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Horsing Around Magazine Horsing around maga- zine is now available on the iStore & android Market to download. For just £40 a year, you can take Horsing Around every where with you, all kept on your tablet or phone. Find out more at www. horsingaround.co.uk ‘Dressage, a dance of the horses’ Being an event rider and a liv- ery yard owner can be a busy, stressful job for anyone. Liv- ery yards can take up a lot of time, especially when your ca- tering for up to 20 horse, but when you’re an event rider as well it can take up a lot of val- uable time. To become a top event rider you need a good background of rising horses to even begin thinking of training for an event. You also need a very willing and athlet- ic horse to be able to keep up with the demands of a 3 day event. A 3 day event consists of Day 1: Dressage, a dance of the horses some people like to call it, which is where horse and rider are expected to per- form a test made up of vari- ous movements which must be memorised before event- ing the arena. Day 2: Cross- country is an endurance test for both horse and rider, in- cluding obstacles from jumps, water, ditches and banks. Day 3: Show jumping which is made up of a number of jumps where horse and rider must complete the round un- der a certain amount of time without knocking any fences down, it is also about con- trol and balance. So you can imagine the time, effort and training that goes into being a top event rider. Sue Chadwick is one of West Yorkshires fin- est and has a top horse which is at an Advanced level and competes against top event riders such as, John Whittak- er & Mark Todd. Each event has its own tack and each piece of tack has its own job, in dressage a dressage saddle is used which helps the rider have more leg contact with the horse so it can understand the commands being asked of it. A dressage saddle has long straight cut flaps, a high and deep pommel and minimal padding these things accom- modate leg position and clos- er contact with the horse. A deeper saddle seat means the rider is comfortable and can relax so that is reflects on the horse. e bridle also plays a big role as it has contact with the mouth and controls the direction and the shape of the horse and horses head & neck. Usually a standard snaffle bri- dle or grackle bridle is used, but in the higher levels of dressage a dou- ble bridle is used where two bits are used and require two sets of reins which allow even more control but the rider must know how to use them properly or this can be uncomfortable and cause damage to the horses mouth and will not do as it is asked. For cross-country an endurance saddle is used and provides comfort and balance for both horse and rider. Panels on an endurance saddle are usually longer to cover a larger area and reduce fatigue; the seat is also padded to provide com- fort for the rider even though most of the time they are out of the seat. e bridle used is either a grackle bridle or a gag bridle this allows a lot more control over the horse whilst walking, galloping and jumping and is a harsher bit than the dressage but is needed in this type of event. A 5 point breastplate is also used in cross-country, this goes across the horses chest attaches to the saddle at ether side and underneath by the 6:00: Alarm goes off & it’s time to get up. Horses have breakfast, then get turned out. 7:00: Time to muck out & put fresh bedding down, replenish hay nets, fill water buckets and mix feeds ready for tea and breakfast the next morning. 8:00: Clean all tack and make sure arena is level. 9:00: Time to teach. 1st Lesson of 3. It’s a Jumping lesson. 10:00: 2nd Lesson is a dressage les- son. 11:00: 3rd and final lesson of the morning, another dres- sage lesson. 12:00: Put jumps up in arena ready to do some work. 13:00: Bring in top event horse, groom tack up. 14:00: An hour of warming up, jumping and warming down. 15:00: Bath horse & then let him dry and cool down in the stable. 16:00: Get feeds ready for horses coming in & then bring horses in. 17:00: Check all horses have enough water and hay for the night. 18:00: Finished for the day, ready to do it all again tomor- row. A Typical Day In An Eventers Life: Do you Want To Start Eventing? 1. Go to www.briti- sheventing.com and click on Start Eventing. 2. Register Rider & Horse. 3. Fill in the form and make sure you know what stage you want to compete in. 4. Check out tips on ‘What to do on your Big Day’. girth and is then attached to the reins, this stops the sad- dle from moving backwards but also stops the horse from chucking his head in the air and loosing control and bal- ance. Show jumping involves using a jumping saddle; this has padded knee rolls, which allows a shorter stirrup length for the rider to be able to cre- ate the 2-point position when jumping over fences. e seat is further back and more flat than any of the other saddles this is also so the rider can contain balance whilst in the 2-point position. e bridle that is used is the same as a cross-country bridle, either a gag or grackle bridle to allow balance and control around the course and over the fences. A martingale is allowed which stops the horse from throwing his head in the air whilst jumping. Not only does the horse have certain requirements but the rider does also. Each event involves different attire; dres- sage is a protective top hat, blazer, shirt, tie, breeches and long leather boots, Cross- country is a protective skull hat, polo shirt, body pro- tector breeches, leather boots and chaps and Show Jumping is protective hat, blazer, shirt, tie, breeches and long leather boots. An expensive sport and becoming an event rider might sound exciting and in- teresting but to become a top level it involves a lot of dedication, hard work and passion for the sport. Top Leſt: Sue Show Jumping Sam. To the leſt: Sue Doing Cross country. Top Right: Sue Doing Dressage. A Day In e Life Of An Eventer
