The COVID-19 crisis and resulting state and local mandates have forced many barns to close their doors to riders in attempts to social distance and flatten the curve. As a result, some horses are having a bit more downtime then they would normally see in the middle of the spring season. When the time comes when barns can open their doors once more and horses and riders can return to full work in anticipation of the restart of the competition season, what kinds of precautions should they take to make sure their horses come back to full fitness happy and healthy?
International eventer Buck Davidson Jr. is a firm believer in the importance of downtime for horses. “Just like an athlete, you can’t be “peak” all the time,” he said. “On a horse, you have to have fat so you have something to build into muscle. You have to let their bodies detox and let their feet go back to the way nature intended – then you can see where the horse is when he’s in nature and that usually gives you a pretty good idea of where they should go. It’s for their minds too. You can’t just keep shoving information at them because it would be information overload and they might go kind of nuts. Just like a kid on summer break, they have time to absorb everything they’ve learned and they usually come back smarter and stronger.”
“I would treat this the way you treat the beginning of the year,” Davidson said. “Normally after the fall season, the horse gets a little bit of a break and then you bring them back up over a couple of months. If they’ve had the break they would normally have in the fall, then you do it in the same way. If they’ve done more than their normal break you act accordingly. Every situation is different – every horse is different, every rider is different, and every break is different. Do what’s right for you and your horse.”
Great Britain’s Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir found themselves in a familiar position today at the top of the leaderboard after dressage at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, scoring a 26.0. A year ago, Ingham and “Banzai” led the field heading into cross-country after Friday’s dressage, but they drew an earlier start this year, and Ingham’s got a few more challengers to come tomorrow.
In comparison to many of his other upper-level event horses, Commando 3, or “Connor” as he is known in the barn, is still a newer ride for Boyd Martin, but that hasn’t held the pair back.
Are you following along with the action from home this weekend? Or maybe you're competing at an event and need information fast. Either way, we’ve got you covered! Check out the USEA’s Weekend Quick Links for links to information including the prize list, ride times, live scores, and more for all the events running this weekend.
Let the fun and games begin! This morning kicks off the official start of competition at the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event (K3DE). The hefty four-star field is the first to set foot in the Rolex Stadium starting at 8:00 a.m. Last year we saw 49 four-star pairs in this division, but this year there are 63 pairs in the field.