speeding up xc

[budley95]

As title really, is there any way to make the time xc on a chunky ID? We're not really eventers but have been dabbling. He was one of 8 double clears out of 62 yesterday in an eventers challenge. We came 8th as we're slow pokes! I know he's built for comfort and not speed and he wont go faster than I ask (I'm also a wuss).

But is there a way we can work on speed at home? Optimum pace yesterday was 450m a minute. We did 354m a minute average I can't put a weaker bit in as we go round in an eggbutt snaffle, cavesson noseband and Irish martingale. We're just happy hackers that get called up to do everything by our riding club to make up a team �� If we can get up to 400m a minute on average I'll be happy. Just so we don't have too many time penalties for the team. Sj isn't a problem time wise though.

He gets schooled for 45 mins once a week, jumped once a week (up to an hour), does 1 fast work hack of 35 mins, a 2.5 hour hack up all the hills, a 45 minute marching walking hack up a few little hills, and lunged for 25 mins over raised poles.I don't think stamina is the issue. I think its more rider error!

Tips on how to ride would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cragrat]

A tip I was once given(by Ian Stark at a clinic many many years ago) was to not waste time on landing.
When you factor in 20 or so jumping efforts, if you dawdle for two or three strides after each one, it can really add up. So land and GO!

 

[gunnergundog]

450mpm is BE90, so yes, it is easily do-able on an irish draught.

1. As above, land and kick so that you MOVE away from each and every fence. With 18-20 jumping efforts on a course you can save 20 seconds easily.
2. Ride TIGHT lines between your fences.
3. Work on the balance and adjustability of your horse and his stride so that you don't waste time setting him up prior to a fence.
4. Fitness - yours and his, but more probably his. You will need to put more work into your average ID to get him to comparable state of horse with more blood.....nothing will change that, but maybe be more selective in your choice of courses in order to help him - in other words go for the flat courses as opposed to hillier ones.

Good luck.

 

[PorkChop]

Land and move away from every fence, if you can save a second at each fence then it could equate to 20 seconds on your overall time.

Try and keep a good rhythm throughout, try and set up as late as is safely possible for each fence.

Interval training helps our heavier types of horses.

Also what has helped my daughter is the xc app and a stopwatch. It shows you your minute markers, really helps with learning a feel for the speed you need to go - though my daughter had the opposite problem in that she was always a little bit too fast.

 

[KAZJAZ]

absolutely agree with all the below:

450mpm is BE90, so yes, it is easily do-able on an irish draught.

1. As above, land and kick so that you MOVE away from each and every fence. With 18-20 jumping efforts on a course you can save 20 seconds easily.
2. Ride TIGHT lines between your fences.
3. Work on the balance and adjustability of your horse and his stride so that you don't waste time setting him up prior to a fence.
4. Fitness - yours and his, but more probably his. You will need to put more work into your average ID to get him to comparable state of horse with more blood.....nothing will change that, but maybe be more selective in your choice of courses in order to help him - in other words go for the flat courses as opposed to hillier ones.

Good luck.

 

[sportsmansB]

My friend is currently doing 1* on a full draft- so it is possible!
As everyone says above
& also make sure you are VERY sharp out of the start box, lots of people lose valuable seconds here

 

[Lanky Loll]

As above but also practice riding at the speed you want to go - so that you get a feel for it and how fast it truly is. If you can go to a gallops with a stopwatch and ride it at 350 / 400 / 450 mpm, feel the difference and practice until you can ride it consistently.

 

[chestnut cob]

I have a connie who is apparently x with ID and had to put in quite a lot of work to get him to make the times for 90s. I did a lot of trotting up (steep!) hills, interval work, went to the gallops once a month to time ourselves. He needed to be very fit to be fast, and I had to be fit as well. I was cycling 4x a week in order to be fit enough to help him out and be strong enough physically so that I didn't rely on him keeping me up.

On the course, everything the above posters have said. Don't waste time setting up and fiddling in front of fences, don't waste time when you land, sit up and kick on, kick on in between fences - we really used to gallop when there was a good, clear stretch of grass. I found that I had to be pretty fit myself to maintain this sort of pace around the entire course without collapsing onto his neck 3/4 of the way around.

 

[ihatework]

Gunner dog has got it pretty spot on.

Ultimately it's training though. Training your horse to stay in front of leg. Training them to land and go. Training them to set up off body weight adjustment rather than getting into a tug of war. Training yourself to feel comfortable at speed and allowing the horse to jump out of that forward rhythm.

A friend of mine events quite seriously and it's been very interesting watching how she prepares the young horses. Yes the do the standard fitness training but she also spends a lot of time training their responses.

It makes it much easier for you if you aren't constantly kicking or pulling!

 

[mle22]

We have a 6 year old 15.2 full ID mare who was making the 90 time quite easily and has just done her first 100 clear inside the time so it can be done. Daughter got her pretty fit, though we've noticed that she takes a while longer to recover after xc than the thoroughbred types we've had before

 

[smja]

Do you have any friends who event and make the time, who could act as a 'pacemaker' for you? It's an easy way to get used to how fast you should be travelling, and often horses are a bit more forwards when following something else

 

[budley95]

Mine doesn't tend to follow or race unfortunately. He's a bit of an anti social so and so who has been known to keep plodding onwards as my friends horse bronced, decked her and galloped off back home...

I'll certainly try out all the advice given. I panic when he starts puffing and come back to a sedate canter for him to get his breath back. He's normally on inhalers but has to have them withdrawn before competition, so I worry he'll have an attack! Looks like that may be where we're going wrong as he adjusts off bodyweight and always goes after a jump, he's pretty quick out the start box too!

 

[hollyandivy123]

interval training, this can be carried out in the school but works better out and about.

the school version i use is with a timer set for 2 min to start, changing between the paces every 2min then increasing the time with fitness. Also does seem to help improve off the leg for me anyway. with the chunkies the fitter the better

 

[mle22]

Yes interval training is what my daughter uses to get her ID fit

 

[smja]

Mine doesn't tend to follow or race unfortunately. He's a bit of an anti social so and so who has been known to keep plodding onwards as my friends horse bronced, decked her and galloped off back home...

You don't want the horse to chase/race, the point of following a pacemaker is so that you, the rider, know how fast you should be travelling in order to make the time.

I can see how worrying about his breathing might be affecting you. The fitter he is the better the breathing will get (think about running when you're unfit vs. when you're been training for a while). Interval training using a strong canter would be useful - no need to push for gallop, but you want a consistent forward pace.

 

[MagicMelon]

A tip I was once given(by Ian Stark at a clinic many many years ago) was to not waste time on landing.
When you factor in 20 or so jumping efforts, if you dawdle for two or three strides after each one, it can really add up. So land and GO!

This. Best piece of advice I was given too (by WFP on this occassion!). I struggled to make the speed at Novice for a while until I learnt this, made a big difference. Just watch not to ask too quick as mine was so sharp that a few times I almost got left behind on landing as he shot off automatically!

 

[gunnergundog]

I panic when he starts puffing and come back to a sedate canter for him to get his breath back. He's normally on inhalers but has to have them withdrawn before competition, so I worry he'll have an attack!

WHOA! This is information that you really should have included in your original post and illustrates the (potential) dangers of seeking advice or dishing it out on the internet! Now, not knowing your horse's clinical history, I would advise you to ignore all advice given and have a long chat with your vet or alternatively, a good equine sports specialist vet, as to what is feasible with your horse.

 

[ester]

Quite,

I have to say I can't imagine having a breathing compromised horse and taking it off it's medications in order to compete in one of the most demanding sports for an equine! Especially if he then appears to be struggling.

 

[meesha]

Op Sounds like a horse many of us would love to have, if he can't make the time now and is about to be stabled and therefore possibly have more breathing/fitness issues would you consider selling him, I am sure someone who!d bite your hand off anf you could get something maybe tbx? If his breathing is not a worry to the vet you could try hunting to get his fitness up as he may naturally give a bit extra when excited!!

 

[NaeNae87]

450mpm is BE90, so yes, it is easily do-able on an irish draught.

1. As above, land and kick so that you MOVE away from each and every fence. With 18-20 jumping efforts on a course you can save 20 seconds easily.
2. Ride TIGHT lines between your fences.
3. Work on the balance and adjustability of your horse and his stride so that you don't waste time setting him up prior to a fence.
4. Fitness - yours and his, but more probably his. You will need to put more work into your average ID to get him to comparable state of horse with more blood.....nothing will change that, but maybe be more selective in your choice of courses in order to help him - in other words go for the flat courses as opposed to hillier ones.

Good luck.

Absolutely agree with this. I have a TB, so not quite in teh same boat as you, but I am in the process of moving him up a height. I played around with speed at our last competition. We were not in placings, so I took him at his steady, normal pace but rode tighter lines, and kicked him forward as soon as he landed. We ended up coming in with 4 penalties for being under time.
When you walk the course, look for ways to shave time. It may mean bush bashing a little but if the footing is good, you will save time and assist your horse especially is he is not blessed with a good turn of speed.

 

[budley95]

He's definitely not going anywhere firstly. He was the horse I moved up from ponies on and I've had him almost 12 years. He'll be 18 next year.

The vets are going to be chatting about coming off inhalers when they're out 21st October when they do bloods, cushings test, teeth, health check, vacs and take a WEC (MOT time!). Pollen is the main thing that sets him off, all came from a nasty virus a few years ago. Needless to say we only do low sj and low level dressage when there's a high pollen count! I must be the only person grateful when it rains on competition days.

I'm not fussed about being in the placings on him. We just do eventers challenges and hunter trials when our RC needs someone to make up a team. Just a bit disheartening always being put first to be drop score (funnily enough he never has been though!), as we're slow and its a standing joke with everyone always asking if we were fast enough after another rider overtook us on our first go. He's had 4 sj fences down in the 3 years with the RC and has never had a refusal, run out or decked me in competition. Has also only had sj time faults when I've gone to do the wrong course (that's complete rider error though!).

We've only been doing xc for a year as I just wasn't interested in it and then became scared about doing it. True to style though Bud was a saint and didn't look at anything the first time we went schooling and has just stayed quiet out xc (the whole 4 times we've been!)

I'm too scared to take him hunting incase he gets hurt. I just worry now he's older and I've never had a veteran before! Maybe we'll just stick with being slow or just refuse to make up a team ��

Thank you for all the advice �� we'll definitely try interval training and making sure we go after a fence instead of hanging around, as well as making sure we go the direct route ��

 

[Eventmum]

We have ISH who is producing good dressage, clear sj and brave and honest xc but rider has had issues with time. 0.8 time penalties at 1 event then told over 30 seconds too slow at next even though she really pushed on and horse sped round (really wish i had timed as we were sure wrong and did query as we were apparently slower than people with refusals and one who fell off and had to catch horse and put hat silk back on before continuing!!) Rider was getting really despondant as wanted to move up a level next year so at final event rider really pushed on again .. result clear xc and 7 too fast penalties. So we now know a) time at last event was wrong and b) will make time at next level. It takes time to get to know horses speed and how much to push on but you will get there

 

[Tiddlypom]

WHOA! This is information that you really should have included in your original post and illustrates the (potential) dangers of seeking advice or dishing it out on the internet! Now, not knowing your horse's clinical history, I would advise you to ignore all advice given and have a long chat with your vet or alternatively, a good equine sports specialist vet, as to what is feasible with your horse.

Absolutely this.

 

[gunnergundog]

Absolutely this.

Thank you Tiddlypom! I am glad that I am not the only person concerned, especially as subsequently (post #21) it transpires that the horse is 18 years of age.

PS Apologies to Ester - I see that you were like-minded too.

 

[ester]

I'll let you off .

 

[gunnergundog]

I'll let you off .

Too kind!