the ground with young or problem horses before she begins the ridden work (see her previous features in Horse&Rider March and Spring 2014).

“The more they see and do before you get on, the better equipped they will be to deal with things under saddle,” she explains. “It’s a two-way confidence thing. If you can prepare your horse to cope well on the ground, then not only will he be more confident in himself, but you will ride in a more confident, positive way when you ask him to go past or over something.

“Remember that everything is a training exercise, so never assume your horse will be fine.

Take things slowly and always go back a step if your horse is worried. Even simple things like putting a rug on a young or nervous horse can cause him anxiety, so remember this when you are dealing with horses. However, once your horse ‘gets it’ and is happy, then move on.”

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