Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week, we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect, and also probably much more similarity.
This week’s question posed is: How do you manage your horses’ schedule to peak at a certain show?
Here are their answers:
“We have quite a lot of horses in our program, all ranging from lower-level jumpers up to the FEI Grand Prix level. Managing their schedules to peak at certain shows can be challenging, but with an organization, planning, execution, and a fantastic team, it is possible and has been successful for us!
For example, my FEI horses have strict fitness programs between hill work, hot walker, flatting, hacking, water treadmill, etc. I love to mix it up with them and to keep them outside of the arena as much as possible to not only keep their bodies fresh, but their minds fresh. I tend to up their workloads a few weeks prior to the show to get their fitness levels up, then we back off a little a couple of weeks before, as the fitness work should already be done, and at that point it’s just keeping them fresh and locked in for the show. I find they last longer through the show seasons when they are happy and healthy, therefore not drilling them in the arena every single day.” – Kady Abrahamson
“To help the horses peak at certain shows, it’s important to nail down a show schedule 3-4 weeks ahead of time, so that you can decide which classes and weeks are most important for the horse. The other weeks, keep things easier. Don’t jump too much at home. Also, for the mental aspect, it’s really important to keep things changed up. Try to ride in different places, do different exercises. Keep the horse interested in his job! One week, we jump our horses in the important GP classes we pick ahead of time, and the next, we focus more on flat work and field cardio. It’s important to keep it changed up!” – Emily Chamberlin
“Each horse is different, so managing their schedule is very dependent on their individual personalities and needs. The main thing to be concerned with is having your horse feeling confident about themselves and their job. A very bold horse might be best fresh and excited to be at the show – that horse will do better with less preparation. Whereas a more timid horse would do better with a few more shows or rounds, possibly even at a lower level to build its confidence up to the big event. Knowing your horse well and tuning in to their mentality is the key to planning the right schedule and amount of preparation necessary to peak on the big day.” – Laura Chapot
“There is always a goal in sports. When working with our partner, the horse, we need to assess the goal and work backwards from that goal. All of my career, I would make sure that the horses were out and doing something six days a week. Monday was their day off to be in a paddock just being horses. Two of their working days were reserved for hacking outside of the arena. Wherever I was, whether it be California, Belgium, New York, etc, they would always get to go out on trails. The other days were for flatwork, cavelettis, and gymnastics. I never trained over big jumps. I wanted to work on other, smaller exercises to let the horses figure out where their feet were. These workdays were individualized for each horse. They all did what they specifically needed to build up toward a goal – the horses told me what they needed to do, not the other way around.
Prepping for a big class or championship, such as Aachen and the World Games, started a year in advance. Five days a week, the horses would be ridden twice a day to ensure they were fit enough to jump the competition asked of them. It’s important not to drill them and to make the work enjoyable, but their endurance had to be built. The day before a significant class, I would work them regularly and ensure they were in the moment with me.
During my competitive career, I also made sure to go to the gym and be fit enough to play my part in the arena. I think that’s a big part of the sport. Ed Smith made sure I was in top form to be there for my horses in the ring. We have to be fit enough to do our horses justice. At the end of the day, it’s all about the horse.” – Candace King
“For any big event, such as a Grand Prix, my goal is always to have the horse break the starting timers in the best possible physical and mental condition to face the challenges presented in the course ahead. The objective is always a clear round where the horse does not need to overtry during round one and has plenty of confidence and fitness to spare for the jump-off.
I believe homework is done at home, and every horse requires something different. In the management, especially leading up to a major scheduled event, essentials such as nutrition through a well-rounded feed program, and working closely with care providers such as farriers, body workers, and vets, ensure the horse feels their best physically throughout the entire process — especially on game day. Recovery practices such as icing, relaxing grazes, and a good roll in the paddock between training sessions help ensure a relaxed animal that is receptive to training.
For the actual riding, our program is very intuitive and based on the individual horse and their needs for a particular event or class. Looking at the general cardio endurance and blood management of each animal, some do activities such as second rides several days a week, either in the ring or outside in nature. A big question I ask is whether the horse needs to focus on certain aspects of their jumping technique to be successful. I always look to see who the course designer is going to be and aim to set some elements in our ring at home that are “trademarks” of a particular course builder, or obstacles we need to practice because we need to improve on them from a previous show.
For the rider, I work on my own fitness as well, with moderate cardio, pilates, good nutrition, and rest, so I am in peak piloting condition for my horse. Having a good plan for the course and warm-up, then being mindful and present when things come up that are not part of the original plan, and being able to remain calm, cool, and rational in the saddle, creates a really solid build-up for a safe and successful experience for both horse and rider over any track.” – Jessica Leto
“I would say the most important thing about managing my horses’ schedule would be to make a goal and work backwards from that goal. Of course, with horses comes a lot of change, so I find that making a goal to aim for can help me decide when it’s best to compete and peak their performance.” – Carlee McCutcheon
“I believe the most critical component to peaking at the right time is knowing your horse as best as possible. There are always necessary ingredients to a successful system, such as maintaining a horse’s physical health, fitness, and overall well-being. However, the ability for a rider and horseman to adapt to each specific horse’s needs is crucial to achieve peak performance. Maybe some horses need coursework in the week before competition to maximize performance; perhaps with another horse, less is more, and a simple gymnastic may suffice. Horses with less energy may be better served conserving their freshness, while higher energy horses may thrive under more work leading up to a big class.
Riders must be obsessed with various components, such as the ever-changing “rideability” of their horses as well as the quality of their jumping style from day to day. Analyzing past performance (good and bad) can give you an indication for each horse on what to maintain and what to change in their routine leading up to an important class. In the end, utilizing all of this information allows riders and their team to work backwards, formulating a plan for each horse but also having the freedom to adapt based on instinct and feel.” – Trent McGee
“In my career, I have mostly dealt with young horses, so peaking has not been much of a concern. With the older horses that I have had, I maintain a basic level of fitness. As we get closer to the competitions, I will ramp up the training and then give them a light couple of days the week before the competition.” – Robert Mendoza
“We manage our horses in 12-week intervals to separate the season between a winter, spring/summer, and fall schedule. Providing 2-4 week breaks in between each circuit is also very important to keep the horses fresh and prevent burnout.” – Amy Mulhern-Sierant
“It all depends on the individual horse, but generally, to properly manage my horse’s schedule leading up to a show, they retain the same 5-day working week. I incorporate a lot of fieldwork in my training program and minimize arena time as much as possible to keep the horse fresh and motivated leading up to the show. Monday is a nice snaffle gymnastics ride, where I ensure I have proper reaction off my aids and ride a lot of counter canter and transitions to start the week off on a light yet productive note. Tuesday is a harder workday, as I practice the show test. Then, the horses have Wednesday off. Thursday is a light school day at the show, used to acclimate each horse to the grounds. I walk every horse for 10-15 minutes on a long rein before beginning the session. Friday and Saturday are competition days, with warmups consisting mainly of walking and stretching, staying under 25 minutes to not overwork the horse and save energy for the show ring. Every horse has 2 days off post competition, and their first day back to work is a stretchy field ride.” – Audra Sheffler
“For me as a dressage rider, when it comes to peaking for a specific show, I want to make sure that my horse is mentally fresh enough to find the work fun and engaging, and also has been through the test I’m going to ride at LEAST 3-4 times, and at least 1-2 times in front of my coach, before the week of the show. I’ve had students tell me they don’t want to practice their tests because they don’t want their horses to learn the pattern; I refute that, and think that a horse that is held accountable to the rider’s tactful and correct aids will stay with you even if he knows what movement is coming next, and that the consequences of NOT practicing are far worse.
What I do the week of the show varies horse by horse; some horses feel their best after a day off, whereas others feel like they’ve forgotten everything they’ve ever been taught. So I usually give my show horses a day off the day before we leave for the show, and then set my expectations the day we arrive at the show and school appropriately. The day before we start showing, I make sure all my horses see as much of the arenas they’re going to compete in as they can (you never know what Dobbin is going to find scary, even if Dobbin is not normally spooky!), and then do as much work as I feel they need to be set up to feel good the next day. That is almost never a hard schooling session; even my hottest, keenest, most feral beast needs to do enough work to be on the aids, but not so much work that I wear them out muscularly, and I get more done by being productive than by just logging miles. I overwhelmingly focus on transitions, centerlines, and corners.
For the unusual horse for whom I do need to devote attention to their fitness for upper-level dressage, I come up with a walking protocol that starts MONTHS in advance. In addition to their daily training, I’ll add incrementally longer and more frequent conditioning sets of walking outside of the arena. My last international Grand Prix horse would, at peak fitness, walk 70 minutes a day, five days a week, all in addition to his 5-day-a-week arena training work. The weeks he showed, I wouldn’t do those walk sets, so he could devote all his energy to performance in the ring.” – Lauren Sprieser
