Eventing

Hi everybody!

this blog is for all the Eventers out there and also the people who want to know and for the people that do know Eventing.

i will be starting Eventing in the summer of 2011 and i want my horse to be ready for next year. are there any ideas of useful suggestions out there so that i can start conditioning my horse? he will b starting at novice i think it is. it's the very lowest level. if any body has any tips for me that would be great!

thanx!:)

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Comment by Hope Brown on November 14, 2010 at 8:05pm: thank you SOOOOOOOOOOO much for all these steps now the next thing i need help with would have to be his show name.
he is a brown and white pinto/paint and i don't know what else would matter!

Comment by Melinda Clark on November 14, 2010 at 2:03pm: First of all WELCOME TO EVENTING! My first tip is to have your horse in better shape than he needs to be. Your starting him at novice, get him in shape like you are going training level. This will help reduce chances of injury. This is what I do and you should alter it slightly for your horse, as no one is exactly the same.
For your conditioning: start out with trot sequences. First two 5 minute trots and two 3 minute canter sessions. As this feels easier for your horse lengthen out the time of both trot and canter sessions until you can do two 10 minute trot sessions. After the canters sessions get easier, work them into gallop sessions. You'll want to be able to aim for a good 7 minute gallop session. After you get your gallop going well, start adding a few jumps to your gallop session. This will also help them to learn to take a jump right out of stride as well as help the get in shape. Ideally this would be good to do over alterating terrain. The aim is to be able to do 30 minutes of dressage and then do your condition and still feel like you have horse left under you. How quickly you add on time depends on how easily your horse is getting into shape. To help with jumping do a lot of gymnastics: bounces, striding exercises, angles, ect. You should alternate your hard conditioning days with dressage, jumping, and a good quiet trail ride at least once ever 12 days.
This is when it would be good to begin a training journal. You can keep track of your times and how they are coming back after the ride, even pulse rate would be good to keep track of.
This is a good outline of what I do to start condition eventers. Remember that you may have to change their feed as they are getting worked harder and are getting in better shape.