It’s planning time!
Lots of people have that light at the end of the tunnel idea, but sometimes those long term inspirations are not helpful with your day to day plans or motivation! Working backwards from an objective helps give clear direction in your daily riding plans.
At Jeffree Eventing we set a six-month goal for every horse, and the more experienced and higher level horses often have 12 month and 2 year goals as well.
We are well aware that anything or everything can unravel very quickly in this sport so adaptability and review is always needed, but an initial structure can be reassuring and may help maintain your enthusiasm too.
If you set your own 6 month goal, it is likely that this will not be your lifelong ambition!… but choosing something tangible and achievable will certainly help you to get on that path or at the very least feel that you are moving in the right direction.
For us the 6 month goal for the high performance team is usually a 3 day event, and for the younger ones it can be a lot simpler.
After we set our goal we use a season planner to work backwards and set up the comps each horse will be aimed at for the season. We want to ensure not just that we have the qualifications, but that we have a comfortable number of runs at each level for that particular horse. We often like to start the season at or below the level from the end point of the previous season to keep the horses feeling fit and confident in their mind and body.
From there we fill in some training runs as well, and we always try to allow a short mid-season break and/or a “confidence run” to keep everyone on track.
Then we use an online spreadsheet (accessible on our phones) to keep a daily record of what each horse does, this allows us to quickly get an overview to ensure they are traveling well and getting a good variety of work each week that incorporates flatwork, jumping, trail riding and rest days. By incorporating lots of cross training we aim to promote both aerobic and muscle physical fitness, and keep the horses mentally fit and happy too!
As well as taking on horses for short or long term competition campaigning, Sam has a few timeslots available for lessons (dressage or jumping) from our base in Macclesfield, and we are happy to help with your training and management program too! Contact us to find out more.