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Ashley Adams is assistant trainer to Bonnie Mosser at Point Above Farm. They have just left Charlottesville, VA to spend the winter training and competing in Aiken, SC. Ashley, who previously worked for Kim Severson and then Holly Hepp, often assists riders in learning the ropes as they prepare for their first three-day event. She will share her advice in a series of installments as she prepares her own horse Vaunted for the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** in April.
Ashley says: What I’m doing right now is looking at the calendar, planning the three-day I want to go to – Rolex – and working backwards from there. If you want to do a three-day, that’s a good way to start: look at the overall time frame and decide if you can fit in the number of events that you and your horse need to get prepared.
(Left: Ashley Adams and Vaunted competing at the Rolex Kentucky CCI4*. Amber Heintzberger photo)
Right now, being about three and a half months out from Rolex, I’m starting to look at the schedule and work backwards. Talking with my coach, vet and farrier I am working out a schedule going on past experiences I have had with my horse and applying them to a projected schedule with him.
For anyone getting ready for a three-day, the thought process needs to include the whole general outlook, not just the events you’re going to. This should include lessons, gallops, and that kind of thing. You need to plan your equipment, what you’re going to wear for your jog outfit, and the cosmetics of the whole thing too. For me, with everything I’ve learned from Kim and Bonnie, you’re working against the calendar and you have to play the numbers game a bit.
(Right: Ashley and Vaunted at last year’s Rolex Kentucky CCI4*. Emily Daily photo.)
It’s important to have a backup plan, too: for me that means if it doesn’t look like Rolex is a good option because of his soundness, or the events aren’t going as planned, or whatever, then Jersey Fresh is my alternate plan. You always hope for the best, but you never know.
Know your qualifications and rules and have good communication with a coach or someone of a higher power who can guide you through the process. You wouldn’t just drive a truck and trailer for the first time by yourself; you’d at least have someone give you some guidelines. Entering a three-day is no different; you don’t just get behind the wheel and go.
I think a lot of people underestimate how different a three-day is from a horse trials, but having that gallop and the extra jumps on course makes it that much harder. Maybe you need to do an extra three canter sets or compete at another event before the three-day, or even spend an extra year at a particular level before you move up. It helps to have someone guide you. For example, before I moved up to advanced I spent an extra year at intermediate and that made all the difference in the world for me.
Physical fitness is important too – getting ready for Rolex last year Bonnie had me go out and trot for half an hour and stand up in the stirrups half the time. I wouldn’t have done that without my coach, so it goes back to having guidance.
When you’re starting to plan for a three-day it’s really important to make sure it’s feasible. You have to monitor everything and notice things about your horse: how their feet are, what could be an issue; you have to start with a baseline. Have a conversation with your vet and your coach and if there’s someone taking care of your horse ask them to keep an eye on issues the horse may have.
As an example, when people show up to us and want to go to a three-day, we might start jumping twice a week and so on, and then the horse comes up a bit sore. We ask a lot of questions and if people haven’t been monitoring their horse’s physical condition for long enough, maybe they don’t know where that splint came from or if the horse runs around in the paddock, then it’s hard to figure out when a problem started. We see it all the time, and if people learn to notice the small details then they might be able to catch these things earlier.
As far as my plans go, I’m having Dr. Brady come out tomorrow to take a look at Vaughn. He’s just had a rest break so I want to start with a baseline, knowing what I have now, since time heals a lot of stuff and things I dealt with last year also might not be present now. Things that haven’t healed I’d like to nip in the bud now.
Dr. Brady www.olddominionequine.com will flex Vaughn and knowing what I know about the horse based on last year, I will have the vet perform maintenance things like getting any injections he may need. There’s a time limit on how long joint injections last so I’m planning a schedule for when I might need to do a heavy dose of Adequan or Legend or something like that to help him. It’s a constant fight with the calendar. Knowing the drug rules, I also keep in mind the last point that I can treat certain things.
As far as fitness, we’re heading south and in Aiken there are no hills. For me hills really help my horse so while we’ve been in Virginia I’ve been trotting a lot of hills and doing flat work to get his back strong. I’ve been doing a little jumping to getting him going again, but doing longer, slower trot sets and hills to get his baseline back where it was before he starts doing canter work. For horses that have been as fit as he has, it’s not as difficult, and I’m fortunate to be riding a Thoroughbred. With horses getting fit for the first time, you have to pay attention to what they need; some big horses need more wind work, others need more muscular focus in their conditioning programs.
Note: Ashley and Bonnie will be featured on the upcoming episode of the Eventing Radio Show next week. Listen to a previous interview with Ashley here: http://eventingradio.horseradionetwork.com/2009/06/03/eventing-radio-episode-26-2009-upcoming-rider-ashley-adams/
Be sure to check out Ashley’s “Fan Page” on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Ashley-Adams-Eventing/258669055862?ref=ts
Also look forward to the next installment: “So the schedule is made, what next: executing the plan!”
