KEN'S COLUMN
Time is the essence!
Horses take up time, an awful lot of time – especially when they are involved in competition. When the competition is at international or very top national level, the chances are the owner has some help with yard management and other essential work – but it can still be a tough call. I have many memories of getting back from an event in the early hours of the morning, unloading - and then spending a couple of hours taking care of the horses knowing full well the next day I had to start work early. Even though I was lucky to have some wonderful help, it was still hard work.
There were the times when it all went wrong – an event cancelled due to extreme weather conditions – but not until after I had got up horribly early, driven a very considerable distance, arrived and unloaded the horses! That re-loading and driving home was utterly miserable and very depressing!
I can remember horses going lame...casting a shoe... being off colour. I can recall when things simply didn’t gel as well as usual and our performance wasn’t up to expectations. I can remember missing out on the first place by the tiniest fraction – and being squeezed out of the frame altogether as a result of a silly mistake on my part.
There again, I can recall, with absolute clarity, the times when everything went absolutely to plan. Good journey. Horses arrived unbothered and relaxed. Plenty of time to sort out numbers and double-check times...to have a coffee...to walk the cross country course...to check out the dressage arenas... to evaluate the show jumping course and watch to see what riders were making of tricky combinations... to ride in, the horse responsive, rhythmic, back swinging. And then the competition itself. Dressage performance liked by the judges. Cross country blissful. Show jumping accurate - the horse listening and careful. Finally – the prize-giving and the honour of being presented with a prize by Her Majesty the Queen.
Going home – horses uninjured – tired, but certainly not exhausted. Me about the same. Rosettes hung in box. Elated - adrenalin still pumping. Knowing that the horse and I had performed in harmony – a partnership and an understanding that extended way beyond ‘aids’. Full of determination to iron out a few schooling issues so as to produce an even better performance next time. In other words, the stuff of dreams that made up for all the ‘bad’ occasions.
I don’t have horses any longer - but still have a day-to-day involvement with them in my job as a saddle fitter. Now I come across the situations I describe more as an onlooker than a participant. I remember when horses totally dominated my life leaving no room for other interests at all. That was a few years ago and I suspect, in order for today’s riders to be successful, they have got to be even more dedicated, committed and single minded. Standards have risen quite a lot since I was competing at international level and now it is virtually impossible to win a three-day event without putting in a really good performance in all three phases.
Sportsmen and women all need to be philosophers! We tend to think of sport as a modern invention but, in various forms, it has existed for thousands of years. For centuries there has been debate about mind/body holism, about ‘fitness’ in its most perfect form, about ethics, about ‘sportsmanship’, training - and trainers - and so on.
Equestrian sports have a long and lauded history. As long ago as 682 BC, a chariot race formed part of Greece’s 25th Olympiad. Jousting – involving the lance, the battleaxe and the sword - can be traced to round about 1066 (although it did not become generally popular until the 13th century). Another interesting point: equestrian sports are the only Olympic events in which men and women compete against one another on equal terms – and the combination of horse and rider are medallists – not just the human element!
We sometimes think of racing as ‘modern’ but is has existed, in various forms, ever since humans first domesticated horses. The history of racing – from when it was ‘just for the fun of the sport’ to today when the industry involves millions and millions of pounds – is a fascinating one. Thoroughbred horses are so inbred that the pedigree of every horse can be traced back to one of three stallions, Byerley Turk (1680-1696), Darley Arabian (1700-1733) and the Godolphin Arabian (1724-1753), and these are known as the "Foundation Sires". From the early 1800s, the only horses that could be called "Thoroughbreds" - and allowed to race professionally - were those listed in the General Stud Book. Today the Jockey Club regulates horse racing and point-to-pointing.
Polo is often claimed to be the oldest equestrian team sport with the first matches said to have been played in Persia well over 2.500 years ago. Thought to have been created by competing tribes in Central Asia, it was used as method of training the King of Persia’s elite cavalry. Matches are said to have resembled battles – with up to a hundred on each side! The more civilised game we know today was the inspiration of British officers in India in the 1860s.
Today we can fly or ship horses all round the world with relative ease, thus putting a new perspective on international competition. But whether or not the competition is a local show just down the road – or a big international event – a huge amount of time will have gone into schooling and preparation. As I said – horses take up an awful lot of time!
KEN is an SMS Qualified Saddle Fitter who specialises in fitting competition horses and those with ‘difficult’ conformation. Call him at Saddle World (01622 844440) or on his mobile (07973 501873).
