‘Repetition and routine’ says WEG Team gold medallist Tom McEwen and World Class Podium Potential squad member Richard Jones backs that up with ‘The same, the same, the same’ as they presented an eventing Masterclass for Dodson & Horrell
Watch top British eventing riders, Tom and Richard put their horses through their early season paces in Part 1 of the Masterclass held at the College Equestrian Centre, Keysoe in Bedfordshire.
For those of you who may not have a fantastic indoor school such as this at your personal disposal, it may be reassuring to know that even a team gold medallist only has a small space to work in at home and it is also reassuring to know that they too have spooky horses that take a little while to settle in unfamiliar surroundings.
The unflappable Tom (despite being worried that he may get bucked off!) sticks to the plan, as if riding at home “Nothing is rushed, nothing is panicked”
Not rushing is a big policy of Tom’s and it’s a good one. For many riders, not being rushed means being organised, especially at events where good planning proper preparation is the first step to avoiding rushing your horses and creating extra pressure. Then you can take your time, as Tom does, giving his less experienced horse more time to settle in
A fence down is irrelevant at this stage ‘as long as there is someone to put it back up – it’s a bit of a nightmare if there isn’t!’
Tom explains his normal warm-up and Richard agrees with the principles of ‘keeping everything consistent and methodical for the horse so he develops confidence in us’
“The same, the same, the same” is Richard’s mantra “So they know where they stand and get confidence. Especially in our sport, the horse has to learn to trust the rider – we ask them some very difficult questions later, particularly on cross country, so we want the horse to trust us 100%”
Note the balance on the small turns after the fence during the warm-up and, once they start to jump the course ‘It’s all about rhythm’
It may be ‘teaching the obvious’ but it’s well worth a watch, as is watching Richard and Alfie's Clover on their way to finishing seventh at Burghley
