Although the months of January and February may be a bit uninspiring for riders in the UK, two out of season event series run by British Eventing that are open to members and non-members seem to be a great way to get competitive edge before the season starts. The Baileys Horse Feeds Jump Training and Baileys Horse Feeds Jumping and Style (JAS) run from January through to the Championship at the end of February and combine training with a chance to compete for a place in the finals.
In the Jump Training riders gain invaluable feedback from BE Accredited Coaches on their showjumping skills in a three phase training competition that consists of a course walk in small groups with a BE Accredited Coach, a guided warming up session prior to the competition with a BE Accredited Coach and the competition phase where riders jump one round, get feedback from the Coach and jump again. Both of the rounds of show jumping are given marks for style, effectiveness of riding and the quality of the horse's jump and its paces. Any show jumping faults over the two rounds are then included to produce a final score.
Jumping and Style and are an indoor arena Eventing experience with a combination of show jumps and cross country fences where combinations are judged on style as well as technique. The style mark is converted to penalty points and added to any cross country or jumping penalties for the final score with classes held at BE90, BE100, Novice and Open heights (the latter classes being at 1.10m and 1.15 respectively).
Both the Baileys Jump Training and JAS Championships take place this weekend for horse/rider combinations who have qualified at one of the preceding eight regional competitions. Baileys sponsored eventing rider Ben Hobday will be giving a demo and Q&A session on the Saturday evening at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire, aimed at helping riders at all level to understand the importance of pre-season training.
In 2013 Ben Hobday caught up with Blyth Tait when he was coaching the winning riders of the Championships and produced this video
