‘Riders’ focus on their horses’ body health is a positive step,’ says Pippa Roome after Kentucky Three-Day Event

H&H’s eventing editor Pippa Roome shares her thoughts on dressage prep and how young riders develop in eventing

I noticed at Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event how many riders said they had been taking a “less is more” approach to dressage and focusing on what Tim Price called “body health”.

Asked what he’s been working on with the 16-year-old Vitali, second after this phase, he said: “I don’t drill my horses. I don’t target one-day events. He’s a sound horse, touch wood, and he looks really good through his body. As horses get older, I think that’s important, because he’s proven time and again that he gives you what he’s got to give.

“It’s my job to ask the right questions and to have him in a place where he feels strong and ready, so he has the ability to answer the questions; they’ve got to be fair questions.”

Dressage leader Monica Spencer said of her build-up with 15-year-old Artist: “I’m getting braver with my warm-ups – just letting him stay loose and soft and trusting that when I get in there, I can get that competition frame. I’m learning to believe I don’t need to practise, so I can keep him fresh and just go out there and push the button.”

Monica added she does her dressage sessions early in event week, then rides in a jumping saddle.

“We go out little and often, twice a day, to keep him fresh in his body, not tired in those dressage muscles, so that he can do his best,” she said.

I wonder if this is a result of horses lasting longer, now our three-days are without roads and tracks and steeplechase, so they spend more years at the top level and become more established. Once they know the movements and have an established way of going, the focus moves to keeping them well.

Whatever the reason, it’s great from a horse welfare and social licence point of view.

Dumbing down or bridging a gap?

The way we develop younger riders has taken a new turn this year with the introduction of the under-25 World Championships, at CCI4*-S. This year it’s in Millstreet, Ireland, and in 2027, at Cornbury.

Part of me understands it’s useful to bridge the chasm between young riders at CCI3*-L (it used to be CCI4*-L) and senior championships, where those participants are among riders of vast experience competing at CCI4*-L or a hybrid CCI4*-L–CCI5* level.

The counter argument is that if the under-25 championship becomes prestigious, it will, over time, encourage some to hold back at CCI4*-S – and to choose and train horses with that event in mind – for a shot at those medals, rather than pushing on and gaining experience at five-star. However, the effect of the dumbing down of youth sport on five-star entries is another topic!

Yasmin Ingham was senior world champion at 25 years old. Zara Tindall held that title at 25. If you’re good enough to play outside the gilded underage cage, you’re old enough.

We’ve just seen Isabelle Cook, 21, finish seventh in a hot CCI4*-S in Kentucky with Cymoon “F” Z. It’s likely she will prioritise her final year in young riders, with her prolific youth medallist Mexican Law, over the under-25s; riders cannot compete in juniors or young riders and the under-25 worlds in the same year.

Meanwhile in Australia, Oliver Barrett, 22, has just won Adelaide CCI5* and is targeting the senior World Championships in Aachen.

While the USA plan to send a team to the under-25 worlds and I expect many European nations will too, I don’t necessarily foresee Australia or New Zealand doing so.

A rider can do both the under-25 worlds and a senior championship in the same year, but definite entries for the seniors close the day after Millstreet ends so it’s tight. But Australia could send Oliver and Sandhills Briar to the northern hemisphere for the under-25 worlds and then, if that goes well, to join the seniors in Aachen.

● What route do you think young riders should take? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your thoughts published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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