when do you ride when competing???

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Just a curiosity question as everyone else is different.

If you are competing on say a saturday or a sunday do you ride the day before? for instance if you class is in the morning do you ride the night before (assuming you can only ride in the evenings) or not?
I know one person who rides everyday and the day before an event but I also know another person who rides alternate days and not the day before a competition?
This isnt a debate about whats right or wrong (if there is a right or wrong!) just wondered what other people do.

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I think it depends on the horse, I used to ride the day before otherwise he had far too much 'sparkle' about him
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, but these days he has the day off, or just goes for a walk out somewhere as the sparkle can be contained!
 
Used to always leave my last horse for a day or sometimes two before a show as he could be a bit flat. Always exercise Molly but try not to school incase I start flapping and get into and argument with her so usually hack the day before a show but I have occasionally had a lesson teh day before too which works.
 
I do dressage and showing and always try to ride the day before, usually a hack with equine Little Mare. When I was younger, with other ponies I've insisted on schooling the day before, trying to get what's involved in the test/show just right but I know with my girlie that what happens the day before has little effect on her performance (unless we're having real issues!) and we benefit more from a chill-out
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Depends on the horse- one of mine can be quite sharp and is naturally forward so I always ride him the afternoon/eve before a show and it seems to work with him and he normally comes out really relaxed at the show, whereas my other horse doesn't need so much schooling before a show,as he is older and knows more about working the crowd when he's at a party! so to speak!...
 
I always like to ride/exercise him the day before a competition - but not what the discipline is for the comp if you get what I mean?
so if sj on sat I will school on fri night, and if dressage on sat then lunge over poles or something 'fun' the friday night instead. If competing on a sunday I will hack him out saturday.
 
HMMMMMM

I have 2 and daughter had pony. She likes to have a quick jump the night before but he is very fizzy but she only rides for a little while and usually practices jump off!!

My mare who I SJ is very quiet so I try not to ride her the day before and usually coincide it with her day off, Also I can pump the oats into her to try to liven her up!

My other horse is only nearly 5 and he wont comptete till next year so not sure atm but he understandably tires quickly so if im schooling XC or something I give him day off before and at least 2 days off after depending on how long we were there.

Thanks for your posts I am curious and was right everyone is different!!
 
Depends alot on the horse one of mine has the day off before a show, but the other one has some work either hacking or might have a little pop on her........It really all depends on the horse and what you feel is best for it and you......
 
Mine has a "confidence building" sess the day before. If he is going SJing or eventing, we will put up some nice small grids so he is cocky and almost naughty over them. He is then better at the comp as he has that level of confidence about him. If dressage he will normally hack the day before and keep everything soft and relaxed
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I try to ride Donks every day - she is not a self exercising horse in the field (except her jaw bones and stomach!!) and I need to keep her fitness levels up. On the day of a show she goes straight from the trailer to the ring - no warm up so I get the excited initial 'ping' from her!
 
Very interesting post, I've been thinking about this recently after disaster schooling the day before dressage last week...
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I have always ridden the day before a competition - when eventing I used to go for a hack and then give them a quick pop just to sharpen them up for the next day. For some reason i have a bit of a thing about jumping the day before if I'm going out SJ or eventing!
Lately I'm revising my theory though, as twice in the last couple of months I've attempted to school Missie the day before a competition and she has been a complete cow, we have got into an enormous argument which has spoiled the dressage for the next day... So I think in future I would ideally hack, if not possible due to darkness maybe lunge instead or give her the day off!
 
My mare can be a bit unpredicatable and I like my horses fizzy and to be up for it, If she does anything the nght before it can be a disaster the next day, My old horse I had to ride everyday, and it didnt matter what we did he was still vile out competing. He has since been sold to hunt which suits him.

Tomorrow im going on my first aff SJ in months so out of it a bit (mares been off poorly) was going to lunge her but might leave her and see how she is tomorrow. Going to do a couple of clear rounds first anyway as she might be a bit nappy.

decisions decisions
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usually I've ridden the day before, with Maddy because she was 'difficult' enough as it was, and with Flash just out of habit, but I'm finding that after a day off he goes SO much better that it's probably best he has a day off before! He's only 5 and despite being filled with energy giving and slow release feeds, he's as lazy and laid back as they get!
 
With Louis I prefer him to be lunged the day before I compete but if I'm going to ride then I try and ride as early as poss and just work him quite long and low working through some suppling exercises. If I'm competing Eric then I like to ride him late evening the night before and give him a good 50mins of schooling! You can see they're both at very different stages of working! And Eric has a lot of nervous energy so is better the more his brain is being engaged, Lou is a bit more mature about the whole thing
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It depends on the horse, but with my 2 I generally give them a day off work the day before AND after a competition. If its pure dressage (which I rarely do!) then I DO ride the day before, but for everything else (SJ / ODE etc.) then day off.

Mine are better to jump being fresher.
 
I have tried schooling the day before a dressage test and I was feel so down if I don't have a good session.

I now have the rule of not jumping the day before xc/sj show or schooling the day before dressage. I normally aim to ride but go for a light hack or have a quick lunge
 
when practising a test with g or t i usually ride through it the day before (learn it well before then but dont ride it). it seems like if my run through of the test the night before goes badly it ends up going wonderfully on the day! cant quite explain that phenomenom. i end up getting quite worried now if my night before practice goes well!
 
Often the day before a competition I may simply lunge or loose jump the horse to make them loose and free. I rarely lunge, since I fear I would be tense myself and not produced the desired results. Personally, if you need to do something drastic the day before... you've left it a bit late! Its all the preparation beforehand IMO, eg fittening and schooling.
 
i always ride the day before a competition, because i'll only walk the day after a day off anyway, so i like to think that their muscles, tendons, ligaments etc are at least lightly exercised the day before. i'll hack for about an hour and do a little bit of light dressage maybe, play with a few of the test movements but in a different order or place in the arena. i do my last jumping two days before, so that if it does go a bit awry i can jump again the day before, but i usually don't need to, hopefully!
 
We had a point to pointer we would hack out in the morning on the day of a race if the race wasn't til late in the afternoon. It kept her vaguely sane...
 
I always ride mine the day before. He always tries it on when I ride him if he has had the previous day off, so I try to work him every day in the run up to a competition. However, providing he behaves himself, I only give him a 20 minutes workout so that I can save his sparkle!

I also like to ride the day after an event, especially if he has worked hard, so he doesn't get stiff.
 
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