United States Eventing Association

Taking Beginner Novice Seriously

I once heard it said that there are two types of serious Eventers. The first group is those Eventers whose ultimate goal is to compete at the preliminary level and hopefully be competitive. The second group is all of those who consider Preliminary to be just a stepping stone to greater things. I submit to you that there is another group of riders who are no less serious or determined than their prelim brethren, just with their sights set lower.

These riders often train just as hard as their higher level counterparts but without the praise or admiration that come with winning in the “sexy divisions." Their reward comes in the form of a hug from their instructor, a pat on the back, or a two dollar ribbon they hang proudly in their living room. They are the often forgotten and overlooked riders from which form the lifeblood of the sport and comprise the majority of the Eventing contingency. They are the “unanimous majority."

Case in point: Kay Brady

She is the 2007 CDCTA (Virginia) Beginner Novice Champion and finished the year tied for 7th on the USEA BN leaderboard. In eight USEA recognized competitions she doubled cleared her cross country rides all eight times. In fact she has never had a refusal during any competition. Her horse soars over jumps with the greatest of ease, jumps with the boldness of a foxhunter, and puts together a very solid dressage test. At the awards banquet last year her fellow competitors were shocked to find our that her answer to their rhetorical question, “So are you going up to Novice next year?” was simply – no.

You have nothing left to prove at this level, they all said but Kay knew better. Her best placing at a recognized event was 2nd (twice) and her dressage was typically good but not great. Typically she would end the dressage phase standing somewhere around 6th place and then watch as others added penalties to their scores. Looking towards 2008, Kay set her sights on winning the American Eventing Championships and that meant her dressage would have to improve from good to great and then to near perfection. So rather than moving up to Novice and worry about training for all three disciplines at once, she would be content to focus squarely on her dressage. In December, she was blessed to find an excellent dressage teacher who immediately began building her back up from scratch and working on the basics. Although dressage inconsistency was the theme for the start of her 2008 season, at a recent competition Kay received a comment which really made her smile: another competitor asked her why she sold her other horse and purchased this “fancy, new, dressage horse”. (She didn’t… it was the same horse!)

Like most of the “unanimous majority”, Kay works a full time job then goes home to ride in the evenings – her dressage ring illuminated by the floodlights her husband put up so she could practice all year long. Kay’s typical training schedule includes riding five days a week with three days of instruction. Living in Virginia, Kay has been blessed to have access to some of the best instructors in the country and she has always taken full advantage of it. She has taken cross country clinics with the likes of Lucinda Green, Sharon White, Mary Schwentker, and Nancy Covert. She takes dressage lessons with Lauren Sprieser and Sally O’Connor. She takes every opportunity to better herself and her horse, even to the extent of doing competitive trail rides to help her horse, Taffy, become braver.

She trains year round. Kay’s work ethic is much like the United State Postal Service, neither snow nor rain, nor illness will keep her from getting on her horse.

She lives and breaths Eventing. It seems even her horse seems to go into withdrawals when she goes three weeks between competitions.

The point is this: Kay could easy take her horse to prelim but she will never go that high. “I’m in no rush. Novice… maybe Training. That’s the most I want to go. I want to retire from Eventing in 3 or 4 years and just ride the trails with Taffy. All I want to do is be the best at whatever level we do, whether it is Beginner Novice or bigger, and do it safely.”

In the wake of the recent tragedies, I think we all can take a page out of Kay’s book and only do events that you are trained for and ready to take on. Advancing horses simply to meet progression milestones (ie – “if my horse is going to make Prelim by the time he is eleven, then he needs to be doing Novice by, at the latest, eight”) is something best left to professional riders who have the skill and experience needed to overcome the greenness of their horse. Amateur and inexperienced riders need to proceed with caution.

Keep in mind, there are many of us in the “unanimous majority” whose main goal is to someday do a recognized event. There are others who, through due diligence and hard work, hope to reach Training level. Unfortunately, there are also far too many riders who progress too fast before their skills and their horse’s confidence is up to the challenge. Remember, it isn’t how high your horse can jump. Rather, it is how ready you and your horse are to answer the question posed by the jump. Readiness comes with training and lots of miles. I have personally seen many riders and trainers drop their horses down from Prelim to Novice or below due to a complete cross-country meltdown. Confidence breeds success but confidence takes time to build and can be lost all too suddenly. With diligence, patience, and realistic expectations, you will be successful – whether it is doing Novice, Prelim, or just a little C.T. down the road.

There is nothing wrong with not advancing to Preliminary even if your horse is very capable. There is nothing wrong with taking Beginner Novice seriously.