Muddy ground disaster day

[Ozbride]

Just after people's thoughts on what happened at the weekend and how to proceed from here. We have been training towards our first two phase event. Horse is very honest, rarely stops usually. The competition was at the weekend and we had lovely weather all week. On the day it was heavy rain all day. We were among the last competitors to go and there were nearly 120 before us over the SJ. Ground was pretty torn up and also just have been slippy. Horse warmed up well, but kept breaking canter to go into the warm up jumps. Obviously nervous about the ground. We went into the SJ and did not get over the 1st jump. It was downhill on the horrible ground. We just called it a day and although we were given the option to continue to XC I decided against it as the horse was obviously nervous the ground. This is no problem to me and I'm happy we made the right decision.

Although the ground was bad it was obviously jumpable as many still completed their rounds. Is this something I can practice for? I don't want to give him a bad experience and he is a very honest horse who will try his hardest. Should I just stick to arena eventing? I'd love to XC but I'm in Scotland so wet ground might be the norm.

He is barefoot, not sure if that makes a difference. Though I want to keep him that way.

Just wondering what your experiences are. Thank you in advance.

 

[MissTyc]

Sounds like you made the right decision on the day. Your horse may have had reasons to lack confidence - an ache or pain that made it harder for him than for others, etc ...

My (also barefoot) cob is not a fan of wet slippery footing and has previous had dire rounds, slipping under fences, taking down every pole, etc. he's honest as anything and many times I considered shoes and studs, but in the end we opted for practice and expectation management. Over the years, he's become strong and fit, and he's now competed and trained on many different grass arenas and also had a few winters of hunting. These things seem to have given him the confidence to cope with very churned up grass ... BUT I let him trot into them if that's what he wants (sometimes he does); I never push for a long stride, and I allow him to put an extra stride into doubles/triples. Mostly, I hook my fingers onto the neck strap, give him as much rein as possible so he can swing his neck on demand, and let him made all the decisions. And with that, he goes clear. But I wouldn't say it's his favourite thing and I wouldn't do it to him two weekends in a row!

XC he doesn't find as difficult, although I have withdrawn when I felt him lose confidence in the jumping. There's always another day. That's the expectation management piece!

(Hunting he seems to manage all terrain, hills, corners, etc)

 

[Barton Bounty]

I would have made the same decision as you, you put the welfare of your horse first! Those jumping after you? Good luck to them but torn up slippy ground is a recipe for disaster im scotland too, the grounds not always bad

 

[claracanter]

I withdrew after dressage in an ODE at the weekend. The ground was so boggy and cut up and that was just the dressage but most importantly not right for my horse. You made the right decision. Don’t worry about what others do, it’s what’s best for you and your horse

 

[TheMule]

I'm a big fan of keeping my horses unshod as much as possible, but they cannot cope in ground like that without studs. In fact, it's dangerous IMO. I was left with permanent nerve damage after stupidly xc schooling with no shoes on. Never again, shoes and studs as soon as I want to compete on grass now

 

[RachelFerd]

Having watched (yet again) unshod horses slipping over on a grass showing warm-up at the weekend, it's also a no from me on trying to jump on slippy grass without studs.

Jumping barefoot on good going is absolutely fine. Good going isn't guaranteed all the time - it's a choice without a perfect answer. Either stay barefoot and don't compete when ground is bard, or consider shoeing and studding.

 

[Boulty]

Have you got access to a grass area where you’d be able to practice riding in wet, slippery conditions in a controlled environment? Would do on the flat at first and then add in poles and small jumps. If barefoot you’re not going to be able to do the sharp turns you would in studs but if you take slightly wider lines and really focus on staying in balance then I know several people who event barefoot very successfully including in wet, muddy conditions. The worst kind of ground for grip barefoot is usually ground that has been hard / firm that’s suddenly had a load of rain dumped on it (if it’s a bit softer they can usually dig in and find a bit of grip, well more than an unstudded shod horse at any rate) It might be that with more experience on that type of ground his confidence increases or it might be that he’ll never be happy on it and that you may have to pick & choose where you go

 

[MagicMelon]

Really depends on the horse, but first of all Id try schooling lots on grass rather than an arena to get the horse happy doing so. I dont have an arena so only ever school on grass which helps I think. I compete barefoot but do shoe if the horse needs it. I had one horse barefoot slip right over while I was warming up to go XC once and that scared me enough with her to put shoes on her (so I could use studs). Current horse competes barefoot no issues. Ive had some horses who seem to thrive in muddy conditions and others who hate it. Im also Scotland and I find the going nowadays usually too firm. Rarely do I find the ground muddy as it doesnt seem to rain much up here these days. Probably depends where you are in Scotland though (Im Aberdeenshire). I think lots of horses struggle in the wet especially if theyre not used to it. Would def suggest my first point - riding at home in fields.

 

[ihatework]

I think if you are going to keep a horse unshod and compete on grass, you have to be very careful not to destroy your horses confidence in adverse ground conditions. Especially young / green horses who lack balance.

So by all means, over time, work your horse considerately in different conditions, to help them adjust and gain confidence. But I wouldn’t force the point.

In that case stick to surface or good grass going, or shoe and stud.