In this eventing video series on EQUESTRIAN+, five-star eventer Caroline Pamukcu’s head trainer Lee Maher says that effectively preparing your eventing horse for competition is all about keeping it fun and stress-free. “You don’t want to put your horse under any additional stress, especially when you’re going into a competition,” he noted. “So, during your last schooling sessions, focus on keeping your horse happy and make sure it’s a worry-free experience for him.”

Maher demonstrates how to prepare your horse for all three phases of eventing competition. For dressage, he focuses on establishing and maintaining rhythm in trot and canter work and incorporates lots of transitions improve his horse’s balance.

On cross country, Maher stresses the importance of making the experience fun and stress-free for your horse and explains how to introduce him to water on the schooling field before progressing to more complicated questions like skinnies and banks. For show-jumping prep, he demonstrates trotting and cantering over raised cavalletti to encourage his horse to relax and drop his head and neck and then progresses to schooling verticals and oxers. He also practices taking various distances to fences to test adjustability.

Dressage Prep

“When I start horses for the dressage, I want them to be nice and happy, forward thinking and in front of my leg. You don’t want to get on and just pull your horse into a frame and make him round. You need to have something to work with. And if your horse is forward thinking, he’s working with you rather than against you.

“Focus on keeping your rhythm and track the same and if you get a little resistance against the reins, send your horse straight back into that rhythm again. Work on improving every upward and downward transition and also make sure to give him plenty of walk breaks to encourage him to stretch while also swinging and using his back.

“Every day, focus on trying to improve something. It’s not going to be perfect every day, but strive for small improvements and keep everything nice and positive. Like us, horses learn over time and through repetition, so if it’s not right the first time and not perfect the second, try a third. But also know when is enough for the day. Repetition can only go so far a little at a time.

“Don’t run through your entire test every time you practice because you don’t want your horse’s muscles get sore or to over-drill him so they start to anticipate movements. It’s more about the quality of your work over quantity. “

Schooling for Cross Country

“During your warm-up, do lots of transitions and circles to make sure your horse is listening to you. Check that your gas and brakes are working and use your gears to ensure he’s tuned in.”

“When you start schooling for cross country, keep everything nice and happy and more like play to take the stress out. We just need to make sure they’re happy and all the buttons are working.

“When you first school in water—whether you’re on an experienced eventing mount or a green one—start by just getting your horse’s feet wet to make sure he’s not afraid of the water and understands what to do. Then you can start trotting and cantering in the water and maybe pop out over a little log. It’s all about having a little bit of feel. Every horse is different, so it’s important that you can feel when he’s happy and ready to progress to the next obstacle or stage.

“If you horse is still nice and I happy, I then like to move on to something a bit more challenging like a short turn back to a corner or skinny. I make sure my horse is balanced and bending around my inside leg. You also need to ensure your horse understands what the flags mean—that he goes through them, rather than at them. Our job is to get the horse there in a balanced way to help him understand his job.”

Show Jumping Warm-Up

“During my warm-up, I make sure my horse is in front of my leg, is listening and is happy in his work. Make sure you can go forward and back. Then I start to incorporate trotting over ground poles and cavalletti to encourage him to drop and stretch his head and neck and relax.

“Start over a vertical and stay on a large circle, going over it several times and practice landing both left and right to make sure your horse’s changes are sharp. Then, do the same over an oxer since your horse will jump a little differently over oxers.”

“Practice taking shorter and longer distances because in the ring the distance might be a little more forward or your horse might be a little quieter.

“Take walk breaks after exercises, especially more challenging questions, to let your horse process the jump or combination.

“Especially when you first start schooling, you don’t need test your horse’s scope or high he can jump. You just want to make sure you’re on the same page. You also don’t need to jump whole courses all the time in the practice arena. Instead, you can use a variety of gymnastic exercises to teach him how to use his body better so when you get into the show ring he understands how to use the fence for his own benefit.”

You can watch the full series on how to best prep your eventing horse for your first competition of the season here.

Watch & Learn

From short training tips to how-to videos and insider-access to private clinics and lessons, learn from top hunter/jumper, eventing, equitation and dressage experts on EQUESTRIAN+.