thehorseylife

In my last post, I covered the form of forward-seat riding known as Hunt Seat – which has evolved into a style extremely popular in the show ring. Today, I’ll give you a brief overview of two other types of forward seat riding – Show Jumping (also known as Stadium Jumping) and Eventing.

While neither Show Jumping nor Eventing are an actual “seat” – they are both Olympic Sports, and the riding styles utilized vary somewhat from Hunt Seat. You’ll often hear the term “hunter/jumper” used to define a kind of hybrid interest, but there are some definite differences between the two.

The sport of Show Jumping is pretty much what the name implies – jumping at a show. Despite the amazing feats of Regina Mayer and her cow Luna, you will mainly see horses and ponies in the jumping arena. In jumpers, unlike Hunters – the scoring is completely subjective – points are subtracted for each fault a horse and rider incur while on course.

Knock Down

Faults are given for a jump being knocked down, the horse refusing a jump, going off course and general disobedience which affect the forward motion of the horse.

Typically, riders in the Jumper arena will have their stirrups shorter than when riding hunters. Again – form is following function; fences in the jumper ring in international competitions can be over 5′ in height and in many cases, the round is being timed.

Show Jumping classes are held everywhere from local schooling shows right up to the Olympics. Courses typically consist of brightly painted jumps and may contain water obstacles.

Water Jump

At the larger shows, the courses could pass for a final exam in a landscape design class – abundant use of potted trees and flowers is common, and many big name sponsors have their logos worked into the design of the jumps.

Sponsors are important to the sport

Corporate sponsorship is very important to equestrian sports, and the prize money offered can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars for a premier event. According to The Equestrian Channel, 5 million people watched the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event on NBC in 2004 – which is a great bit of info to use to segue into the topic of eventing.

Eventing (also called 3 Day Eventing and Combined Training) was originally developed as a test of cavalry horses. It’s composed of three phases: dressage, cross-country and stadium jumping. The dressage phase was used to gauge the horse’s obedience and maneuverability (more about Dressage in an upcoming post). The second phase, cross country, is held over the countryside with “natural” obstacles composed of trees, banks, ditches and various types of water obstacles. This phase tests the horse’s fitness, bravery and stamina.

Water obstacle on cross country course

Levels at nationally recognized events (governing bodies are United States Equestrian Federation and United States Eventing Association) run from Beginner Novice (with a maximum height for fixed fences at 2’7″) to Advanced, where the heights of obstacles can be up to 4’1″ for stadium fences and 3’11″ for fixed cross country fences. The cross country portion of upper-level competitions will consist of four sections. Section A is Roads and Tracks – which is all on the flat and can be considered a warm up section. Section B is Steeplechase – held over brush steeplechase fences at a faster speed than Section A. Section C is more Roads and Tracks and Section D is the Cross Country Jumping course.

The third phase of a Three Day Event is Stadium Jumping. This is held over painted fences similar to a regular show jumping class. This final day of competition takes a measure of the horse’s true fitness level and asks technical questions of both horse and rider relating to lines and distances.

Badminton Horse Trials

Outside of the Olympics, two of the most famous three day events in the world are the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event held at the Kentucky Horse Park each Spring; the Badminton Horse Trials held at Badminton House in the UK in April of each year. Both are very well attended by the horse loving public – and at Badminton, that often includes members of the Royal Family. Princess Anne, her former husband Captain Mark Phillips and their daughter Zara have all competed at Badminton, and many other Royals have attended as spectators.

Even if your horsey life doesn’t lead you to rubbing shoulders with Royalty while walking the cross country course at Badminton – I hope you enjoy the journey.

Next up – a little about the sport and art of Dressage. Travel well, my friend.

“So what do you ride?” To the novice equestrian, this may seem like a bizarre question, to which the answer would be “Well, horses… du-uh”. OK, so that is a bit silly and over-simplistic, but the question goes much further than just the “English” or “Western” that many beginners would answer. In the next few posts, I’ll give you a brief overview of some of the different seats, or types of riding, with a bit of history as to how they evolved.

With all forms of riding, English or Western, the seats and styles have evolved over centuries. The present day styles in many disciplines would be unrecognizable to riders from a hundred years ago. As with much fashion, what’s “in” today will look dated tomorrow; however, form follows function, and the basic bio-mechanics of riding have changed very little – certainly much less than the amount of bling or color of the jackets you see in the show ring on any given day.

I’ll start with Hunt Seat, simply because that’s the style I first rode. Hunt Seat is a sub-genre of forward seat riding geared toward the show ring. Forward seat riding was developed by Federico Caprilli, an Italian horseman born in the mid 1800′s. After carefully analyzing horses free jumping he noticed how they used their back to bascule (or arch) over their fences – he determined that the style of riding over fences which was currently in vogue (longer stirrups with the rider’s body angled back once the horse reached the apex of the jump) was detrimental to the ability of the horse to jump freely and comfortably.

While in the 50′s and 60′s it was common for hunters to be shown over an outside course, now classes are almost exclusively held in the ring. As the position coveted in the show ring has become a bit stylized, many competitors wouldn’t do too well in the hunt field. Conversely, there are riders field hunting all over the world who wouldn’t pin in an equitation class, for although form follows function, there are several areas where cross country riding in the hunt field and eventing vary considerably from Hunt Seat riding.

The desired impression is one of a workmanlike, balanced position adaptable to riding both on the flat and over fences. The stirrups generally hit about the level of the ankle (when your foot is out of the stirrup). At the halt, there should be a straight line from the ear passing down through the shoulder, hip and heel. Another straight line should pass from the elbow to the bit. The saddle used is a forward seat saddle, so called because the flaps of the saddle curve forward to facilitate shorter stirrups and a forward seat over fences. Often, the rider utilizes two-point position (the seat out of the saddle, upper body slightly angled forward, but center of gravity still balanced over the stirrups) between the fences during a course; however, this is another matter of style. At last years Virginia State 4-H Horse Championships held at The Virginia Horse Center, judges told the riders after a large and (and very competitive) class, to sit between fences. Sitting gives the rider better use of their seat – an important aid; however, 2-point is invaluable when giving a horse a hand gallop to freshen him up a bit or if you’re cantering out for long distances. It’s a great exercise for developing balance and strengthening the quads, and takes some weight off the horse’s back.

Other types of forward seat riding come into play in eventing, show jumping and, in an extreme form I won’t cover in these blogs, horse racing – both on the flat and over fences. I’ll go into show jumping and eventing in my next post. Until then, hope (whatever your discipline), you enjoy your horsey life.

Most of us agree that riding is a sport. There are dozens of Facebook pages saying it’s so. While we’re often concerned with our horses’ conditioning (critical for horses that event or do competitive trail riding), fewer of us pay as much attention to our own fitness as it relates to riding. Just as you condition your horse to prevent injury and help him excel at his discipline – you should put some planning and effort into conditioning yourself for the same reasons. You and your horse will both benefit if you follow a few guidelines and get yourself in shape to ride.

In order to improve your effectiveness as a rider, your workout routine should contain aerobic, strength and stretching exercises. When you’re juggling a job, family, barn chores and riding – it seems like riding should be exercise enough; however, you’re likely to notice an improvement to your riding (and your enjoyment of your time in the saddle) if you spend some time out of the saddle getting fit.

Aerobic exercise is what most of us think of when we think of exercise – it gets the heart pumping and the sweat glands working (although most of us will notice an increase in heart rate  – and sweating – when we do strength training as well). This is the kind of exercise that enables you to breathe all the way round your jumping course or through your entire lesson. Think running, biking or using an elliptical or stair climbing machine. If you have knee or back issues, you’ll want to choose a lower impact form of aerobics, like swimming or walking – and you should always check with your doctor before you start a new exercise program. (OK – official disclaimer taken care of).

The next part of your fitness regime is strength training – this helps build your muscles by stressing them to the point where micro-tears are created. When the tears are repaired, the muscle is strengthened. You can use free weights, weight machines, bands or tubes for weight training, but there are also great exercises which use your own body as resistance. These are especially handy if you’re traveling or can’t get to the gym. Be sure to give each group of muscles a day of rest in between training sessions to allow that healing to take place.

The third component of a good fitness program is flexibility. Riding stresses joints and muscles in different ways than most other activities, so being sure you pay attention to your flexibility, especially in your hips, will payoff in increased comfort and may help prevent injury. If you belong to a gym or have a personal trainer, ask for a class on just stretching. Explain that you ride and ask for some stretches for your hips and lower back.

A few types of exercise which are very beneficial to riders and encompass more than one component of your big three are yoga and Pilates. There are several types of yoga to choose from, ranging from very gentle practice of seated poses to much more rigorous training. Yoga emphasizes the mind body connection, and can be a relaxing way to end a stressful day or a refreshing start to your morning. Although there are hundreds (I’m guessing at the number here) of videos available and at least one book on Yoga for equestrians, you may find it helpful to take at least a few classes to get some instruction on correct form in the poses. Yoga is generally very good at stretching, which tends to be the most overlook esction of an exercise plan.

Pilates is a form of exercise developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 1900′s. It focuses on control of the body – many movements are small and precise – and it helps build a strong “core” (the muscles of your abdomen, hips and small of your back). As a strong core is essential for riding, Pilates has become very popular among equestrians. Again, books and videos abound, but classes may be helpful.

There are also numerous exercise books and videos geared toward riders which include integrated exercises. One I’ve found particularly helpful is Success in the Saddle. This is a DVD series created by Debbie Rodriguez. Debbie is a dressage and eventing judge, a USDF Gold Medalist and an Certified Personal Fitness Trainer. She’s also a rider and competitor. The set is comprised of 6 workouts on 3 DVD’s, each workout only 20 minutes – and we’ve all got 20 minutes, right? That’s one of the beauties (and terrible excuse-breakers) of this program – you DO have time. You will not feel cheated at the end of one of Debbie’s 20 minutes sessions. Never once did I say “How much good can it be if it’s only 20 minutes?” – more like “How much harder can I possibly work in only 20 minutes?”You will notice that you’ve done these exercises when, the next day,  you attempt to walk up stairs or bend over – muscles un-accessed for years will start chiming in with the fact that they’re awake – don’t worry – they get much less cranky as the days and weeks progress.

So – tomorrow (I know it’s a bit last tonight) take the first step toward becoming more fit. Stick a video in, get a good exercise book, join a class, take a walk – just take that first step – trust me it gets easier once the movement starts (it’s the whole physics thing – the body at rest tends to stay at rest – but a body in motion tends to stay in motion) So, if not for your own sake -  at least consider your horse. He’ll appreciate having a fit, balanced and effective rider on board. Become a body in motion! Live well, my friends.