Equestrian Life April 2018 Issue

eventing
Planning for the
Season Ahead
This month Harriet Morris-Baumber has been busy planning for
the season ahead before the bad weather stopped preparations.
Read on to find out how Harriet passed her time during the break
from training…
This month I have been busy with
preparations for our first event of
the season at Breckenbrough. I have
been introducing a little more canter work
into the horses’ programmes to help their
cardiovascular fitness. It is important to
work on not only their cardio fitness but also
the strength and condition of their muscles,
especially their ‘core strength’.
Developing good core strength primarily
comes from correct schooling and training
in the dressage. Getting the horses to
maintain correct balance and posture whilst
doing other types of work such as cantering
and cross-country training can be really
beneficial too.
I have been taking the horses to some local
competitions so they are more accustomed to
working and staying focused in a more buzzy,
exciting environment. Working and training
at home all the time in familiar surroundings
can lull you into a false sense of security, so
it is really important to get out and about to
test their concentration and focus levels in
different environments.
This also gives you the opportunity to try
out new tack, bits, warm-up routines and
see what is going to work best. Trying these
things for the first time at an event can be
a risky and/or expensive way of finding out
if they don’t quite work as well as you had
hoped.
Escofino I (Scooby) will be starting his
season at Breckenbrough and Whiteasparke
Caramel (Chap) will hopefully be starting his
at Richmond. As Chap is a year younger I feel
it will be more beneficial for him to do more
cross-country training before setting out
to put all three phases together. The other
horse I have to compete this season is Croft
Templar and he will also be aiming to start
his season at Richmond.
I feel very lucky that we have so many
wonderful events to choose from in
“Some of the hills were pretty awesome
and it was great fun to be whizzing
down the extremely steep slopes that the
Yorkshire Wolds have to offer”
Yorkshire and planning where to go with
each horse can be made complicated by so
many wonderful venues to choose from. It
is important to consider the atmosphere,
ground conditions, terrain, and travelling
time when choosing suitable events. Does
your horse prefer the dressage to be well
away from the cross-country course or would
this be an advantage and give your horse an
added sparkle? How does your horse cope on
undulating terrain? Is the show jumping on
a surface or a lumpy bumpy field? All these
factors can contribute to a successful (or less
successful) day.
With all the bad weather and snow over the
last fortnight there were a few days where
the horses had to stay in and it wasn’t safe
to get the lorry out to take them to an indoor
school, so I took the opportunity to go
sledging which was a nice change!
Some of the hills were pretty awesome and
it was great fun to be whizzing down the
extremely steep slopes that the Yorkshire
Wolds have to offer. To have a few days off
was a complete treat but I was very happy
when the snow melted and the need to make
snow angels at every given opportunity
ceased! The snow made everything look so
pretty though, so my photo stream on my
phone is now full of snow pictures.
Next month I can’t wait to tell you all about
how the first few events have gone. Good
luck to all of you who are out and about
competing over the next few weeks.
Harriet offers lessons in all disciplines using
the fantastic facilities at her yard based
at Granary Hall, near York. She has also
developed the HMB Super Syndicate to make
owning an event horse an affordable way
anyone can share the risks and rewards of
horse ownership.
For further information telephone Harriet on
(07795) 562745 or visit www.harriet-morrisbaumber.co.uk
48 April 2018 Equestrian Life