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Preparing for Winter Competitions
For those riders who like to embrace winter competition riding, the winter heralds the start of a busy indoor season. Whether you plan to show jump or dabble in dressage, top Olympic dressage rider Carl Hester has some good advice on how to prepare for the season...
Make sure that your horse is fit enough to do the job you ask of him – if you have been hacking all summer, your horse needs to start fittening and gymnastic work in order to be able to perform without injury.
Be prepared to allow for more time to warm-up and cool-down. Just like us, some horses are stiffer than others and generally the older a horse gets, the stiffer he may become and cold weather doesn’t do them any favours. If you haven’t got your horse on a joint supplement, it may be worthwhile putting him on one with the winter in mind. All my horses from the youngsters through to the older horses are on my Carl Hester Joint & Muscle Supplement, both as an investment in the future and to help mobility in the older horses.
Make sure that your horse’s diet is right for the work he is about to do. This is important so that your horse has the right fuel to power the motor!
Plan in your horses shoeing, dentist, vet and chiropractic sessions, so that you allow any necessary down time needed, which won’t affect your competition plans and ensure that your horse is fit and able to fulfil your ambitions. Get some good training. If you can’t afford to have regular lessons, then get someone to video them and play them back for renewed inspiration and a reminder of what to work on in-between lessons.
Whether you are show-jumping or dressaging this winter –make sure that you ride accurately –in the dressage arena, you will lose valuable marks for being sloppy, so make sure that you ride each movement correctly to tot up those marks. The bigger and more complex the course is for jumping, failing to ride to each fence correctly and using your corners will also result in disappointing placings!
Finally set yourself some realistic goals for the season –whether it’s to conquer those square halts or jump the perfect round. Make some goals and also a list of what you can do to get there –you might not get there straight away but it will give you a positive focus for the forthcoming season.
Remember whatever you get up to, have fun!
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