The
importance of getting help at events
Michael
Hillman
I consider myself
extremely lucky in that my eventing "hobby"
has been overseen by some of the finest riders this
country has produced, from Michael Page to Mary Ann
Touskey, from Bruce Davidson to Julie Gomena. Each one,
while different in their styles and techniques, has
shared one key underlying principle: no one can do it
alone. It's simply a fact that everyone needs help
(including Olympic riders), especially at events.
When I was first
exposed to the event world back in 1983, eventers could
be classified in two primary categories: professionals
and school age children. At the time I was one of an
extremely small group of adult amateur riders; we were
few and far between. And so it seemed destined to remain
until recently - when eventing began to experience rapid
growth in popularity among middle aged "real world
professional" adults.
For what ever reasons
many of us who have succeeded in our professional
careers seem to be failing when it comes to getting
proper coaching. I cannot begin to count the number of
times a fellow adult rider has confided in me after a
disastrous cross country ride that he or she had not
walked the course with anyone; and, what's perhaps worse,
they had no real coach to turn to in resolving what usually
amounts to a long standing problem.
Dream as we might, we
amateur adults will never make an Olympic team; and if we
ever cross the finish line at an Intermediate horse
trial Champaign bottles will be popping no matter how
many penalty points we've received on course. I myself
never thought I'd do a Preliminary event let alone a
three-day; I never would have had I not recognized that
having a good coach is not only a mandatory prerequisite
to doing well but also a prerequisite to surviving.
Now there are a lot of
individuals out there who claim to be coaches and they
may be fine at the beginner level, but if your intentions
are to compete at the training level or above it is best
to skip the semi-professionals and go straight to an
instructor who is actually riding at an upper level.
While instructors of this quality can be hard to find in
some areas of the country and may be more expensive, they
will approach the training of you and your horse in a
markedly different manner. First and foremost they've
"been there and done that," which gives them
some unique perspectives on how to get you as far as
safely possible and with a maximum of fun. If you make
it quite clear from the beginning that you are in it for
fun, you will quickly find that these individuals will
assume the role of guardian for both you and your horse
and will shepherd you through the trials and tribulation
of learning to event.
One of the unwritten
rules of eventing is that competitors help each other
out at events. A subset of this rule is that quite often
professional riders, out of a sense of professional
courtesy, will look out for students of other
professionals. This arrangement has paid frequent
dividends for me. While my coach tries to attend most of
my events she can't attend them all; when she is unable
to be on the grounds, I am always directed before hand
to a particular rider to whom I can turn for the help I
need.
Once my stand in coach
has been identified and their services procured (usually
with a well respected brand of vodka or gin), I proceed
to brief them on my horse, his performance in recent
events and the focus of our recent lessons. With just
this little bit of history, your stand in coach will be
able to help you analyze and ride each phase of the
competition. In most cases it will be you who does the
actual analysis. I have found that most of my stand in
coaches tend to start with, "OK, how do you think
Julie would have you jump it?"
Whether you do the
thinking or your stand in coach does it for you is
immaterial. The point is that you will have someone who
is concerned about and focused on ensuring that you and
your horse have an enjoyable and successful weekend of
riding. Like it or not, having someone in the warm up
ring looking out for you can mean the difference between
finishing at the bottom of the pack or finishing with a
ribbon, maybe even a blue one!
If you currently don't
have a coach and thus can't take advantage of their
professional courtesy rule, these same individuals are
still readily available in exchange for legal tender.
Don't be intimidated; all you have to do is walk up and
ask; professional riders are a great bunch of people and
most will be glad to help you. While getting help from
different riders at events is good, it doesn't replace
having a full time coach. It is however a great way to
sample the styles and techniques of our best riders at a
third to a quarter of the cost of what you would pay for
a clinic. Once you find someone you really like, make
them your full time coach and sample the rest of the
professionals at events for the cost of a bottle of
spirits.
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