Smith Bros Eventing Tips – How to get the most from every event!
Steven Smith and Fernando competing in last years CNC2* class at Tyrella
The most important thing has to be time management and being organised. Arriving early, knowing your course and having everything organised for competition will allow your day to run smoother. It should also take away lots of the stress associated with being disorganised or late for each discipline.
“Try not to spend too much time thinking!” If you are competing one horse, you might have a bit of spare time between disciplines – This can sometimes lead to over thinking everything and letting nerves set in. Keep yourself busy by walking the course a second time, or if you are unsure of anything –just ask, people like to help. This should give you something constructive to do during the day that won’t hinder your chances of doing well.
“Be there in good time and if you need to, walk the course twice.” When walking the cross country course, don’t just walk the fences – walk the lines between the fences.
You should notice where ground is soft or terrain is rough, when to push on and when to travel at a steady pace. Knowing your lines, helps keep a good rhythm and that saves valuable seconds in the cross country phase.
Concentrate when walking your course, eventing can be an opportunity to catch up with friends, but gaps in concentration when walking can lead to errors of course, or mistakes when jumping fences.
“Ask questions!” if you’re not sure of anything; ask other riders, your trainer or officials. Experienced riders are often keen to help so don’t be afraid to ask!
“Focus on each discipline on its own”, Try not to think about cross country during your dressage warm up and don’t think about your dressage movements, when you should be concentrating on your show jumping course!
“It’s a long season – know your horse!” It’s very important to check your horse over after events and know their wellbeing so you don’t miss important signs that they might not be on form. There are many great venues and well designed Eventing Ireland courses planned each week from March until October that you can take your time, plan ahead and hopefully enjoy a positive year of competition.
“Have a goal and aim for it.” We find that our pupils do better when they’re working towards a pre-defined realistic goal, it helps with focus and progress through the year.
“Have your homework done before the event” Cover as much as possible in training; cross country schooling should involve water, skinnies, ditches, trains etc. Your trainer should help you work through any areas of weakness to help you leave your ‘If’s and buts’ at home!
“Training is imperative” Choosing a trainer that suits you and your horse is important so you continue to progress and learn. We like to do four weekly training sessions with a horse and rider, so they can see how much progress they can make when it’s consistent and moving forward. After that period we suggest they take a short break and assess what they would like to do next. We are currently sitting our level three HSI exams so we can train everyone from riding club to those competing for Ireland. We aim to be welcoming and encouraging, while keeping each lesson structured to the needs of each horse and rider.
“Get your if’s and but’s organised before the event.” How many times have you driven home thinking ‘if only this or that hadn’t happened’… if only I’d got my horse used to flapping arena tape, introduced it to dressage markers and white boards before the day, or jumped a few skinnies at home! By preparing for these if’s and buts’ you can help make sure they don’t happen and instead – get more from each event.
“Correct feeding is imperative” – Each feed company provides a good service to our industry, so find the feed that suits your horse and your budget.
We are available for lessons, or schooling liveries for any eventing enthusiasts who are willing to learn and want to improve their competition level. We would suggest a series of four weekly lessons, it gives students at all levels a chance to build on the skills they learnt each week before, without giving a chance to forget or learn bad habits. At the end of the four weeks, we ask the students to work on their own for a week or two before deciding how they would like to progress.
If you would like to contact Steven or Trevor for coaching services, sales or schooling, you can reach them on the following numbers: Steven 07919 123499, Trevor 0044 7799 866844, Ballymac Stud 02838 832186
Category: Business Features, Disciplines, Events, Features
