"My name is John Downes and
I am a qualified EFA NCAS Level 1 General trainer/ coach,
EFA Showhorse Judge and up until recently a “C”
Level Dressage Judge. I break
in and retrain horses at our facilities located at Caboolture
in Queensland and conduct schools throughout Australia.
I have competed in many equestrian sports and these days
find myself concentrating on the fine-tuning of the intricacies
associated with dressage. In all sports be it dressage or
running there is a common thread to success and this common
thread has enabled me to become a successful runner, tri-athlete
and archer. I have competed and been awarded many State
and National records and titles."
This is the first in a series
of articles on training from planning through to execution.
When we train horses in various equitation disciplines ie
endurance, dressage, hacking, eventing, camp drafting, western
pleasure, it is important to remember there is a
formula that all successful riders/trainers follow and this
formula is the use of logic in our training methods.
Logic is the science of reasoned thought
or the following of a formal thought process.
Logic, applied to horse riding, even though we may be reluctant
to admit, is no different to the logic applied to any other
sport in achieving our desired goals. Successful
sports men and women for many years have prepared themselves
both mentally and physically and are armed with a thorough
knowledge of the sport specific skills required to achieve
their goals be it riding Grand Prix, jumping a combination
or sinking a 3 metre put.
In a sport dominated idealistically and theoretically
by a love of horses, the application of logic can be a very
introspective, frustrating and time-consuming commodity
to apply. How often do we as riders
think about our training methods? When do
we learn to stop and contemplate the success or non success
of our performance at an equitation event? Why
are the same riders year in and
year out competing at the same events with no apparent improvement
of ability? Why do the same riders
represent Australia on our Olympic equestrian teams?
Why is it that some
new comers to horse riding quickly eclipse the ability of
people who have been riding for what appears to be a life
time? Is it natural ability, financial backing or luck?
In my experience it is neither ability, financial backing
nor luck that aligns with success. The quest to achieve
is certainly made more conducive with access to these factors
however successful sports people make their own luck by
following a regime of sheer hard work, practice, practice,
more practice and logic. Logic should become the key factor
in your desire to improve and subsequently achieve in your
chosen sport discipline.
By applying
logic and systematically following a simple formula, all
riders improve and improve quickly. The task of being successful
can be broken down into four basic categories ie horse,
rider, training area and planning.
1. The Horse - be it
used for trail riding, endurance, jousting, eventing, hacking
or dressage, prior to purchase, will need to be sport specific
if we are to be successful as riders. Visualize competing
on a slalom ski course on cross country skis to see how
fast you go or at the Garriowen on a Clydesdale!!!!
If we utilize the show horse as an example - what criteria
do we require to match horse and rider to his or her specific
discipline? The essential criteria in selecting
a show horse is the horse must be pretty, well conformed,
sound, quiet and most importantly trainable. Every
horse sport has these types of requirements.
2. The Rider –
needs to be capable of a quiet, reasoned approach to the
horse. A rider who is not confident with his or her horse
will never be able to apply the aids well enough to be successful
nor achieve the next stage of riding. A physically unfit
rider will find it more difficult to achieve in any selected
equestrian disciplines. Fitness is certainly a big plus
and combined with the ability to absorb and transpose new
information, riders will achieve targeted goals. A good
sense of balance combined with natural talent certainly
makes the task easier. For a rider who does not possess
a good sense of balance or exude natural talent, these factors
can be acquired over a period of time. Any rider
applying all of the above factors in alignment with dedication,
patience and the willingness to give it a go will certainly
benefit long term in the pursuit of set goals.
3. Training Area –
How often have you seen a horse trained to a certain level
and finally breaking down under the continued work load?
It has happened to me. The horse initially needs
to be sound and be worked in such a manner that it remains
sound for the years it takes to climb the ladder of success.
Factors such as suitable feed, proficient farriers, veterinarians
and trainers/coaches all combine to assist in achieving
this goal. Without doubt the most important factor in lack
of achieving success is the work surface and environs. All
equitation disciplines ie dressage, show horse, jumping
etc etc have specific requirements in the footing of work
surfaces to prevent concussion to joints and tendon and
ligaments. All horses work with more ease and certainly
appear happier on well-prepared surfaces. To assist
in breaking in a young horse, a fenced or walled arena or
round yard make the training safer and faster. The same
theory applies for dressage.
Equipment - Poorly fitting
tack such as bits, saddles, boots, shoes and even gloves
make a big difference to how quickly you or your horse
learns an uncomfortable saddle can quickly become painful
and then how well do you or your horse listen and learn.
You don’t.
4. The Plan –
A Rider needs to plan. An old saying is fail to
plan, plan to fail. I have worked with sports psychologists
in Sydney, at the Queensland Sports Institute and the University
of Queensland. All of these professionals insisted on plans
being dissected into work out by work out sessions over
months and finally years. It was essential for goals and
plan of attack to be set out in short, medium and long terms.
Your coach can and should assist you with setting
out these goals however the only person to do the biggest
part of this work is yourself.
