Preparing for your first CCI*

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Kentisheventer

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Im aiming my horse for Weston this autumn and though i know from experience about one days have no idea what to expect and what i should be getting ready/thinking about now!?

My main problem is fitness, i use interval training a lot but am unsure what time/intervals we should be at by then.

Also is there any extra equipment needed for a 3 day?

Any other help would be gratefully received- thanks in advance :)
 
In same boat as you, and no one replied to my post re. fittness and things,so hoping that they will answer you! lol

Will be following post with interest :)
 
someone sent me a pm asking this sort of thing, luckily i kept my answer so it's here, sorry if it's obvious stuff! this was for an old-format 3-day though.

List for 3 Day:
Bridle numbers (ideally 2, so you can keep one on headcollar all the time, one on bridle all the time)
Bridle
Bits for all 3 phases. Stronger one for xc perhaps if horse is totally lit up after sc, unlikely but can happen!
Saddle
Spare leathers and stirrups
Girth(s) - stud girth?
Overgirth (essential if doing ‘chase imho)
Numnahs, pads
Etc
Boots for all phases, overreach etc, whatever you usually use.
Leg grease
Cooling boots or whatever you use after xc
Rugs of all descriptions.
If forecast is for rain, spare sheets of plastic (HiFi bags work well!) and staple gun to staple over temporary stable ‘windows’ to stop the rain coming in and soaking the bed!
Feeds
Hay or haylage
Feed buckets
Water buckets
Wash-off stuff
Emergency vet kit
Plaiting kit
Stud kit

Your stuff – take clothes for all weathers!
Trot up outfit (ideally with trousers opp colour to your horse’s legs, so judges can see them properly!), shoes you can run in.
All riding clothing, obv.

Food, drink, torch, etc

For mucking out I use a heavy-duty plastic bag (HiFi or similar) and a pair of rubber gloves, stables are on grass anyway so no need to scrape floor etc as in a concrete-floored stable. If you take a wheelbarrow prepare for everyone to ‘borrow’ it and for you to spend hours wandering around looking for it…!

Really difficult to say about fitness, depends on what gallops you use, their length, and whether they're flat or uphill. also depends whether horse is a tb or a chunkier type, if the latter then more fitness would be requd imho. a tb (esp ex-racer) will have muscle-memory and take much less work to get to a similar fitness to a chunkier horse which has never been super-fit, for example.
I'd want the horse fitter than for a 1-day Novice, definitely. I'd work on some faster work (incorporate short sprints of say 30 seconds into gallop work) as well as more steady hand-gallop work, I think.
 
It's difficult. I built up to 3x8mins cantering with 3 mins walking in between. It was a bad time of year and I had to rely on cantering in the school (luckily pretty large) which isn't ideal and you'll be ready to slit your own wrists by the time you get up to 8mins. I think I overdid the fitness a bit, but I was preparing a very chunky half-bred horse for a notoriously hilly event with an OT of just under 10 mins.
 
dont forget to take your horse's normal work boots/nummah. weston cci * is normally 8 mins and its hilly. you should aim to canter every 4th day if poss. pm for more details if you need!!!
 
Weston is a lovely CCI*. I think it could be classed as more fair than some others and quite a few made the time last year- I was 2 seconds out! Lots of spare kit really, bandages, boots etc. And also....clothing to climb the marquee on Saturday night. And alcohol! I may go too, and i'm at Gatcombe as well!
 
Plenty of clothes. Rugs for horse. Best bet is to get a good trainer who KNOWS how three days work, and what a 1* will entail, and get them training you to this as your goal.
Also, I would always run a horse past the vet before I entered to make sure there were no potential trot up issues and you could get yoru vet to advise on cooling legs/trot up prep as I found this helpful for my first 1*. Depends on whether you have super exeprience help on hand of course. Be able to showjump well as that is often a heartbreaker at the end of a 3day, and know your horse inside out. Have him shod in a plan with your farrier so he is at perfect shoeing level for the event, but not being shod too near to it.
Have it in your head that it is gonig to be longer and bigger than any novice course, and you'll be fine!
 
SusieT said:
Plenty of clothes. Rugs for horse. Best bet is to get a good trainer who KNOWS how three days work, and what a 1* will entail, and get them training you to this as your goal.
Also, I would always run a horse past the vet before I entered to make sure there were no potential trot up issues and you could get yoru vet to advise on cooling legs/trot up prep as I found this helpful for my first 1*. Depends on whether you have super exeprience help on hand of course. Be able to showjump well as that is often a heartbreaker at the end of a 3day, and know your horse inside out. Have him shod in a plan with your farrier so he is at perfect shoeing level for the event, but not being shod too near to it.
Have it in your head that it is gonig to be longer and bigger than any novice course, and you'll be fine!
Click to expand...

All good advice, but I think he's probably been by now - the OP was months ago! ;)
 
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