TRAINING TIPS
at school, then continues: “We use
Bec and Steel Poppy Regent leading the pack, followed by dad Norbert aboard Sandstorm Spellbound (Image by Vince Evans).
plastic bags and flags to desensitise. You see the personality and get to know your horse. With groundwork, my main horse West Coast Kia has improved in confidence. While not quite able to be off all on her own yet, she is now able to
BELOW: An example of the peloton style formation (Image by Down Under Images).
get out in front during a ride.”
Crunch time
Competitions are attended roughly every four to six weeks. When it comes to the day of the ride, strategy remains the name of the game. “It’s a bit like cycling,” Bec tells me. She is referring to the peloton formation employed in a cycle race. She describes how a horse and rider combination will lead the pack, doing more work than the others as they cut through the most air resistance. Being on a horse and not a bike, the rider in this position is required to pay more attention to what’s
put the [heart rate] monitor on before
will show up any signs of unsoundness.
we strap them. We’re checking for the
If necessary, we film this so we have a
speed of recovery. How quickly the
baseline to check against.”
heart rate comes back down to that horse’s normal is an indicator of fitness.”
A training aspect the family has employed in more recent years is the
coming up ahead. The whole process is quite methodical. “Each horse has different strengths, which wax and wane throughout the event,” Bec says. “We pair horses up, to each bring out the best in the other, and they adjust to each other’s speed. We choose one that’s a
And that’s not all, following strapping,
addition of groundwork and behavioural
these dedicated endurance
connection. “We had a couple of horses
professionals also trot each horse out to
not wanting to get on the truck and
check for evenness. Full of endurance
float. Groundwork has been the answer,”
The staple in the stable at the Radny
wisdom, Bec outlines the details: “We
says Bec, “it helps them ‘make the right
residence is a horse named Reg. He
trot them out 20 to 40 metres and back,
choices’.” She chuckles as she likens
competes in every second event or so
always on bitumen - it’s unforgiving and
the horses to the students she teaches
and makes a fantastic lead horse. “He
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solid leader, who won’t look and shy at the start.”
