what exercise do you do day before a competition?

woodlandswow

woodlandswow

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sorry.. just read the title.. i mean your horse :D

i am eventing.. just pondering what others do..:) the day before i do a BE90 I school and canter my horse,.. hard..for about a total of 1hour.:rolleyes::o:D who is still buzzing so much at the end of xc the next day he will not want to load!! (trust me!):D .. just wondering as i know my friend wouldnt dream of riding her horse the day before! :rolleyes::confused:
 
I always try to ride, as I like to keep a lid on the energy. But I'll only hack out. I find if I try and school I just upset myself because he's fighting my hand, unresponsive to the leg, not bending, running in canter etc. Little problems we can usually deal with become mountains with the show the next day. It's much better for both of us to just go for a wander and chill out!
 
Ours gets left in the stable & not ridden as he would be a lazy bugger at the show (SJ) if he had been out or ridden!! xx
 
Usually a good gallop 2 days before a show and then the day before he has a day off. This I find keeps Charlie nice and fresh for show day.
 
Ours has day off before a show simply because he has more energy! He's fit & well, is on a high energy mix but is still a lazy bum (has been checked by vet,is just how he is!!). This is only if he's having a full day ie pc rally, ode etc. If its just dressage or a couple of jumping classes he can manage with being lightly ridden the day before. It's what works for him! xx
 
well we did our first 90cm ODE on Sunday. Fri we went for a real pipe opening gallop. Sat we did about 30mins in the school, bit of gentle flatwork then opened him up over a 3ft3 vertical followed by decent 3ft spread as he hadn't jumped a SJ in 3wks. Popped over those a couple of times and called it a day. He jumped amazingly on Sunday and was 2nd so i might stick to that regime! I would never give him the day off before an event - he needs a lid kept on his energy!
 
Usually I would do a combo of everything, but in small amounts :p Would do 15 minutes dressage work and just work on suppling him up and not creating any battles, then jump for 15 mins or so, and then go to bottom field and jump the ditch, just to re-inforce that ditchs should be jumped, and more recently have jumped our skinny after the ditch (with side poles to reinforce straightness ;) ) If he jumps both the first time nicely, then I leave on a good note. In total max 40 mins riding of varied work!

After a super jumping lesson today (where I only tested my stickability once) over some grid like exercises, trainer says to jump a couple of short-ish bounces to shorten and waken him up! :p
 
Normally go for a quieter hack aka about an hour without as much trot/canter as normal or some gentle schooling to have her that bit fresher the next day. Don't give her a day off day before if I can help it even if that means getting someone from yard to ride her out for me as not enough time :)
 
Different horses need different work the day before competing - it also depends on what the competition is. I have known horses that have been at both ends of the scale - a hot horse I had was best just walking for about 3/4 hr preferably at the showground while we discovered by chance with 1 top class eventer who was quite wooden and tight that jumping him in the morning before he did his dressage helped relaxation and suppleness (this has also helped another "hothead" that is super xc). For others, hacking, lungeing or schooling works best. I personally prefer to school to set them up for the next day if dressage or show jumping is involved but that doesn't suit all riders.
 
its interesting to see :) .. i would never jump before.. i supose it is what your horse is used to .. when i was working at MK's i was surprised at how they would do 2 events a week then would have a day off at the end of the week.. but then they are uba fit and it was just BE100 And 90 :)
 
depends what were doing but never do anything strenuous. Most probably hack or very light schooling/ stretching for 20 mins tops. Will do any fast work a couple of days before to give them chance to relax again afterwards. Mine always have a day off after or if they've been xc then they might lunge lightly for 10mins or go out in hand. xx
 
I quite often travel to events the day before (there isn't many local horse trials) so if I get there early enough I like to take him for a look around the grounds and then a quiet school for 15minutes or so to loosen him up. If we are at home I do the same thing
 
Usually the day before a show I school for about twenty minutes/ half an hour, just some really basic flatwork, lots of transitions and keeping it slow and nice so we are both happy when we are finished.
I like to sit on him the day before a show so as he's been ridden, but not so as he feels asthough he has done alot of work.
To be fair I am lucky he is just very calm, and pretty much the same everyday. x
 
I have xc on Sunday so she is having the day off Thursday, jumping on Friday, short ish hack on Saturday morning, then competing Sunday.
 
kerilli said:
but... those of you who give your horses a day off before a show, i don't get it. i mean, i was always taught that the day after a day off you should ideally only walk, not do anything strenuous.
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I can see that making sense when horses were/are predominantly stabled.....but mine live out. They walk all day long. So actually I can't see a problem with getting on and doing stuff with them the day after a day off.

Back to the original question. I tend to school the day before if I can, usually a run through of my dressage test a couple of times. Occasionally I'll jump (esp if I need a lesson and the only date I can get is the day before a show), occasionally I'll hack, sometimes I run out of time and do nothing.
 
My coloured horse who was a lazy so and so was actually best if he had jumped the day before. Normally nice confidence giving grids that encouraged him to open up.

My mare is best slightly tired! She will either go for a long hack, but working, so lots of lateral/suppling work, or a session in the school with a lot of work to get her really jumping off my leg :) We generally just SJ though, so getting her off my leg and being soft is the main thing for her!
 
Urby went on the gallops yesterday, and has been for a hack 40 mins today just walk and trot and he will event tomorrow.

I often just hack or do a 25/30 min schooling session. If the day before is the only day lessons are available though I will have a lesson!
 
i always ride the day before, mostly just take him for a hack and a good old blast up the gallops, he's got plenty of energy at a show as the adrenaline kicks in along with the competition mix and oats so the work the day before doesnt seem to affect his performance he also gets ridden the day after mostly walk and a wee trot and then canter and that does him tides him over as he spends the whole day in the field anyway
 
day off so she has as much energy as possible on the day = same for anything i do
saying that i often walk her out inhand the day before just so i do something - but i dont class that as exersise
she also lives out 24/7 365 btw ;)
 
I usually hack the day before a show, unless I have a real buzzy horse in which case I would probably pop in the school for a bit and then hack.

I think the day before should just be chilling really, there isnt anything you can change the day before!!
 
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