First ODE - In a Heatwave!

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nato

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So I've registered for my first one day event which is this Suday :eek: Am really excited and nervous all at the same time! My horse is fit but the last few weeks in this heat leaves her sweaty after a 40 min session - am worried about the ODE on Sunday as there's a lot more than 30 mins in it!

Does anyone have any tips on what I could do to ensure she doesn't get exhausted from heat, other than offering water and wiping her down with a cold sponge in between classes?

Also, does anyone have any tips in general for the day? We have a tendency to knock in showjumping (I rarely end up with a clear round!) so thinking we'll need to do a good dressage test to make up for it. Am making a checklist of what I need to pack to remove that element of stress!

Any tips appreciated :)
 
Very exciting :)

If you can, park somewhere shady, not always possible I know, but when you have her out of the box for a mooch find some shelter. I prefer to have them in the trailer with the ramps down when its hot - take loads of water, and give her electrolytes the day and morning before the competition. Keep your warm ups to a minimum.

In general, leave yourself plenty of time, make a list and be organised. Make sure you know the rules, whether you need to take your hat for tagging when you get your number, starting fee if needed.

Write down your number, times for each phase and times that the sj will be free to walk etc.

Give your full attention to each phase, and then forget about the previous phase iykwim. Also be prepared for them announcing your dressage score just as you are about to jump your first showjump!

Have fun, looking forward to your report :)
 
Thanks for the tips LJR - I thought about electrolytes but wasn't sure when to be giving them, so good to have that cleared up.

Yes I have a list as long as my arm - full packing checklist, then a breakdown of exactly what I need (or don't need, in the case of dressage - bit rubbers etc!) for each class so the change can go smoothly, and my help on the ground knows what to help me with too :)

I am extremely lucky in that the venue I am competing at is only 40 minutes away from my own yard, so I'm going to walk the xc the day before with a couple of friends to give me one less thing to worry about the day of! Will plan to walk it again on the day but good to have seen it the day before :)

Am currently prepping for my dressage test - Pony Club Novice Eventing (2013), trying to get my head around the right way to ride a half 15m circle incline back to track, and the 2-5 steps walk transition! Oh the joys :) I was hoping I wouldn't have to find out my score if I didn't want to until the end of the day so I wouldn't put pressure on myself, but I'm too impatient not to want to find out!

Regarding warm up - as there are three phases, I was thinking that I probably don't need to do as much as if I was competing in each phase individually. Dressage probably only needs 20mins; showjumping just a bit of adjusting in the canter (collecting and lengthening) on both reins, then pop a cross pole, straight pole, spread and straight pole again just before going in. Then XC really only needs two or three pops over fences and a little warm up in canter if she's been standing around. Does that sound right?

Am not expecting anything from the day, it has always been my dream to compete in a ODE so it's great just to have the experience - no expectations about being placed!
 
You dont happen to be heading to stratford hills this weekend by any chance?? that dressage test is the same as mine!! :D if so i'll fight you for a shady parking space!!!!

Best of luck!!
 
Arniebear said:
You dont happen to be heading to stratford hills this weekend by any chance?? that dressage test is the same as mine!! :D if so i'll fight you for a shady parking space!!!!

Best of luck!!
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Im actually in Ireland - so Stratford Hills is definitely not a 40 min drive from me :) Best of luck with your ODE too!
 
I'm at aske on Sunday & I'm dreading it if its too hot as my mare is such a hot horse she really struggles :( definitely won't be going for the time xc if its that warm!
 
Yeah I'm worried about the heat myself! My horse needs a good warm up for dressage (can take her about 30 mins to properly go soft) so I'm going to try cut down on the jumping warm up in the hopes it will offset it!

Not feeling too positive about the dressage as she's in fighting mode at the moment (I think she might be in season!) but we'll have fun on the cross country at least, and pray the water jump is deep enough that she can cool down ;)
 
Well one thing I can say about our first day out yesterday is that there was certainly no heatwave! After a week of sunshine and blistering heat, I awoke at 5.30am on Sunday morning to torrential rain. Not a good start! BUT - I had everything planned down to a tee and had allowed for all eventualities which meant that I actually arrived at the venue 20 minutes ahead of schedule! This was in part, due to the fact that I had allowed time for the re-cleaning of my grey/bay mare, and she had kept herself spotless overnight!

The ground had been very hard to the day of the event as it had been so warm, so I opted for no studs for dressage as I was worried about her catching herself. She did a super warm up and was the softest she's ever been, so I assumed she'd be fine in the test. However, the arena itself was much slippier having had 10 horses on before us! She slipped on her first circle and as a result held herself quite tense for the remainder of the test, and I don't blame her! We ended up with a score of 36.7 which I was extremely happy with given how tense she was, and the judge commented that she was a super horse but a pity she was tense without the studs. For me this was great as her attitude was super and I know now for the next one that studding up is a good call in those conditions, and we'll get a better score.

Showjumping was next, on sand - the fences were right up to size and the going was deep, having had torrential rain all morning! We were first in our class to jump, and she was on fire! Meeting every fence perfectly, clearing them with room to spare, and a big powerful canter under me. We were jumping in such torrential rain that I lost my reins at the double, and managed to sit up and ride on for a very long two strides to the second element! Unfortunately we had a pole down at the very last fence as I misjudged the stride - we should have gone for a long one. I was delighted with this as usually we knock due to laziness on her part, but she did not want to touch the poles, even the last fence she tried her hardest to clear it!

And so on to the cross country. We had a brief moment of sunshine in the warm up, which I was grateful for as I was super nervous and didn't need any loss of grip again like my double in showjumping! As soon as she saw the warm up fences she knew what was up, and her way of going totally transformed - her canter became longer and more powerful, and she was totally switched on, clearing the warm ups with inches to spare. The course was set up with all the meatier fences at the start, getting progressively more straightforward as you got toward the end, which I was thankful for once I got out there as I could feel the burn towards the end! A nice mixture of fences, with some square fences filled up with flowers and turf, a few nice skinnies, a few technical combinations, and a really fun water complex! We had a stop at a coffin with a brush fence over it, she's not a fan of any kind of ditches and true to her honest nature she jumped it from a standstill on the second go (after a growl) as I was determined she was doing it!

A bank, in and out of the water, a double step and a fabulous bright blue rail fence later, and we were on the home stretch. Cue thunder and lightning. No better reason to kick on and get home asap! Over the final brush fence and up the hill, the two of us in our element. Then came the hailstones! So into the horsebox we both went, full cross country gear on and studded up, to wait for the hailstones to pass, and try to settle her down a bit. I untacked in the box and sweat scraped the rain off her - it was hard to tell whether it was sweat or rain! Once the storm had passed I was able to take her out and make her more comfortable and put her cooler on, but safe to say my tack will need a good oil!

My final score came in at 70.4 due to the stop and the time penalties incurred as a result - this put us at 13th place out of a class of 20, which I was delighted about, given it was our first one day event for both of us, and the elements we had to deal with! I have plenty of learnings to take from the day and loads to work on, and I'm feeling confident about improving our scores the next time we go out to at least push us into the top 10 :)

A couple of pictures of our day out - I only managed to get cross country photos as it was pouring all day! I have a fab picture that the official photographer is currently printing to send on so will post that up when I get the rights to it :)

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Not so sure about the water!

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To the finish line before the hailstones come!

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Fantastic well done! brilliant report. Love the photo on the corner. I'm doing my first one this Saturday and I literally can't wait!
 
Morgan123 said:
Fantastic well done! brilliant report. Love the photo on the corner. I'm doing my first one this Saturday and I literally can't wait!
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It's so much fun - I really enjoyed myself! The great thing about it is even if you have a pants dressage test or showjumping round the cross country is great fun so you'll forget all about it :)
 
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