The Equestrian Blog

Saddle Girth – How tight is too tight?

Are you guilty of doing up your horse’s girth as tight as you can in the belief it gives your saddle and you the best security? Well Australian researchers have found that a girth done up too tightly can have a negative effect on your horse’s performance.

The usual tension applied to a saddle girth to keep a saddle on a Thoroughbred racehorse is around 13kg but researchers found anything over 10kg could alter the horses performance.

Although they still have to work out why, it’s thought that it may force the horse to adopt different breathing patterns involving a greater use of the diaphragm which in turn affects performance. Alternatively, the soft tissue and fluid in the thoracic wall (the part between the neck and abdomen, enclosed by the ribs) could be displaced during exercise.

As yet, no-one knows for sure. Some horses don’t seem particularly affected by girth tightness but others do. Saddle placement also played a part, so more research is needed. Whatever the effects of your saddle girth just make sure you don’t leave your girth too loose.

European Eventing Championships

Posted by debbie | Filed under Equestrian News

The FEI European Eventing Championships start today at Fontainebleau (FRA) and run until the 27 September. The championships include a full line-up of 18 nations who have nominated riders.

FEI Eventing Championships at Fontainbleau British hopes rest with Oliver Townend, winner of Badminton and Burghley this year, record seven-time European medalist William Fox-Pitt and Tina Cook, who won team and individual bronze at the 2008 Olympics. They are joined by three European newbies Lucy Wiegersma, Nicola Wilson and Piggy French.

France has won team silver 7 times since 1993 and individual gold with local hero Nicholas Touzaint in 2007, they have yet to win team gold.

Germany is seen as the strong favourite but hasn't won team gold for 40 years, a fact they are looking to change.

The European Eventing Championships began in 1953 and the UK can boast 20 team and 17 individual gold medals won by celibrated riders like Lucinda Green, Ian Stark, Pippa Funnell and Zara Phillips. Supreme Rock ridden by Pippa Funnell is the only horse to have won back-to-back titles, in 1999 and 2001. Ginny Elliot (GBR) is the only rider to have won the European title 3 times, which she did it in succession in 1985, 1987 and 1989. Ginny is now the Irish team trainer. William Fox-Pitt has won the most European medals with 5 team golds and 2 individual silvers. This will be his 7th European Eventing Championship.

This years course designer is Pierre Michelet and France has hosted the FEI European Championships twice before, in Haras du Pin (1969) and Pau (2001)

Follow the action and get full details of the HSBC FEI European Eventing Championship 2009 at www.fontainebleau2009.com

Eventing isn’t exciting enough…

Posted by idex7 | Filed under Eventing, Worth Mentioning

So now we have Express Eventing and... Best of all, competitors will be judged by "celebrities" who appear to know little or nothing about riding - Andrew Lloyd Webber and Arlene (Who) Phillips. .

Express Eventing is a radical new compact version of the sport of eventing, designed for arenas and stadiums around the world. It condenses all the drama and excitement of traditional eventing into just half a day, with all the action visible from one seat.

Sounds exciting and it may just be exciting, but is it eventing?

Or is it just a, made for television, minor celebrity filled, get your money out of your pockets, overpriced, under delivering, waste of time.

The runners and riders list looks impressive with Nicolas Touzaint, William Fox-Pitt, Clayton Fredericks, Bettina Hoy, Mary King, Andrew Nicholson and a variety of other top eventers all qualifying to compete for the £100,000 first prize at the International Cup in 2009. The express eventing website splashes liberal links to the qualifying riders list page, just to make sure you don't miss them.

So, How did the riders qualify?

We have used the FEI rider rankings and past rider performances to determine who should be invited to the inaugural competition.

Hmmm, so based on your current, crowd pulling, popularity then.

There appears to have been a lot of effort put into express eventing and the website is certainly pushing the excitement part. But, an event appears to only last for a morning, the cross-country course is a paltry 1500 metres long and cross-country and showjumping are combined with a quick change routine.

All we need now is the clown make-up and you can see the blooper re-runs for years to come.

I remember getting excited about indoor cross-country jumping after watching a youtube video of it in a Canadian competition, but after paying extra for the best seats at Olympia or some other big event, I was very disappointed to see it was just showjumping over small cross country obstacles.

No... I love eventing and I really, really respect and admire event riders and event horses. I really appreciate the effort riders and horses put in and I love those big three day events.

I don't like the sound of this. I don't see where Tara Palmer thingy and Jodie (get me on any show you can) Kidd, fit in. There's nothing about their participation on the website.

Or where being judged by celebrity judges adds any credibility to professional riders like Nicolas Touzaint, William Fox-Pitt, Clayton Fredericks and the rest of the riders featured on the website. If they ever actually compete.

But then, I checked the ticket prices.... Upper Tier £35.00 and Middle Tier £45.00

Looks like a hope to get it on television, get your money out of your pockets, overpriced, under delivering, minor celebrity filled... GET ME OUT Of HERE.

Tags: competition, Eventing, express eventing
No Comments » | November 26th, 2008