Emma Mason – Are you ready for a young horse? Part 4 – Competition

In this final instalment of Emma’s young horse series, she looks at the real deal: out at a competition…

You’ve spent countless hours teaching your young horse to travel up the centre line with minimal wobbling, negotiate coloured poles without incident and take on a water jump with barely a raised eyebrow, so it’s now time to put your training (and your courage) to the test, and take the youngster out to his first event.

That first competition can be a daunting experience.  This month, we’ll talk about some of the challenges you might face, based on my experiences with Harley (and others!), and we’ll look at ways of tackling them, so that both horse and rider can complete the event unscathed.

Before the Event

I always try to take the young horse out to a few low-key jumping days or dressage comps before entering him in his first one day event.  The relaxed, ‘no pressure’ atmosphere of these days is a nice way to introduce the baby to the eventing scene, and also gives me a bit of a preview of how the horse will react:  His attitude to being ridden in company, his handling of the unfamiliar jumps, and how well he copes with standing at the truck or in a yard for a length of time.

For the latter, hay can be an excellent distraction, and it is a good idea to have a generously stuffed hay net at the ready.  I recall taking a very young mare to her first competition not long ago, and as she is an edgy, sharp mare at the best of times, I was concerned about how she’d cope.  I needn’t have been.  Ignoring my warnings of ‘a moment on the lips, forever on the hips’, she solemnly munched through a copious quantity of hay, not batting an eyelid when loose horses galloped past or her buddies left the truck to compete in their tests.  It was the best day of her life.

I’m very fortunate to have the Central Coast Showjumping Club in my area.  This is a club where, despite boasting some high-profile regulars such as Rod Brown, Vicki Roycroft and Tarsha Hammond, the jumping days are friendly and instructional, and the horse goes home feeling confident and happy.  And the canteen is amazing…

When packing the float or truck for the event, it is important to be well prepared.  Knowing Harley, and his tendency to be suddenly overcome with a burst of excitement that involves an almighty buck or five, the monkey grip is just about the first thing on my list.  It’s a good idea, also, to have a lunge rein packed, so that if the horse seems a bit on edge, you can let him run off some of the butterflies without wondering if your rodeo riding skills will be put to the test.

The Dressage

One could be forgiven for thinking that this is the simplest, least-risk-of-disaster phase for the young horse.  Wrong.  And the challenges begin well before you even enter the 20 x 60.  The judge’s car can be a cause of considerable angst, and it can take time to assure the youngster that the judges are hardly ever real monsters.

Even the most menial task of entering the arena at A, is not always as straightforward as one might think.  I remember riding a young Warmblood mare, Sizzle, at her first competition.  Being by Salute, who is renowned for his very talented but often spooky progeny, I was already somewhat on the back foot, so the overnight rain and resultant puddles were never going to work in my favour.  The judge rang the bell and I proceeded to enter the arena.  Sizzle, spotting the large pool of water at the entrance, had a different idea, screeching to a halt with the dexterity a reining horse would have been proud of.  As I circled to re-present to the arena entrance (wondering if I could in fact be issued 20 penalties for the misdemeanour?), it struck me that if I’ve had a refusal at A, things are looking bleak for the cross country phase tomorrow.

Keep in mind, also, that the young horse doesn’t always view the little border to the arena as a little border to the arena.  Particularly after all your time spent teaching him that when presented at an obstacle, he must jump, be careful, especially when tracking right or left after the centreline, that he doesn’t diligently pop out of the arena.

The cross country

The young Thoroughbred, bred and trained to run, tends to catch on to the idea of travelling at speed in open country considerably faster than the Warmblood, who tends to be in as much of a hurry as a Sunday Volvo driver.

The challenge often lies not in the fences themselves, but in the seemingly harmless surrounds.  Crossing the bridge at the Berrima Horse Trials, negotiating the slide at Scone and convincing the horse to leave the start-box and venture 180 degrees in the opposite direction from the warm up area at Camden has seen many a time penalty accrue in the lower grades.

In Harley’s case, it seems to be the concept of cross country, rather than the individual fences, which causes concern:  I’m working my hardest some 50 metres out, when Harley spots the looming jump and attempts the ‘I’m outta here’ stop and spin.  Thankfully, he has had enough schooling to know that once he gets to the base of the fence, he has to jump it.

Don’t be too discouraged if your young horse is particularly spooky, or calls out to his friends the whole way round.  Keep working at it, and front up to the next event as planned – you’ll be surprised at how quickly the horse improves.  I’m pretty sure it took me about 37 minutes to get Harley around his first cross country course, but he’s had some good results since then!

The showjumping

The young horse will no doubt be a bit daunted when he canters into a ring full of coloured poles and bright fillers, so it is our job, as the rider, to help him settle.  Be ready to get in that ring the instant the previous horse has completed his round, and have a plan of exactly where you’ll go when you first get in.

If there’s an unfriendly looking wall or Liverpool, for instance, I might give your horse the opportunity to stand and face it for a moment.  Or, for the horse that is unconfident in a strange ring, I might keep a big canter and try to fit in a couple of laps of the arena, helping familiarise him before having to go through the start flags.

Even if the horse has warmed up confidently, be careful not to drop your guard once in the ring, particularly at the first couple of fences!

After the competition, I give the horse a day or two off to rest and recover.  If you’ve been able to have your performances videoed, watch the footage and look for areas that you and the horse can improve on.  Talk to your trainer about what went well and what didn’t, and get their help where necessary.

I often find that the young horse ‘grows up’ a lot after his first event – suddenly, the things at that seemed spooky at home pale in comparison to what he faced over the weekend!

I hope you’ve found this series on the Young Event Horse helpful in some way – I’ve really enjoyed writing it, and Harley had a ball (although he’s turned into a bit of a poser now!).  Wishing you and your young horse the best of luck!

Cheers, Em