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By Amanda Ross
The start of the eventing season is underway & what could be more enjoyable than a perfect sunny Saturday at Werribee? Riding one Intro horse, who was perfectly transported, plaited & groomed for by her super organised owner Kate Sutherland, I found myself in the strange situation of 'rider'... Likening this to a child showie at the Royal, being told to stand motionless on a towel, whilst the immaculate first-ridden pony's makeup is adjusted, I found it quite a novelty to just turn up minus a float in tow! And to top it off, 'Delta' was a superstar in her first intro eventing outing, placing 4th & feeling like a legend in the making!
Delta being a superstar at our first competition together
Technically there are 3 phases in eventing, however I would consider surviving the warm up ring to be a phase in itself! Especially at Intro level. After walking quietly over to the designated area, I found myself staring at a giant whirlpool of horses, everything from ponies, to clydie crosses, things with spots & all with varying degrees of control. Time to deploy some survival tactics...
- Go round the outside, it looks quieter.
- Go with the flow/general direction. Help create equine whirlpool!
- Do not get stuck between the fence & a horse going the other way - halt before this occurs!
- LOOK UP! Pretend you are steering the QE2 round a fishpond, keep eyes peeled for potential hazards (horse shy wilder beasts, earth shattering clumpers, chestnut TB's who are 'not coping'!).
After a few slightly apprehensive laps of the warm up, Delta settled really well. Rarely do riders pray to get out of the warm up, away from the craziness of 40 busy horses & into the dressage arena!! However this is often the one place of peace & personal space, away from the craziness, funnily enough!
We survived in one piece!
Delta was super in the warm up for the SJ in indoor 1. It was pretty quiet, but none the less, for a horse at her rookie eventing outing & indoor SJ round experience, she was really ticking boxes! Just one rail down but excellent behaviour, so smiles all round.
We sauntered over to the XC warm up, enjoying the sunshine, two phases down & feeling pretty chilled out. As I entered the warm up ring, a horse galloped past on course... Delta grew a hand & decided this was very adrenalising!!! Kate had told me Delta had become unsettled at Ballarat Hickstead when this happened, so tactical strategy deployment mark 2 - go to a quiet area, grab monkey grip, do not release, & cut laps at trot & canter until adrenalin is replaced with tired!! This took about 10 minutes, not long in the scheme of things, but fairly understandable behaviour given Delta had virtually no experience of XC & horses whizzing past her!
My tips -
- Always have a monkey grip & a breastplate ('holy Jesus' straps).
- Go forward, hold firm contact, go forward more, turn head away from scary objects, keep kicking, wear them out!
- Remember to unclip if you need to get off! An exploding vest paired with an exploding horse would possibly result in lots of unwanted equine/human shrapnel!
- Keep Calm, find somewhere quiet, shoulders back, heels down, plant your butt in that saddle.
Sticky boot stuff earns its keep around about now!
Knowing arena rules is an enormous advantage in situations like this. Here are some to help if you're not aware of the 'road rules for riding':
- Always pass left hand to left hand.
- The distance between two horses passing in opposite directions = a dressage whip length ie. enough room so you don't flick someone else's horse with your whip on the way past!
- Lateral work gets priority on the outside track (can be tricky, some horses look like they're doing shoulder in when they're really trying to go straight!).
- Walk off the outside track, especially loose rein.
- Call out if you are going to change direction or pathway & it's unexpected. And call out 'oxer' or 'vertical' to notify others when you are approaching a warm up jump.
- Give riders who are on horse-shy horses plenty of space. Be respectful of their situation cos it might be you next time!
- Use your brain - don't be selfish & think purely of your own warm up. Keep horse numbers to a safe amount & see the steward if you feel it's too crowded or a potential hazard. If there isn't a steward, work together to create a safe environment - no one needs to be injured!! And horses really suffer from being run into, often becoming horse shy for quite some time afterwards, so use your brain riders!!
Anyway, enjoy the eventing season, be smart & safe!!
Xx
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