***CALLING ALL EVENTERS, advise needed!!

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ArchBishop

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Hello. If anyone could give me some advice on the following predicament I'd be very grateful.

Horse / 5.5yrs Irish sports horse looking to do next years Intro eventing season.

Currently jumps British novice double clear & getting approx 65% in Novice level dressage. Just working on XC phase now with schooling and hunter trials and will spend all November mock hunting - training going well, building in confidence.

Do I ....

A. Give him a mini break over winter before I get him fit in say mid - end Jan
B. No break and work fairly lightly with bsja through the winter, if so will prob work up to Discovery)
C. Neither.....!! (help)

I've never brought on a young horse for eventing before so Im unsure whether to give him a break before he has a full on summer in 2011.

Any advice much appreciated!
Thanks
 
I'm not an eventer so my opionion will probably mean nothing to you :p but personally though I wouldn't give him the winter off just for the pure fact that it will be a mission bringing him back into full fitness for the 2011 season.. I wouldnt do much through the winter though but deffo keep him in work
 
if we have a hard winter will probably find you have an enforced break!

I am keeping my five year old going but giving him a couple of days off each week - which seems to suit him well.

i am doing lots of different things with him too as i found too much riding in circles was not doing a lot for either of us!!

i practise transitions when I am out on the gallops and find that it is really helping his dressage.

Think you will have lots of different answers but its what suits you and your horse in the end...
 
Thanks guys!

Yep - I think the consensus would be to keep him ticking over during the winter and turn him into a muscle bucket next year!!

Agreed, we'll probably be on a snow break for a month at somepoint anyhow!! (argh)

Thanks for the input!!

Daisy
 
I would be inclined to just give him a couple of short breaks over the winter - a week to couple of weeks but keep him going. As others have said the weather may well give us an enforced break again!
That is my plan with my horse who is similar age and has just done his first season eventing.
 
Mine's the same age and a similar stage. She will continue to work over the winter, and SJ as much as possible, but will probably only be worked 4 days a week instead of the 6 she gets in the summer! I prefer to give them a break when the weather is good and they can go out for a couple of weeks on decent grass. That way it gives them a mental and physical break! Winter is for tuning up and working on new things without the pressure of doing anything "major" in my opinion :D
 
My lad is tad younger but with the same aims for next season - may do some 5yo classes with him if he shows talent. My plan is to give him a couple of days off a week and keep training as varied as possible. As others have said I have a feeling we will have a snow enforced break at some point! so i wouldnt be too concerned
 
my 5 year old has done a few BE90's this year and is aiming at a full season of BE next year, as a 6 year old. i'm not planning on giving him a break but will wait and see what the weather does- if it snows then he'll get a break and i won't lose sleep over it- otherwise he'll keep ticking over. i don't think that he works especially hard- probably ridden 4/5 days a week and over the past year he's had the odd week/ two weeks off here and there anyway so he's in no way stale- i think with eventers it can be better as at least they get plenty of variety in their work- it must be harder for one discipline people in some ways to remember to very the workload! :)
 
I am a massive vote for give him a break, not a huge one but maybe 4 weeks?! I am always amazed how well my horse comes back from a break. Furthermore with young horses I really believe that they need time off to mull over what they have learned and make sense of everything that has been going on. It also gives their bodies a bit of recovery time as they have been working lots of new muscles etc.

I know not all horses are the same and it almost needs a bit of bravery to turn them awa, but I honestly believe you will be amazed at the improvement in his confidence and way of going if you give him time off.
 
I also have a 5yo who has had two weeks off, it wasnt the plan but he went v flat and we think he may have had a virus and we gave him some time to recover out in the field. I would have prefered to have kept working him and done lots of lessons hiring out arenas and doing sj and dressage comps to prepare him for next season and as soon as jan comes along do arena eventing and as soon as xc courses open get out schooling and eventing in march. :)

sorry for late reply, ive just got home from madeira, a v nice island. GO THERE ;)
 
I'm also another one who thinks a break can do a competition horse a world of good. They come back so much fresher mentally, especially good for jumpers who can go stale if they over-do it. Mine is off now and will be brought back into work end of January so 3 months he normally gets off - literally not being worked at all, just chucked out in the field, he loves it and comes back into work very easily.
 
My young horses would do a little bit of hunting leading up to Christmas for fun and to get them thinking forward (no schooling until the new year), would take them to BS/BD after Christmas, if weather enforced a holiday I would chuck them out as much as possible and just hack. These were horses being produced for sale or to event the following year.

Keep it fun!
 
I think either way can work for you, light work or a proper break before bringing back into work. Just depends on the horse and on your circumstances, work hours etc :)

Most important I think is as you say you are looking forward to a busy season , to make sure that it is planned really well so that your youngster has some mental let up time along the way. This worked really well for our 5/6 yo this year.

Good luck with whatever you do, look forward to hearing how you go.:)
 
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