United States Eventing Association

Question and Answer Session

Reported by Erica Larson

Panelists: Amy Tryon, Gina Miles, Becky Holder, Karen O’Connor, Phillip Dutton, and Lucinda Green

K: “There are three parts to training the horse and rider: mental, physical, and emotional.”

L: “I still do the interval training, but I do it less minutes and faster as the event approaches. I would still ride them every four days for the workout. Between that, you would probably do three or four days of dressage, and I also hack. I believe a horse gets terribly board going round an arena.”

G: “Every four days we do the gallops. 400 – 150 mpm up a hill to get the heart rate up, but easing up on the horses legs. The walking is very important, especially with McKinlaigh because he is a big horse. We don’t want to put too much stress on the joints with the trotting”

A: “That’s when the vets come out and run them through what’s basically a pre-purchase exam. If you’re doing a spring three-star, they don’t need as much work in the fall as in the spring. I also have a hill to work on and we end up going quite fast up it. I do a lot of hacking as well. I don’t believe in doing a whole lot of jumping with them if they don’t need it.”

K: “we’re pretty flexible because no day is the same. Monday is dressage and/or trot sets. Tuesday is a canter day. We try to replace the speed with hill work. and it’s not only cantering up hill…down hill is very important too. Wednesday is dressage. Thursday is a jumping day. Friday is dressage and Saturday is a canter day. Also, in addition to that, every horse on the farm trots up on Monday morning to see if there are any problems or adjustments that need to be made. Always work backwards from what your goal is. We do a lot of cross-training as well. We go to dressage and jumper shows as well. We believe in turn out and we do a lot of round pen work as well.”

G: “I do a lot of work on the treadmill. I like that we can increase the incline, but not put stress on the joints with going in a small circle on a hot walker.”

P: “We try to customize our program to what each horse needs. The more seasoned horses jump once a week, but a less experience horse may need to jump two or three times a week. I have a lot of hot walkers…they’re called working students! I always used to give my horses a day off, but now they are ridden every day, even if it’s just walking for an hour or so. That has helped Woodburn a lot.

Question: What are some good ways to strengthen a horse’s weak back?

B: “The topline is the strongest muscle in the body. We do lots of work to get a good topline. Lots of correct transitions, keeping straight at all times, and moving from place to place on the farm. You need to get your horse off the ground every day, even if it’s just a ground pole or a hop over creek while you’re hacking. Lots of changes in direction and angles are very important. I encourage my students to throw the rails around and meet the poles are short distances, and angles, and just keeping things interesting.

A: Poggio cut his coronet band and had to have surgery. For six weeks out before Aachen, he did a lot of work in the water at a great center in Ocala. I was very pleased with the results.

K: “We’re thinking about taking the younger ones over to an aquatredder so they won’t have a problem dealing with it

Question: How often do you recommend a student take a lesson?

P: “The ultimate lesson is the one that you give and then someone can go home and work on it. For the average training / prelim rider, I think you can get into a lot of trouble jumping on your own, so I would say to get jumping lessons as much as possible. Trotting jumps is something we’ve started doing so a horse learns to understand a deep distance and the rider learns to wait as well. you can always take notes to take home and work on it.”

L: “I think people tend to rely a bit too much on lessons. We don’t have the working student thing in the same way. The good thing about keeping your horse at home is that you have that initiative.

G: “A lot of times we’re focused on our farm and our students, so when we’re able to get away and get lessons from Sandy and Mark. We’re really fortunate to get great clinics in our area. Because I live far away from my trainer, I’ll do it in a three- or four- package. I’ll go down, ride for a bit, and then go home and work on it for several weeks. But I love taking lessons and continuing to learn new things.”

Question: At what age would you recommend starting trot sets for young horses?

B: “I go out as soon as I can, with a breastplate, and stay on! I do quite a bit of ponying with my OTTBs. No boots early on because I think they have to learn that self preservation. But take them out as early as you can.”

G: “You also have to teach these young horses how to canter. When you start cantering right away, you’re not necessarily going for the speed aspect. You’re teaching them how to move out, come back, and teach them to balance themselves.

L: “Fox hunting is so important!”

B: “I probably have less than 7 acres to ride on in Minnesota. Be creative with your work. Move things around. Always look for that adventure.”

Question: How would you deal with a horse who cannot do flying lead changes?

A: “I’ve seen that about 10% of horses cannot do a flying lead change. Others will change leads at any turn.

K: “We’re always happy about using the right leads. As soon as you’re cantering, you’re doing lead changes.

P: “I’ve never broken in a horse that can’t do a flying lead change. I have however ridden a five- or six- year old horse who has been screwed up by others.

L: “Mark Todd dislikes the change as well.

“So I just keep the counter canter?”

L: “Yea! Just go for it!”

B: “Try a round pen. Pop a cross-rail there. Let them work out their own footwork.”

Question: How do you deal with a calm horse in the warm-up ring but then a nervous attitude in the ring?

A: “If your horse is truly through in the warm-up, that will carry through to the competition ring. A lot of riders stop riding when they hit the ring.

K: “You have to identify the variables that affect the situation. Why is he getting nervous? Why am I getting nervous? All my horses used to get nervous in the Dressage ring. But then I looked at it and realized that I was making them nervous. You have to realize that you’re the same rider in the ring as you are outside.

Question: What are some of your favorite exercises to do with students or horses?

P: “Always go for correctness. It’s always inside leg to outside rein. If there are problems, it usually goes back to them not being correct and not really truly bend around your inside leg to the outside hand.”

K: “We have to be creative and make them think that the challenging tasks we’ve asked of them are easy.”

A: “I like to teach landing on the correct lead. In order to teach that, a rider has to be able to have an independent leg and hand. It’s a very empowering to learn that you have the power to change the way your horse lands after a jump.”

B: “I like to set up a grid of ground poles that aren’t all the same distance. It’s a self correcting exercise because the horse won’t get through cleanly if the rider hangs on its face. It’s a great way to correct the length of stride with the seat.”

G: “I like to use four jumps on a circle. It really helps the rider find the aids it takes to ride both sides of the horse. It really helps with the turning, adjustability, etc.”

L: “I like to jump from walk. It gets the rider to realize that the horse can jump from walk, it gets them able to connect to keep the horse in walk but still jump clean. And…you will inevitably get left behind. It gives the rider the confidence to let the reins go and let the horse take its fifth leg out. And of course it gives the entertainment factor because you’ll sure look goofy!”

How do you know when you have a world class horse?

K: “When you finish a world class event.”

G: “Find a level that’s comfortable for you and your horse. Don’t push it.”

L: “When is it time to move up? When you’re board and when your horse is board.”

K: “If you’re thinking about the qualifications for a level, you’re not qualified for that level.