WEG 2010: Eventing - Dressage Day 1 | I Told You Ze Germans Were Coming

Simone Deitermann

The German dressage supremos exited the World Equestrian Games arena with the heating left turned right up today in the first day of the eventing competition, leaving a number of 4* winners in their wake. Simone Deitermann, the 28 year-old accountant, leads the dressage on 36.0 a full five points clear of her countryman, Ingrid Klimke (41.3), and the multi-talented William Fox-Pitt in 3rd (42.0).

You rarely get to see the young riders from other nations, and I remember seeing Simone go round her first Badminton earlier this year and thinking wow, this lady can really ride, but although she has lead the dressage before in some hotly contested big events, I have to say, I really didn't expect to see her so far ahead.

Another pleasant surprise was Mark Todd, who managed to get a score into the late forties, not an easy task with this horse. He's must has squeezed every last ounce out of Grass Valley to get that score. This might just put him in contention for some personal honours.

Rebecca Farms CIC*** 2010

courtesy of useventing.com

I've been following this event for the first time across the web. For those of you who don't know it, it's run in Montana in July (just finished), in what must be some of the most stunning natural surroundings you can find in America. Below you'll find a short video with a number of clips of the cross country, mostly of the CIC***, although they also run a number of other classes at this event.

Here in the UK this would probably be comparable to Barbury, Chatsworth or Weston Park. The course looks a lot more open and flowing than most Mark Phillips designed courses, and I note there were also some open corners, similar to those used at Badminton, so fortunately this is not going to please Tina Cook who has already expressed her desire not to see this type of fence becoming common place. (poor old Tina!)

Barbury Castle Horse Trials 2010 - A weekend of hot competition to match the weather

With a high of 27 degrees and no shade this was one very hot and dry event. How Barbury manages to battle these conditions is with the old established turf, that at least muffles the rock hard ground on this chalk down land. 

Since it started 5 years ago, I've been to Barbury as a competitor, spectator, guest of a sponsor and even a supplier, and each time I've found myself wanting to call Nigel Bunter [Barbury's Owner] and say "well done but have you thought about..."

There's so much to love about this event, and considering it's relatively new you have to be a little forgiving over the things to dislike about the event.  Running this event here proves that you don't need a grand stately home setting to host a great event that draws in the public.

Barbury Castle Horse Trials 2010 - CIC** Dressage Leader Video

As I just happened to capture Andrew Hoy's Dressage Test on camera whilst waiting for our horse to go, and it was the leading score I thought I'd upload it for you to view.




It's been a great day at Barbury and the Cross Country Course has played havoc with the novice and CIC** classes so far. I did capture some of this on video and there's a fair bit to report, but I'll leave this until end of play tomorrow when I'll do a full round up on the weekend down here in sunny Wiltshire.

It's been a scorcher of a day, but at least there was a decent breeze and the occasional cloud to keep things cooler.

'til tomorrow.........

Top Marks to Luhmuhlen for a great event and TV Coverage.

I've just been watching the cross country from Luhmuhlen CCI**** courtesy of Germany's NDR TV (see link below). This event is what most would probably class as the entry level 4 star and I have to say looks to be one of the nicest 4 star tracks to ride. There seems to be plenty of opportunity to keep a nice even pace throughout the course whatever type of horse you have, only the coffin about half way round seems to be forcing a break of stride. You can find a full set of photos of the course on the Luhmuhlen website. There also seems to be plenty of undulation to the course to test the horses fitness and riders' control. 

The 3 Day Event - Let's Save The Best 'til Last (and save the horses' legs)

I've thinking a lot recently (perhaps I should stop) about the current short format and how the sport has evolved through the decades, and I still keep coming back to the same conclusion - we should mix up the format a little to crescendo rather than peak early!

When the short format was introduced in the early naughties I remember being surprised at how much resistance there was to this change. If you look at how the sport started (in the 1912 Olympics) it has gradually changed since then for the better and I for one think the removal of roads & tracks and steeplechase was long over due. You only need to see the difference in pre-second horse inspection preparations in the stable yards to see the benefits. Prior to short format there was so much more pressure in the stables at the end of cross country day to get horses sound for the second trot-up. Training and preparation for 3 day events has not needed to change at all really since the introduction of the short format, so horses have benefited.

And so to my master plan! And it's undoubtedly not a new idea. I think we should run the 3 day format to finish on cross country, rather than showjumping. I have 2 key reasons for suggesting this, 1) It would be better for the horses, 2) Cross Country is the highlight of any 3 day so it makes sense to finish on a high note, and here's why:

9-11 minutes of cross country saps a hell of a lot of energy out of horse and asking it to then show jump the following day with sore shins, burning tendons, stiff joints (remember a lot of the top horses are older) and muscle fatigue just seems unnecessary. Here are my arguments for the change:

The sport evolved out of the need to train and test  cavalry horses for the rigours of military service:

Obedience, Discipline and Accuracy in the Dressage

Speed, Stamina and Athleticism in the Cross Country

Speed, Accuracy and Agility in the Show Jumping

We haven't sent horses into battle for some time now (phased out in WWI and almost gone by WWII), so given this is purely a sport these days it would seem needless to test a horse's agility after their Cross Country.

Our one day format, generally, runs in my preferred order and whilst these do only run 6 or 7 minutes, they're still testing enough on horses. You'll also find a number of horses that perform well in the one day format and not in the current 3 day format.

Now whilst I'm on the subject of changing the 3-day format.....

Horse Trials has always fallen between the cracks in sporting terms really. It's not a race, it's not an adversarial game or match and it's not about jumping higher or longer, etc, like most other sports are, and there's no 'freestyle' element, like say gymnastics.  It's a test, set by the event organiser/course designers, with a rather complicated set of scoring matrix's that require an 'ology just to work out the scores. I've not thoroughly researched all olympic disciplines but I can't think of one that is so "complete this test" or "entirely built around penalty points".

I really would like to see a change to the scoring concept of penalty points, and this 'lowest score' wins, because I think this system has two very negative impacts:

1. Its seriously tricky for the non-horsey spectator to get to grips with when we start talking about things like co-efficients.
2. There are too many negative connotations for this type of penalty system. You don't gain the lead, someone else loses it.

Here's the tricky bit, how do you change this and still provide all the right level of influence in each phase.

Dressage: Let's just use the good marks, and forget the co-efficient. If we can't devise a test that has the right level of influence without using a co-efficient then it shouldn't be part of the competition. I would go even as far as making the dressage freestyle with a number of required  and optional bonus 'movements' being available to competitors, and hey, let's set it to music too.

Cross Country: award points for each fence that is jumped at the first attempt. The number of points would need to be set to exert the correct influence. Deduct point(s) for each second over the allowed time.

Showjumping: Here I'd make things a little more interesting too, and borrow a concept from pure showjumping. Award points for each fence jumped. Build a fixed course (as we do now) but add a number of bonus fences that allow competitors to gain extra points.  Bonus fences would have varying degrees of difficulty and points attainable, and rules like you can only jump the same fence x number of times, and ofcourse maintain an allowed time.

The upshot of all of this is we would have a very exciting showjumping day as competitors push themselves to build up points before the rigours of Cross Country Day. Dressage would become far more exciting to watch, demanding much more skill as riders will need to work on evermore elaborate routines to get in the top slot. Cross Country, the best bit, will become the crescendo as riders head round the course with everthing to play for, as only clear inside the time provides any guarantees.   

Most importantly of all, horses will thank us for making the it easier on them physically and more interesting mentally.  

Undoubtedly there will be a number of event organisers who foresee issues but I think these will just be logistical ones rather than show stoppers. And perhaps this whole idea should just be saved for the 4* events. 

It may be another ten or twenty years before we see some changes like this, but I firmly believe we do need to see some changes to make the sport more accessible to the general sporting public, more interesting and demanding, and better for the horses.

Getting Fit Again...

On a slightly different track to the usual posts I wanted to write a little something about getting a horse fit for eventing after some time off - as this is exactly what I'm currently doing.

After about 4 or 5 months in the field through no fault of his own, my horse, now 15, was getting bored stiff and grumpy. He's never really been a big fan of other horses and always preferred people and being in work. Six weeks off over the winter is about his limit usually. 

So as our new baby (now 3 months old) was settled and to save the horse from dying of boredom I thought we may as well get stuck in and have another season or two. Now he's a pretty low mileage horse with more quirks than you can shake a stick at, so I was a little uncertain how best to get him up to fitness again without it taking an age. 

You quite often come across this theory that you need to walk your horse around for a month before doing anything else. I could never understand how this would be sensible, and given my horse is very cold backed this wasn't going to work. 

One of the biggest challenges I've always found with this type of situation, is balancing work and feed so that you only fight fitness not fat. It's easier to build fitness and muscle than it is to turn around a fat horse, and one that has been fit before is typically easier to get going again. With some muscle tone now regained I have cut his feed down marginally to ensure I'm only feeding for the work he has done, not what he's going to do, and as soon as he's doing more cardiovascular work I'll up his feed again to the normal levels. 

This grey is 17hh and has quite a big frame (part Irish Draught), so he struggles to make Intermediate time although he can jump Intermediate and probably beyond quite happily, but never really competitive at anything above novice, hence I've never tried. 7 years ago he had a wind op and it's only been in the last year that this has really begun to bear fruit, so this season I thought we'd see if we could get fit enough to make intermediate time. 

I rediscovered my horsey bookcase last week too and on it a very good book by William Micklem - The Manual of Horse Riding that is perfect for reminding you of some basics, I then found his blog. By the way there's an interesting comment by him on using 'rising trot' in warm up and freeing up backs. As I don't have a large string of horses with differing needs I often find I need to go out in search of inspiration for new variety in my training programmes, and so other than rifling through my bookcase or surfing the web will also spend time analysing what others do (and a Camcorder comes in very handy here). Videoing as much of my riding as possible I find allows me to be very critical of what I need to change or improve, hugely helpful especially if you don't have an army of trainers/teachers to assist. 20+ years of competitive & professional riding, a handful of qualifications and I'm still learning new things every day. ("Old Dogs - New Tricks")

Anyway, enough background, back to the job in hand. Walking a horse around for month doesn't make sense. Probably the most crucial part of the horse to strengthen is its back (it connects everything else and is a long flexible sets of bones hooked up to several muscles), and a horse is generally more balanced when working on a circle or bend, so sticking two sacks of potatoes on his back walking up and down the field or roads didn't seem remotely sensible. So I starting lunging lightly for the first week along with a few good grooming sessions to get the circulation flowing and the difference day on day was noticeable, not only in muscle tone but also his attitude. I also put a bit back in his mouth straight away so that he had a chance to acclimatise before I held any reins, and this just helps to avoid any soreness.

In week two I put a saddle on his back and a couple of days later tentatively took up the stirrups. Ten days after dragging him in from the field looking like an oversized moorland pony (or polar bear just out of hibernation) and  he is already starting to look like an eventer again (see video). A further 3 days in the saddle and I'm starting to feel that suppleness comeback, and rather than spend 30 minutes or so on board, I'm spending 15-20 minutes on the lunge with a little of that time in side reins just to ensure I have acceptance and spending less than 10 minutes in the saddle just to piece things together.

If the truth be know I was also becoming bored by having little or no equine contact, and having built a very special relationship (I sound like a UK politician now!) with this horse, who had been 'tyre kicked' for nearly a year before I bought him, I have to admit I was itching to get him back into the old routine. I suppose anyone reading this will understand the therapeutic value that all of this brings, and it's very good for the soul.  I've not had an emotional bond with every horse I've owned, in fact there have been one or two I was quite happy to see the back of, but this one is worth every penny I've turned down over the years. 

It's only two and a half weeks into the master plan but so far it's working. A few more weeks and I should be able to start a little light jumping and some cardiovascular work to start burning some calories (He & I). I know we're ready for an event when he can do 5 mins of canter at half pace without blowing and I can do it stood out of the saddle without my legs burning up completely, hopefully by the first week of August we'll have reached that goal. It's the stages in between I find prove trickier to judge. 

Here's the first stage: getting fit enough to ride with purpose

filmed on an iPhone so a little shaky even after stablisation.

Events of yester-year

I was looking through my Aperture library and the BE fixture just now to see which events I should enter this season, and was reminded of a few favourite events that have now bitten the dust.

Charlton Park Horse Trials was always one of my favourites, a really nice big flowing track over parkland, parking could be tricky, but the showground had plenty of space for warm-up etc. I'm not sure why this one shut down, but it is a real shame.

Savernake Horse Trials in Wiltshire was another great event, a lovely vista, a decent track (and for me very local). This event shut down after a rider death a few years back.

Mattingley is apparently moving to Wellington Riding School. I hope Wellington have spent some of the £0.75M refurb on the cross country facilities, because I didn't find them particularly impressive when I saw them 3 or 4 years ago. Mattingley was also one of my favourites, despite having mixed results here (eliminated in the showjumping after slipping in mud, snapped a rein cross country - finished albeit with time penalties, coming 4th & 5th, beating Zara Phillips!) It has a really well balanced track and given they spent a far bit on further groundworks for last year I'm a little surprised it's changing venue, a good 'medium-tough' set of courses.

Lulworth Castle, what a great event.

Oh well, no use crying in our milk, I just hope Brockenhurst, Highclere and Hambleden continue to feature in the fixture list......bring it on.....

When is an Event Horse not an Event Horse?

A: When he's a sub mariner.

Just had to share this with you, made us chuckle....

Play the video below and pay special attention when you get to 3mins 23secs. This is an interview with Heath Ryan who compares his horse to "Red October"out on the cross country course. For those of you who don't know Heath, he's Matt Ryan's brother and just as off the wall, and just as good an eventer inspite of the stroke, what a wag! Then compare it to the interview that follows on....what a difference, I recon he should certainly be on the selector's list for London if this is how he gets round cross country.




Thanks to Horse Talk TV & Rose Read of Sydney 3DE for sharing with us.

Hambleden Horse Trials 2010, firm ground but still a great event.

I'm sorry if you were hoping to find some detailed wordy event report full of superlatives and mentions for owners, the breeding of horses, and other uninteresting facts, because you won't find it here. For that you'll need to try the Horse & Hound or Eventing Magazine.

Hambleden doesn't normally feature in my blog as it's usually on my own calendar of events, but this year I visited in a supporting role, which meant a little spare time to take a few photos and video, and chat to a few old faces I would otherwise not have time to talk too.

If you've never been to Hambleden (as a competitor) then I highly recommend giving it a try, if only for the bluebells! It runs a decent Pre-Novice & Novice as well as a really nice Intermediate that's not too strong, just challenging enough not to put off those rising from Novice, and bearing in mind it runs early in the season (well early for me anyway).

This year the ground was good-firm, the firmest I've ever seen it here, but this really only affects the show jumping, as a good deal of the cross country is through woodland, littered with bluebells.   The lorry park was busier than I've ever seen it, to the point where one poor competitor trying to leave got on the wrong side of Pippa Funnell's frustration at being parked on the end of a busy thoroughfare as her horse shy'd whilst having studs inserted.

Ringside at the show jumping arena was 2 or 3 cars deep with spectators and the picnic brigade, and judging by the constant warnings about how narrow the track was through the woods there were plenty of people out on the course too. Fun for all ages is probably what the brochure would say.

I suppose running after Badminton (it's usually run earlier) meant attracting more big names and therefore crowds, but quite honestly the vista from this showground nestled in the surrounding hills with Red Kites flying high and the woodlands sporting a carpet of bluebells should be enough to attract anyone at a loose end on a Sunday with mild interest in horses.

I have no idea who came where, but you should be able to find out all of that on bdwp.co.uk. What I can tell you is the top flight of eventing's elite were out en mass. I spotted William Fox-Pitt, Andrew Nicholson, Badminton winner Paul Tapner, Mark Todd, Zara Phillips, Pippa Funnell, Daisy Berkeley and host of others fresh out of the Badminton line-up, all in good spirits, and all none the worse for wear.

I did manage to spot the most fantastic appaloosa too (see video). This lovely energetic horse proved lively in the Dressage warm up and then in the show jumping, unfortunately home time came before its cross country so I'd didn't manage to capture that.

You wouldn't call it a particularly undulating course, but with a few twists and turns, and a 'quarry' to go through, making the time really does mean stepping on the gas.

Anyway I hope you enjoy the video clips and make a note to look this event up early next season.

Is Eventing Really Elitist?

Now we'd all love to see more eventing on TV and Paul Tapner's recent win at Badminton Horse Trials reminded me of something I heard from a top TV exec recently, 'its very hard to get Eventing any airtime as it's seen as elitist".

So is it? [Elitist]. Well, it does have a 'Royal' at the top of the sport, but Zara Phillips has to be one of the most down to earth royals around, so I'm tempted to answer 'no'.

2010 provides another Cracking Badminton Horse Trials

Once again Badminton Horse Trials provided another cracking spectacle for the masses. A host of new names finished in the top 20 and a new winner in Paul Tapner. Yogi Brisener and the British Selectors must be scratching their heads though! Apart from the ever present Mary King, and Daisy Berkeley (and Daisy's horse is getting a little long in the tooth) there was a distinct lack of other British stalewart anywhere near the prize money.

Moving the days to finish on a Monday, was of course predominantly done to avoid TV scheduling clashes with other sports (well football anyway). I recon the gate receipts would have been up though as there did seem to be a bigger crowd, and I'm sure the opportunity to cram in an extra day's action and shopping without the need to take time off work helped.

Now if you take a look at the final results the cross country phase was the most decisive phase, something we haven't seen at Badminton for some time. And having carefully watched a number of cross country rounds, I still believe the chaos on Sunday was generally due to complacency of riders, who walked the course when the weather was good and didn't take into account the effect this had on both the conditions and their horses.

I had just walked away from the Huntsmans Close when Desert Island fell, returning when I heard the commotion. What I found particularly distressing about this incident was the reaction of some of the crowd, who felt it necessary to scream and shout at the marshalls to 'grab the horse', and thus distressing the poor horse further. Having had to deal with several incidents of this nature over the past twenty years (including two of my own horses), the only criticism of Marshals should be not getting someone to make sure the course was 'held', but bearing in mind this was early on in the course at fence 7 and only a short gallop from fence 6 you can understand how the following competitor managed to get so close. A very unfortunate incident but not badly managed.

Now if you ask any rider or spectator the cross country phase is the one they all love and believe should have greatest influence. This year's course whilst not inspired has proved you do not need to build a 'horse frightener' in order to exert decent influence, or at least not in wet conditions.

This brings me onto my next point. Why do we not run cross country on the last day? I think this can only bring more benefit (especially to horses) and much greater excitement. If this were the case, making the allowed time would be the key to winning (Just take a look at how many horses made the time in the XC results). This would make for a far more exciting finale. If we are still running the current order of service because of some historic military reason, then all I can say is "We haven't used horses on the battle field for sometime"

Time for change!

Anyway, with a rare day off this weekend I'll be winding my way to Hambleden and with early times I might get a chance to film a few top riders ( I notice the new Badminton Champion and Mark Todd are both planning to be there), so might do a little report from one of my favourite events.

ps. that reminds me, it was amusing to watch Mark Todd during his Cross Country Round on the "Mark Todd (sponsored) Big Screen"