Lessons Learned from Top Eventers for an Amateur Dressage Rider

At the recent Rolex Kentucky 3 Day, I spent a lot of time observing riders both in competition and in their warmup and there are a few things that I took away that I plan to apply to my own riding.

Patience

Prepping for the fence

Of all the traits I observed, this is the one thing that set apart the winning riders from the ones at the bottom of the pack.   This applied in both their dressage and their jumping.    William Fox-Pitt, who ended up on the wining horse for the weekend, truly looked as if he had all the time in the world to complete his dressage test. Before the rein back, he paused so long I thought briefly he had forgotten what to do for the next movement.

Success!

In reality, he was setting his horse up for success.  Instead of going directly from halt to the rein back, he allowed each movement to be its own entity.   He didn't begin the rein back until he knew he was going to get a perfect one.  And he did.

The riders who took their time at the jumps were also the successful ones.    There were riders who looked as if they were more or less along for the ride.  Their horse got over the jump for the most part but it had a frantic, "Oh, wow, we got over!" look rather than a confident, "Well, of course, we nailed that baby!" look.

The ones that nailed the jump were the ones that set their horse up for success by sitting back, both slowing their horse to allow them to see the upcoming jump and getting the horses in a nice collected bouncy gait before attacking the jump.

Preparation and Focus

William Fox-Pitt in the warm up

This trait goes along with the previous one but to expand on it a bit, it wasn't just patience - the riders who succeeded did their homework.   It was clear that the riders who ended up on the podium, knew exactly what their horse needed and they had a plan.    In the dressage warmup, they were completely focused on their plan.  Despite their sometimes being hundreds of people surrounding the warm up ring, the rider paid no attention to them and focused on their plan.

Because I was reporting for a British magazine, I spent a lot of time watching William Fox-Pitt and I was truly impressed with his focus.  He spent about an hour in the dressage warm up and in that time I never saw him look up from his task, minus one quick stop to get a drink.   Watching him, you would think that he was home alone in his ring.   Complete focus on his plan.

Before the competition begins, the riders walk the cross country course.  Again, the riders who succeeded were the ones that had a clear plan of attack.  As they approached each jump, they knew exactly where they were going to turn, exactly how many strides it was going to  take to get to the jump, exactly where they were going to collect the horse and exactly where they were going to take off.    This type of planning pays off in your horse's trust.  The successful rider's horses looked confident that they were going to get over because they trusted their rider had a plan for them and was going to execute it.

What light fingers! And the expression on this horse's face
looks like this massive fence is so easy he could take a nap.

Patience, focus and preparation are the same traits I should take to each dressage test.   I know my horse and I should have a clear plan for warmup and should execute it with focus.
During the test I need to make sure I set up each movement for success and have the patience to do so.  If I know my horse rushes the entrance and initial halt, I need to have exercises planned in the warmup to mitigate the issue and as I turn the corner to enter the arena, I need to take my time and have a clear plan of action to help him go down centerline with confidence and a steady tempo.  A wish and a prayer aren't going to make it happen.

Kindness and Compassion
One other item I witnessed at Rolex that I have to mention is the respect and compassion for the horse.   Not once did I hear a rider say they failed because of the horse.  It was always, "I should have set him up better" or "he tried hard but it wasn't his day".    When they had success, they never took the credit but gave it to their horse with, "She was fabulous.  I couldn't love her more."

I saw the riders pat their horses on the neck infusing a bit of courage before entering the ring and I saw them clap their success on their necks after successful jumps.

Despite what must be crushing disappointment after putting so much of their lives into competing at Rolex, riders again and again made the tough decision to retire their horse from the competition - not because a judge told them to but because they knew their horse and knew it was best for them.

Riding, in any discipline, is a team effort between you and your horse and these top riders showed this amateur rider a thing or two I plan to follow.

Rolex Kentucky 3 Day -- What it Is and Why I Love It!

Its coming.... nope ... not just Spring .... but ROLEX!!!   Most people in my family and even some of my horse friends don't quite get why I am so excited to attend the Rolex Kentucky 3 Day Event so I thought it would be good to give a primer about what makes Rolex so special.

Rolex is huge.  Not just in size but in the horses and riders who compete there.   Its like attending the Olympics without the need for a passport, long travel and fight for substandard accommodations.   Its historically a qualifier for the Olympic games and thus many horse and riders who compete at Rolex consequently compete at the Olympics.  Horse and riders come from all over the world.  Last year pairs came from Great Britain, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Ecuador and of course the United States.

The first time I went to Rolex in 2005 (which is when I took these pictures) I didn't even know what a 3 Day Event was.  My friend dragged me along on the trip promising it would be fun.   I got a great education on eventing but a little spoiled as the first "event" I attended was the pinnacle of the sport.

3 Day Eventing is a three part sport that requires the same horse and rider pair to compete in dressage, cross country jumping and show jumping over a three day span.  Between each phase, the horse is checked by veterinarians to ensure that they are sound and able to compete in the next phase.  It takes an incredible amount of fitness, agility and well I want to say bravery... but honestly I wonder if its more insanity, to compete in this sport.

I'll hit the other phases in a future blog but for this one I'm going to start with the most exciting phase -- cross country!

The horse and rider gallop over four miles with obstacles scattered throughout.  There is an optimum time they have to complete it and if they go over they receive "time faults".  They also get faults -- otherwise known as points off their score -- for refusing to jump a fence.   If the rider falls off their horse they are eliminated from the competition.  Each year the course changes slightly.  Last years course had 28 jumping situations and had to be completed in 11 minutes 42 seconds to score without a time penalty.

The jumps are BIG!!   You would think galloping on rolling terrain between the jumps would make it hard enough but the jumps are also solid, large fixed objects and sometimes of a shape that would terrify most horses.  Take a look at this jump from the 2005 Rolex course - I know if I asked my horse to jump this he would tell me I was nuttier than this squirrel's meal and I would end up smack in the middle of the bushy tail.

To add to the complexity, the horses are seeing the course for the first time as they approach the jump. The riders do what is called a "course walk" earlier in the day to plan out their approaches but the horse has to have the talent and trust in their rider to complete the jump.

If each jump was the same, seeing it for the first time would not be a big deal but most of these jumps have "questions" -- items that make the jump more complex than it appears on the surface.  For example, a jump may be situated in the shadow of a tree so the horse has to adjust its vision as it enters the shadow spot.   In the jump below a ditch runs under the jump at an angle so the rider needs to decide do they take off towards the right side where the ditch smaller on the takeoff side or to the left where the ditch is larger on the takeoff side but gives the horse the added chance of landing on solid ground on the landing side?

One of my favorite jumps in the "Sunken Road".    When I first saw this jump I didn't believe my friend that a horse could really jump it.  It had to be just a decorative feature.

Its a multi part jump -- first the horse jumps over the white fence you see on the right side of this picture.  They land in in the small piece of grass between the "sunken road" and the fence.    The landing area is so small that the front legs need to be lifting to jump into the pit as the back legs are landing so it takes a huge amount of trust and dexterity on the part of both horse and rider.  They jump into the pit and have one stride before they lift out and repeat the same sequence on the other side.  

Horse and rider entering the sunken road

And after clearing the pit, they continue on to the white fence

And this blog would not be complete without mentioning the "dog watching".   Spectators love their dogs and are allowed to bring them.  There is a doggy day care and people pushing strollers with their pampered pooches inside are not uncommon.

I hope this gives you a quick glimpse into what makes Rolex so awesome.   I'll fill you in on the details of dressage and show jumping next and can't wait to share my 2014 experience with you!