This coming weekend eventing kicks off again in the UK after the winter break and there is much excitement at Team Levett that the season will soon be upon us. People say to us it must be about to get busy again and yes in some ways when the season is here things are busier but in many respects January and February are the busiest months on the yard as that is when we are (a) up against the weather but (b) importantly juggling the preparation of all of the horses in all three phases - dressage, show jumping and cross country and trying to get them out and about with programmes that are tailored to them.
For example the baby horses new to eventing this year - Dylan, Cassie and Tonto have all been doing some clear round show jumping at different show jump venues to get them ‘off the place’ and to some unaffiliated dressage to get them in to an arena setting which isn’t in their comfort zone at home. Alongside this they have been cross country schooling a few times to get them ‘in the groove’ of thinking forward and understanding the challenges of water, small ditches, steps etc. Where as the older horses need much less cross country schooling and with them its been a combination of dressage lessons with Gareth (Hughes) who I see once a week at his place with a couple of horses or show jumping training and competitions with Roland (Ferneyhough) at various venues (and importantly not at home) to complement the athletic grid work I do at home.
In the last week I’ve also had Australian Team Training which was a great experience, I think it was the best camp yet that I have been to - Prue (Barrett) and Chris (Webb) supported by Erin (O’Neill) have been in the UK for the last week or so and came to visit with us for a productive planning meeting and they then went around the UK meeting many riders for similar meetings - it is helpful to take the time out to have these kind of sessions and I always find them a helpful experience. We then all gathered at the Unicorn Trust for team training with three intensive days of dressage and jumping coaching sessions and simulated competition. Alongside the riding we also did work on ourselves as riders to assess our own personal fitness and management programmes – to ensure we are in the best shape possible to ride the horses we spend so much time training and looking after.
Needless to say we had lots of laughs and there was a good atmosphere and energy with a real sense of purpose and focus at the camp which I found very positive. I and my team are firmly focused on trying to ensure we can represent Australia and win a medal at Rio and all our planning is done in the context of the next eighteen months with this goal BUT I am determined to enjoy the journey between now and then and to ensure my loyal and supportive team of owners get to enjoy their horses along the way as one of the curiosities of our sport is that you are in combination trying to ensure your top/experienced horses go well but also ensure the horses of the future in our stables are produced to the best of my ability as the babies of today could be the stars of the future and hence why Cassie, Dylan and Tonto are equally important in our yard – we run the yard with equal focus on the starts we have at each level – I am lucky enough to have a dozen horses to compete this year – this for me is a great number as it means I have a few horses coming through at each of the key levels and all being well a few horses at the top more experienced level. Those who know me well will know I enjoy the process of training a horse and building a relationship and connection with it. For me this is (a) enjoyable and (b) critical in terms of ensuring you have a relationship with a horse as at times we will have to bail each other out in competition settings.
March will see us out at Aston Le Walls with the young horses Cassie, Dylan, Tonto, Ziggy (a new ride for me this season so I’m having a gentle run to get to know him) and then on to Oasby the following weekend – to one of my favourite early season events as I feel the ground is always excellent and the courses well built and perfect for a first run of the season. We have the whole yard out competing over the four days of the competition at Oasby. Alongside these early season events I will be taking the older horses out for some more show jumping competitions and continuing with my dressage lessons and the gallop work will ramp up for the older horses with spring three day event goals.
Our spring goals include (if all goes to plan – and you never know with horses!) a trip to Rolex with Womble (Improvise) which I’m excited about as I have never to date had the opportunity to go and I hear it is a wonderful event. There has already been and will continue to be a lot of planning in advance of this trip which Jenny and Emily are well on with – thankfully I am just focused on the riding.
So as you can see lots going and lots of great things to look forward to this season. We will keep you updated with our progress and hopefully next month I will be able to report some great results - and I wont have taken any early season duckings in icy water jumps!
Cheers,
Bill
Many thanks to Guillaume Beguin for the use of photos from the training camp
