Eventing for dummies??

ImmyS

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I would like to do a bit eventing at some point in the future with my horse. Nothing that’s going to set the world on fire but having never competed in any form I don’t have the foggiest how I would start?

So my questions are when do you aim to attend your first ODE? I.e at what age for the horse as horse in question is 4 and a half?

How would you prepare for it in the year/months before hand? Getting a green horse that has basic flatwork to bring able to happily pop round a small, local ODE?

Just to mention I don’t have access to a school which can make things tricky!

Thank you!
 

AandK

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Aim to attend your first ODE when you and the horse are able to complete the individual elements of the ODE competently. The age of the horse is not relevant, you need to wait until they are ready.
If you are aiming for an 80cm class, ideally you'd want to be comfortable doing a basic prelim dressage test, show jumping a course at 80-85cm (they are usually basic courses at this level, approx 10-12 jumps with one double) and having done at least one hunter trial at the relevant height. Going it alone over a full course is very different to XC schooling.
I don't think you need to be out winning at all the individual elements, but you and your horse want to be comfortable with the height of jumps and how to ride a SJ/XC course, because doing all 3 in one day is very different. But it is great fun!
 

WindyStacks

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Can I add to this please?

I need an "idiot's guide" as to what I need myself in terms of equipment as I'll be doing hunter trials/eventing camp. E.g., right now I just ride in a standard peaked helmet but I understand I'll need a jockey cap. What colour breeches? Number wallet? Please help!
 

ImmyS

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Can I add to this please?

I need an "idiot's guide" as to what I need myself in terms of equipment as I'll be doing hunter trials/eventing camp. E.g., right now I just ride in a standard peaked helmet but I understand I'll need a jockey cap. What colour breeches? Number wallet? Please help!

Of course, all info helps! :)
 

AandK

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Can I add to this please?

I need an "idiot's guide" as to what I need myself in terms of equipment as I'll be doing hunter trials/eventing camp. E.g., right now I just ride in a standard peaked helmet but I understand I'll need a jockey cap. What colour breeches? Number wallet? Please help!

I'd recommend familiarising yourself with the rulebook of the body your competitions will be run under (e.g. BE/BRC).
For XC, you will need a hat with no fixed peak up to the relevant safety standard (PAS015/SNELL, again check rulebook!). Number bibs you can buy from many places online these days. Breeches, you can't go wrong with standard beige but again, the rulebook is your friend! I think there may have been an amendment to BE rules this year for breeches colour in the XC phase. You also need your body protector to BETA2009 standard (purple label). There is a new BETA2018 standard (blue label) coming out in the new year, but the 2009 will still be comp 'legal' for 5yrs, which is about how often you should replace your BP anyway.
 

EventingMum

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It would very much depend on the horse in question. I would like the horse to confidently be jumping at least at the height required in xc training and sj schooling at a higher level. Flatwork at the local ODE is likely to be walk - medium and free, working trot and working canter with circles etc. Fitness work will be required but probably not excessive and can be incorporated into hacks with reasonable amounts of steady canter work - it can be tempting to get a horse over fit for low levels but equally you don't want the horse struggling on the xc so an idea of the length of course and terrain will help you judge this plus some horses are naturally fitter and have more stamina than others. How quickly the horse recovers (ie pulse and respiration back to normal levels) is a good measure of fitness. Most of our horses started eventing as 5 yo's around BE90 usually having done a little dressage and sj over the Winter beforehand and will have been xc schooling too. They will have been working 6 days a week on average, a mixture of hacking and schooling. Remember, the most important rule is to have fun!
 

Fiona

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First step as already said is to get out and doo all the bits individually.

Some low key dressage comps, ditto SJ and some XC schooling - start to ask around for venues which may be suitable.

Your horse will let you know when he is ready.

Both of my home backed horses were able to do a small unaff ODE in their 5th year (60-70cm) but the one I tried to do aff eventing on (1m was the smallest then) did let me know that she wasn't happy at that height and needed another winter to gain confidence.... She was a brilliant eventer from 6yo on :)

Fiona
 

TGM

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I would suggest getting your young horse out to some clinics - dressage, showjumping, crosscountry and arena cross country. This will have various advantages - gets the horse used to working in new environments, gives you a school to work in, gives the horse exposure to a range of different jumps and courses, and hopefully you will receive excellent training advice which you can build on at home. When you feel he is performing well at the clinics, then take him to some small competitions such as unafilliated dressage. With jumping it is often a good idea to start doing clear round showjumping/cross country to start, because you won't get eliminated if you have a problem with a specific jump and you can usually buy another round if you need to go again to iron out problems. Alternatively look for very friendly relaxed venues where they will allow you to carry on - nothing worse for a young horse to find that if he says 'no' he gets to leave the course and go home. I would also go and actually watch some local one day events so you can get a good idea of what is involved. As said above, it is a good idea to school a level above what you intend to compete at so you feel totally in your comfort zone when you do compete.

We are basically going through this process at the moment with our five year old who has been brought on slowly due to daughter being away at uni for three years. He is currently competing at unaffiliated combined training and doing clear round XC competitions and should hopefully be ready to event next spring.
 

paddi22

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I love getting horses out eventing.

I follow the same path with all of them for a young horse the path is usually
- Clinics to get them used to new venues
- Walk trot dressage shows, kids crosspoles shows
- Then when they have the basics I'd do normal Dressage shows, sj show and hunter trials/fun rides
Then when they are happily doing all three elements seperately I would do small unaffiliated events at the smallest level i can find, just to get them used to the environment and doing the three things in one day. At this stage I don't push myself or the horse, I just want to know they can focus in the dressage, get used to sj with xc running past etc, and then seeing how they are fitness wise and coping with water etc on easy jumps.

There is no set time for this, I just play it by ear, and often horses that are very slow at the start suddenly click in. I had one pony I had at crosspoles for a year, but when she clicked jumping she flew up the heights, but if I had rushed her I think she wouldn't have come on so well.

When they start to place at those I'd move them up a level and push them a bit. When I want to move to affiliated events, I just aim for a level below what they are happy doing unaffiliated.


As regards equipment, i use very little. Back protector, skull cap, xc boots, stud kit, stud girth if needed. Eventually I got two bridles cause it was a pain changing them. But I think companies now go overboard trying to get people to buy stuff, my stuff is ancient and does the job, i do all the stuff in my jumping saddle, cause my dressage saddle doesn't fit, and its been fine!
 

only_me

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Definitely go by how your horse feels. If you have local 2 phases or similar they are great education and usually aren't too complicated at the low levels.

Mine did 3 90s as a 5 year old in march/april after doing some dressage/jumping over the winter and a couple of times out xc schooling, but we practiced angles/skinnys at home. Basically made it fun for him, nothing too demanding. He was ridden 5-6 times a week but at least 2 were hacking.
By that stage he was ready to move up (he is a big horse so 90 was v small for him) and felt more than capable so we did 100/pre novices the rest of the season, about 1 or 2 a month - I'm in ireland and our season is different to BE and I also did pc intermediate with him, he flew round the irish pc champs as a 5 year old. He was very easy though and didn't spook or run out, he jumped what ever was put in front of him. I was careful to not over face him though.

Having a school will make it tougher to get out to the earlier events of the season as you won't have had the ground to school on, can you box up and get to a local arena?

The basics you want for a horse to go out for a 90 course (80s are a waste of time imo)
-able to do flatwork in an arena in a somewhat correct manner, ie. working through and able to cope with white boards, judges car and have the 3 basic paces established and on the aids.
-Be able to jump a sj course on grass at 90, if on an arena jumping 1m at home. Have control and confidence that horse will not spook or dump you
- xc - be able to jump a skinny, ditch, step up and down and be ok with water. Having practice over a course isn't that important imo ie.a hunter trial as usually the courses are basic enough that there is plenty of room between the jumps and no bounces lol
 

TGM

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(80s are a waste of time imo) ... Having practice over a course isn't that important imo ie.a hunter trial as usually the courses are basic enough that there is plenty of room between the jumps and no bounces lol

I think you have to differentiate between an experienced competitor bringing on a young horse (like you), and someone (like the OP) who has never competed at all before. In her case it would make sense to aim for the smaller heights for her first ODE, and take her youngster to some hunter trials or clear round XC to get a feel for things before plunging straight into a full one day event.
 

AandK

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I think you have to differentiate between an experienced competitor bringing on a young horse (like you), and someone (like the OP) who has never competed at all before. In her case it would make sense to aim for the smaller heights for her first ODE, and take her youngster to some hunter trials or clear round XC to get a feel for things before plunging straight into a full one day event.

Completely agree.

only_me is in Ireland, but the BE80s over here (GB) are well worth it, especially for those who have never done it before (and those of us - me included! - who have lost a bit of bottle and have an older horse they want to have some fun on!). There are also a lot of UA events using the same venues as BE which are well worth a visit.
 

only_me

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Completely agree.

only_me is in Ireland, but the BE80s over here (GB) are well worth it, especially for those who have never done it before (and those of us - me included! - who have lost a bit of bottle and have an older horse they want to have some fun on!). There are also a lot of UA events using the same venues as BE which are well worth a visit.

But it would be so so much cheaper for you to do UA and then go into 90s, 80s are massively expensive for a schooling round or a way to get back into eventing, affiliated must be at least 3 times the cost.
I'm not saying you shouldn't do 80s, but doing 80s affiliated is a waste of time imo when you can do them UA for so much cheaper
 

ester

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We've always had access to quite a few unaffilitated 'mini' ODE from about 50cm upwards. Sometimes they can be a bit more technical than what the BE equivalent height would be re. skinnys/related distances/how you get into the water but they also usually come with a lot less fence dressing for those of us with welshies who don't like pink flowers ;)
 

paddi22

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i don't have a school, arena or field to ride in at all and I cope ok eventing a few. I hack, school on hacks, do a lot of fitness work in forest and then hire an arena the odd time, but it works ouy better value to just get a lesson instead of hire at times. I also join in on any cheap group lessons I can. You just end up boixing everywhere which is a pain with diesel, and time, but its def do-able.
 

paddi22

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In ireland I take all the green horses through the riding club events instead of affiliating them. It's a much cheaper way to get mileage on them and make all your mistakes in private!
 

AandK

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But it would be so so much cheaper for you to do UA and then go into 90s, 80s are massively expensive for a schooling round or a way to get back into eventing, affiliated must be at least 3 times the cost.
I'm not saying you shouldn't do 80s, but doing 80s affiliated is a waste of time imo when you can do them UA for so much cheaper

I have been doing UA 80s the last couple of years on my old boy and aside from the day ticket cost, they aren't that much cheaper than BE (all at BE venues). In my experience, the cheaper events don't have the same standard of courses and the ones I have done have been well worth the entry fee. Also, not everyone who events wants to climb straight up the levels, or at all, so the 80 classes do have a big market in this day and age. Especially now Burghley will be hosting a BE80 championship from 2020.
 

ImmyS

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Thank you for all your replies, super helpful!

Horse in question is a 4 year old Welsh D x trad cob so as I said I’m not expecting us to set the world on fire but he’s fairly athletic for his build and has a willing, can do attitude.

He’s currently on winter holiday. Planning to bring him back into work in feb, hack for a few months then around May time when he turns 5 start more work. Plan is to do trailer test in January and get trailer so will have a lot more opportunities to get out to different clinics.

If I get out and about as advised on here would it be reasonable to aim for our first event towards the end of the summer? August/September time? If we’re not ready that’s fine as I’m not in a rush but does that seem like a reasonable time frame considering he’s having the winter off completely as it seems from the replies that most people do dressage/showjumping over the winter as preparation?

Thank you!
 

be positive

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The plan seems reasonable, if all goes well he should be ready for a low level event in the summer, as long as he has had a few confidence building outings, as much for the rider as the horse, there is no reason to not find a few 60 or 70 events to aim for, just be prepared to change the plans if you do have a set back but at this stage it is nice to have something to aim for.
 

ImmyS

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The plan seems reasonable, if all goes well he should be ready for a low level event in the summer, as long as he has had a few confidence building outings, as much for the rider as the horse, there is no reason to not find a few 60 or 70 events to aim for, just be prepared to change the plans if you do have a set back but at this stage it is nice to have something to aim for.

Thank you, as you say just want something to aim for, but whether we get there or not next year doesn’t really matter - it’ll take as long as it takes for us to both be ready. Just more likely to get there with a plan of action!
 
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