United States Eventing Association

Less than a week out from your three-day! Wow. Take a moment to think about all that you have done to get to this point. You got your horse fit and ready and have been paying the utmost attention to his or her soundness and body condition. It is important to understand at this point in the game that your main vocabulary word is “maintain”.

You now find yourself two weeks form your three day. SO EXCITING! You have got your final preparatory show out of the way and it was a great run. Your horse is fit and trim, you are fit and your trailer is stocked and ready. I typically take a couple of days to do a bit of housekeeping at this point. For example, I will make sure my truck and trailer are serviced and ready and my dressage and show jumping coats are dry-cleaned and ready for the big day.

This is a phrase that I have had ingrained into my vernacular for a long time. Kim and Bonnie have told me this in almost every lesson! This phrase holds very true for the 3-week-out period before your three-day. It is important to remember that you have gotten this far doing things a certain way, and to remember to only try to control the things that you can control; the things that you can’t control, well, those are just left to the universe.

It’s roughly a month out from your three-day. Freaking out yet? If the answer is yes, good. If it’s no, good. At this point in your three-day prep you have got a few shows under your belt and you have your farrier, coach, and vet on speed dial. Your horse looks great, you feel good, and you have made a few changes in your tack and your system. Now you must make a few extra changes in your equipment set-up and start to get your three-day stuff together!

When you’re getting ready for a three-day it seems as though all you do is work and plan, work and plan. While that is true and it does at times seem rather daunting, there are certain parts of the process that are fun and a little more “instantly gratifying”. One of these is getting your horse ready for the jog.

Last week I chatted about the basic “how-to’s” of the trot-up. This time let’s talk FASHION! While the trot-ups are indeed very stressful and you have to know what your horse needs from you on that given day, they can also be seen in a rather fun and festive light.

I don’t know another rider that doesn’t get just as nervous for the trot-up as the rest of the competition; it’s just as big a part of it as the dressage, show jumping, or cross-country. Before the trot-up try to keep the horse “in a bubble” as much as you can; I remember one time when poor Karen O’Connor had a horse step on its heel on the way to the jog!

In this series Ashley Adams, assistant trainer to Bonnie Mosser at Point Above Farm, offers advice to riders preparing for their first three-day event. Ashley is currently preparing her Thoroughbred gelding Vaunted for their second time competing at the Rolex Kentucky three-day event.

Everyone has those moments after the vet leaves when you say to yourself, “Man, I wish I would have asked that question!” I always ask everyone so many questions! Right now Vaunted and I are roughly two months out from the big event and have started heavy conditioning and competing. Due to the heavier work load horses often need a little extra help and monitoring. When preparing for a three-day it is important to know what is best for your horse and your wallet.

Ashley Adams is assistant trainer to Bonnie Mosser at Point Above Farm. In this series she offers advice to riders preparing for their first three-day event while she relays tales of her preparations for the Rolex Kentucky three-day event with her horse Vaunted.