I know many people would not be particularly proud of completing a pleasure ride, and even more so would not expect a rider who’s ridden at FEI level to be proud of completing a pleasure ride, but here I am, REALLY DAMN PROUD of completing a pleasure ride.
I see the novice years as the ‘education’ years for my horses. It’s where I have the opportunity to practice as many of the scenarios that will come up when they eventually get to FEI as I can. I try to emulate the processes they’ll be doing in years to come as closely as possible.
The week running up to a pleasure ride is exactly the same as my run up to a big race. I like to take them on overnight stays and to busy venues. I like to get them out of bed early to watch the race riders warm up and start together, walk through the vet gate the night before and generally be exposed to as much competition atmosphere as possible.
Now in the past this has gone pretty smoothly with Azid and Pria, they have taken everything in their stride, doing their novice rides at FEI venues, but Qantas is a little more sensitive. But that’s ok, it just means the education part of his training is even more important and it may take us a little more time to get him to be at ease at a competition.
Which is why I’m so proud that Qantas was well behaved for his first sleep over, walked around the busy venue listening to me and not freaking out, that he went into the vetting, that he started calmly. He was ace out on course, really forward going and sure footed, he never pulled to follow any horses that passed and he accepted being sponged down by the crew out on course like a champ. He went in front and behind and kept a lovely even pace.
I like to do the shorter distances like a mini race ride. Start slow and then increase the speed as the ride goes on, just like I would each loop of a race. If the conditions are right I also like to canter across the finish line, this gives me a better idea of what they are going to be like to crew in vet gates and gives them a teeny bit of practice for any potential racing finishes.
Qantas then stood beautifully still to be untacked and crewed at the end of his ride and did the most wonderful trot up to finish. His mind was well and truly tired ,you could see it in his face and body language but his body was in top notch form and by the way he turned out in his field later that day he still had plenty of energy left in the tank.
It would be so easy to focus on the negatives, that we had to downgrade to a pleasure ride because his heart rate was too high at the start to risk it, that he panicked and bucked me off, that his initial trot up was sideways across three lanes, that he hates the sound of sloshes, that he spins and bronks at the sound of horses coming up behind him, but to me those are things we can work on. It’s the improvements that make me happy and are what I want to focus on.
Every training session and every competition I do with Qantas I see as a stepping stone to our long term goal, the results don’t really matter, it’s the journey and giving him the best foundation I can so that one day when we are competing for a win I’ll know I did everything I could to set him up for success.
Beth Endurance 