By Bec Bramich

Name: Ben Hudson

Horse: OSO Edith

What is your biggest achievement on this horse so far?
1st place and BC in 160km 3* at the Australian FEI championships 2013

How long have you been doing endurance for?
6 years.

Have you ridden overseas before?
Have ridden in New Zealand, but never in Europe.

What are you doing to prepare in the lead up to WEG?
As a rider, train endurance horses 5 days a week, gym 4 days a week including weights and cardio.

What are you doing to prepare Edith in the lead up to WEG?
Wrapping her in cotton wool!!...on a serious note though we are most importantly trying to keep her relaxed and her routine as normal as possible. We have been slowly introducing her to being stabled with lights on at a night. She slept in her paddock a good few hours every day to start with as she wasn't used to it, however we started this a few months ago so she is well adjusted now and loving her inside life on these cold wet nights. Edith is a horse that maintains fitness well and our main focus is not letting her peak too early and keeping her sound in mind and limb.

Ben Hudson and OSO Edith. Photo is supplied by Bec Bramich

What do you feed Edith leading up to such a big event?
We use a mix of Hygain and KER products along with good home grown hay. Having and excellent feed nutritionist (Rod Mitchell at Albury Trade and Produce) is critical to Ediths well being.

How do you prepare Edith for such a long journey?
This was a big concern for me much as we have imported horses from overseas but we have never actually prepared one for such a long journey. I have spoken
directly on a few occasions with IRT who will be transporting the team to France and they have been amazingly supportive and helpful. Starting the journey at peak health is of course critical but the most important thing they said was for the horse to be as relaxed and as stress free as possible so that they eat and drink well on the journey.


What do you know about the 160km WEG course?
At one of the WEG workshops it was brilliant to have access to riders that had ridden in the test ride last year. They gave us an amazing insight into
what the terrain maybe like which included farm land, tar roads, sand and windy narrow tracks.  It will be a very testing ride I am sure, however in Australia we are used to "real" endurance tracks so our horses will hopefully be ready for whatever they come across. The changes in speed to suit terrain will be a big challenge and we have been working on Edith’s dressage skills to sharpen up her response to the riders aids so she can adjust speed whilst staying balanced and preventing injury. Ben has also
been working on his dressage skills by taking a few lesson with Rochelle King-Andrews from KEA.


What is Edith's biggest strength/weakness?
Edith's biggest strength is her awesome recovery times and her desire to win. I have never on track seen her without her ears forward looking for the next horse to overtake! At this stage in the game we don't like to talk about weakness's however every athlete, horse or human has them. Edith being the competitive minded horse she is will need her rider to stay cool calm and focused to ensure she doesn't go too hard in the first few legs. Even though the Oso combination are both young, we have total faith in them both!


Oso are sponsored this season by Hygain, KER, Virbac & Vetsense.