In this incredible GoPro footage, five-star eventer Laine Ashker takes us jump by jump through Ian Stark’s grueling CCI3* cross-country course at the 2024 MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill aboard her Dutch Warmblood mare Love Dance.
Beginning with her strategy for leaving the start box, Ashker offers advice on how she approaches each obstacle and combination on the course and provides tips on how she ensures her mare has enough gas to tackle the course with ease. She also notes which tactics worked and which jumps didn’t go so well and how she handles those situations in real time.
We’re sure you’ll have as much fun as we did galloping along with Ashker and Love Dance over Fair Hill’s intense cross-country track, including the infamous Maryland crab water jump, and we hope you gain some insights on how you can navigate similar obstacles on your next cross-country ride.
Ashker: Maintain Your Battery From the Start Box
“Going into this course, I was quite nervous for a number of reasons. My mare is a proper warmblood, so she doesn’t have a lot of blood, and this was by far the longest course she’s every done at about 10 minutes and the largest crowd she’s ever seen.
“Whether I’m doing Beginner Novice or the five-star level, I think of my horse as an iPhone battery from the moment I leave the start box. When I’m in the warm-up ring, the battery is charged to 100%. As I go through the course, there are going to be a few jumps that maybe aren’t so good and that brings our battery level down. So, my goal over each jump on cross country is to keep bringing that battery level back up, so that when I finish I’m back with 100%.
“On cross country, I enter the start box on a long rein to help keep my mare calm. Out of the box, my main goal is to set a good rhythm. When I was younger, I used to set the rhythm out too strong. Now, I think of starting like the slow tortoise and then finishing like the hare.
“The third jump on course is extremely technical with a max table to a narrow brush. After the table, I ride a straight line to the narrow. My mare got her eye on it at the last second, but she didn’t really know to look for it, so I was pleased as punch that she jumped that great.
“I jumped into the second combination on course—the sunken road—quite strongly and she got surprised by it. You can see that I fall forward. But that’s where my orange theory came into play. I was able to sit back and stick it and then kind of give myself a whack in the bum to make sure I’m staying behind my horse and not getting ahead of her on questions that are as difficult as that.
“There were a lot of maxed-out tables with ditches under them on this course. My mare used to be bit spooky at ditches and wanted to pause. But we can’t be pausing over those big tables, I so give her reassuring leg and a big cluck to get over it. But as we do each one on the course, she gains more confidence.”
Ashker: Ramping Up the Difficulty With Water and the Coffin
“The first water jump is a table from water to water. When horses jump from water to water, they’re slower off the ground and slower to land. So, as a rider, it’s very important to stay behind your horse’s motion. You see that I stay back to encourage her to ride across.
“Next we have the gallop jumps. My goal is to ride these as smoothly and as rhythmically as possible, so she doesn’t have to work so hard to keep charging that phone battery up to 100%.
“Now, we’re approaching the most nerve-wracking combination in the coffin. You have a big jump coming in and then a big ditch going downhill, and then you have to pick the left or right side depending on your horse. I chose the left, so I really brought my mare back to an aggressive show-jumping speed, jumped in and then really pointed her for two strides out.
“We couldn’t celebrate too much, because then we have the double corner to corner. She’s pretty good on corners, but she’s also never seen this many people, so I really wanted to get her attention on it, especially because, as you can see, it’s kind of hidden under a tree. I hit the flag with my knee, but that was totally fine. I was really happy with her honesty and for looking down the flags. As event riders, we train our horses to look for the flags.
“The terrain is part of what makes Fair Hill so difficult, so even though we have this stretch here where I can regain my breath and mental focus, we’re going uphill. And because she’s not a full-blood horse, I want to slowly build her confidence and stamina, so I don’t push her uphill. I let her pick the pace that she needs to go up it.”
Ashker: Navigating the Infamous Crab and Final Combination
“Next we have the most exciting water jump with a max-height drop into the water to a related distance to two narrows. You’ll see how I rock my mare back so I can be powerful going to the very big and very narrow crabby crab coming in. I give a little stick on her shoulder and stay back and widen my hands for the narrow. And her stride is so big that with the three jumps afterward, it’s like clockwork.
“When I see the ears start to move with the horse, it indicates to me that maybe she’s getting a little tired. So, as a rider, you need to pay attention and rate that. This sport really teaches you to listen to your horse.
“On the final combination, you can tell she’s really listening to me. I’m talking to her and she’s very focused. But she doesn’t feel labored. I’m not having to kick her to go. Horses need energy to go, but they also need just as much energy to collect. You can see here how I brought her back and we had a really good shot in, but I underestimated how big her stride is. It was supposed to be a four stride, but I got there on three-and-half. So I gave her a good pat because she definitely saved us on that one. But that’s what eventing is all about—a partnership. That’s what makes this sport so great is that you know your horse inside and out.
“I was really proud of how she answered each one of the questions and finished on that 100% battery. The partnership and bond you experience on cross country is why I love eventing so much. I’ve had this mare going on five years now, and I do a lot of the grooming work myself and spend time with her day in and day out doing trot sets and gallop sets and the icing and aftercare. That really creates the bond and the partnership.
“No matter what level of eventing you ride at, both horse and rider must be extremely fit. So much goes into taking care of the horses—their nutrition, skin and coat health, their internal health. But taking care of my health and fitness is also extremely important, because that enables me to better help my horses.”
Ride With Ashker and Love Dance
From this awesome GoPro view, gallop along with Ashker and Love Dance as they navigate the challenging CCI3* cross-country track at Fair Hill last October.
About Laine Ashker
Five-star eventer and dressage professional Lainey Ashker has competed in numerous FEI competitions at the five-star level, including the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CC14* and the Defender Burghley Horse Trials CC15*. The horsewoman, who trains out of her Keystone Acres farm in Chesterfield, Virginia, also won the National Eventing Championship (Advanced Level) in 2013 aboard her long-time mount, Anthony Patch. More recently, she won her first CDI in May 2023 aboard her upper-level dressage horse, Zeppelin.
For more with Laine Ashker, click here.
This video is brought to you by Absorbine.
