Riding the day before a ODE

Yep, I hack. Helps their brains settle and gives them a bit of a stretch, along with a bit of a burn for the fizzy ones :)

In the week leading up I will do my usual schooling (flat x 2, jump x1, pole x 1, plus the hack) with at least one of my flat days being a run through of my test, and the other being suppling/loosening work, with a focus on refining any movements we haven't got nicked yet.
 
Thank you - I'm doing my first BE so I'm just wanting to complete all 3 phases safely but not sure if I should ride my horse every day leading up to it or give her a day off! Some people I know ride every day and some don't ride the day before!
 
I do BE with my gelding. The week leading up to an event he does 1x jumps 3x school 1 day off and 2 hacks. One of the hacks is the day before and is just a plod around the woods with a very steady canter and a plodge in the river
 
Sorry yes should have mentioned she gets a day off in the middle of the week - if the event is on a Sunday she'll have the Wed or Thurs off.
 
Very similar to what the others have put and definitely hacked the day before. Just to add that if I was doing Novice or above they would have a sprint early in the week - at least 4 days before the XC day.
 
Depends on the horse. Mine these days is pretty laid back so I just hack him the day before but he used to be rather wild so I would school him the day before to try and use up some energy. I have had dr/SJ lessons the day before when it's been the only time I could fit things in and it doesn't really affect him. He's plenty fit enough to then do a ODE the following day.
 
LJR said:
I usually do a short schooling session in the field the day before - but then I am not known for my love of hacking!
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Me too. Mine will get a forty minute schooling session the day before, but of that 25 mins will be warming up, stretching and cooling off. It very much depends on the individual horse. A hack would send mine demented so not ideal the day before!
 
It depends what my horse is feeling like. I don't have a set schooling regime apart from a flatwork lesson every Thursday. Apart from that I make it up as I go along. Sometimes I hack, sometimes I will do a very quick session and just run through the test or I may pop a few jumps if she is feeling really fresh. I don't tend to give her a day off the day before an event as I don't want her to be super fresh when I climb on for dressage.
 
I usually have a jump lesson ideally 3 days before event so it depends whether i am on Saturday or Sunday
If I'm Saturday i will do
Mon: hack
Tues: school
Wed: jump lesson
Thurs: day off
Fri: hack
My Monday hack will include a gallop
I always hack the day before any comp eventing or otherwise :)
 
At my busiest I was working extended shifts, and the only possible time to pack the lorry would be Wednesday after riding, for a Saturday event. I would let him have Thursday off then lunge or long rein through the test on Friday. I would have preferred to ride, but no tack.

Generally I think they are better ridden, but not to the extent they are stiff, obviously.

At that time I would have 1 day off a week, hack twice a week, jump once a week and school or lunge the remainder. It was all very flexible though, if I competed that counted as the jumping day, hacking was done unless it was a comp day or foggy/lashing it down.

I would have liked to be more 'regular' but shift work does not do regular!
 
My last ODE (in Sept) I was in Malta the week before, and then rode and learnt my dressage test before popping a couples of little jumps and bathing and plaiting my horse the day before the ODE. To be fair it was only a 70cm and we got 56 time faults on the XC for trotting up to most of the jumps so it was hardly taxing on him.

I always ride the day after as well, a short 30 min hack, to alleviate any stiffness.

Normal preparation wouldn't alter any, although the Milton Keynes 3 day event I did three times on Bailey, I prepared weeks in advance and did lots of horse walker trotting, lots of lunging and some little bursts of fast canter work in the school.
 
Local lady used to produce event horses to sell. If she had a naughty/very excitable one, she used to get up at some unearthly hour to ride it for an hour or so in the indoor school, before loading and taking it to an event. I guess that wasn't somewhere miles away, but I was impressed by her dedication.
 
Orangehorse said:
Local lady used to produce event horses to sell. If she had a naughty/very excitable one, she used to get up at some unearthly hour to ride it for an hour or so in the indoor school, before loading and taking it to an event. I guess that wasn't somewhere miles away, but I was impressed by her dedication.
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Have done the same thing with racehorses, If all you have to do is a 5 minute burst around a track,then being in the right frame of mind at the start is probably more important than fitness or ability!A soothing work out in the early morning does wonders for an otherwise excitable horse.Incidentaly ,yogi B has some interesting ideas about the subject. He believes that where the horse leaves off, he picks up the next day. So if you are going ODE , do a bit of dressage just before bed the night before. I was sceptical but close observation has convinced me that YB is a genius.
 
Depends on the horse for me, if its lazy then I'd generally give them the day off before to give them a bit more spark the next day. But mine usually aren't lazy so I tend to ride the day before - just a schooling session ideally but depends on my ground (I only have a grass paddock to ride in) so might be a hack!
 
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