How much is too much?

With so many events again cancelled in the early part of this season it is tempting to be running as often as possible now during the summer, but consideration must be paid as to just how often you compete.

There is no set period that you must adhere to between events except for the BE stipulation that a horse cannot run on two consecutive days, but it would be unwise and even dangerous to think a horse can run regularly without notable breaks without long term implications. At BE90 and BE100 the physical exertion of an ODE is notably less than that of Novice and above. The speed is slower, the courses shorter and concussion lower as jumping a lower height, but a horse cannot be expected to compete week in week out even at this level on less than perfect going without risking injuries ranging anything from minor sprains to more serious concussion and joint injuries, with many other scenarios in between.

Unfortunately it is impossible to give a definitive answer of how much how often is detrimental as there are just too many variables involved. What is best is to look at your horse, the individual events and importantly your horse’s performance both at home and at competitions.

Consider what surfaces you are conducting your fast work on, if your fast work is all conducted on hard ground this will increase concussion and soreness. To get more out of your summer consider hiring all weather surface gallops as an alternative.

A good general guide for lower level horses is 2 ODEs a month, the other weekends can be spent at showjumping or dressage competitions which require a lower level of physical exertion and are commonly held on all-weather surfaces that may well be preferable to your home work surface. Competing on successive weekends is unavoidable in most areas if wishing to take advantage of local fixtures and almost all horses will happily cope with 2 events in 8 days (or less!), it’s when you compete at ODEs on 3, 4 or even 5 subsequent weekends when you start to rapidly increase the likelihood of injuries. These injuries won’t necessarily happen at competitions or even show up the next time they are worked after an event but can appear at any point. Often a strain or soreness will be highlighted during a midweek training session as still tired muscles from the weekend are asked to push or stretch that little bit further. There will always be that person with that horse that does compete at ODEs seemingly every weekend consistently without any issues but it is naive to think that the majority of horses can do the same.

I always believe in watching and learning from professional riders, looking at how often they run their horses is very valuable and educational. They will pick and choose events according to the type of event that will suit the horse best in addition to if it is the type to learn better from 2 or 3 events in quick succession and then a break or alternatively from more regular but spaced out events. It also shouldn’t be a surprise when a professional rider chooses to travel 4 hours instead of 1 to go to an event that better suits the long term plan for their horses despite another event being far closer.

Overall you need to do what is best for your individual horse, if in doubt talk with your trainer or experienced friend and remember everything should be about long term plans not short term. Sometimes it is better to step back a level or miss an event as long term it will make the path to your next main aim (moving up a level/CCI/3 day etc) a smoother journey.