This both excites and scares the crap out of me.
I know this is a few years away as I of course intend to start at Beginner Novice (or below!), but the idea of galloping. Like, REALLY galloping ... well, it terrifies me. There. I said it.
Yes, I can hand gallop. I can enjoy a nice romp in an open field. But when I watch the Rolex riders ... they are not going for a romp. Even some of the Training level riders (a level I think I could reach with Hampton someday), are cooking around the course.
I am not afraid of my horse taking off. I am afraid he will trip and fall down. That is my fear. It's not the speed, it's that I am afraid of him tripping at a gallop. Weird? I'm not scared of jumping - but I do have a healthy respect for it. And I am certainly confident with the dressage phase. I did ride hunter jumpers in college so stadium jumping doesn't make me super nervous either. In general, I feel pretty prepared to start out at the very lower levels of this awesome sport. But ... what if we get good enough that we need to start galloping?
... Yup, I'm a dweeb.
You are not a dweeb. It is a scary sport. It is not for the weak. I also think it is also part of the fear that drives us to do and be better. The good part about it though is if done right you will move at tiny little baby steps and by the time you and Hammy are galloping you will be ready for it.
ReplyDeleteIt's OK - going at speed is scary - it's just a matter of practice and experience and developing mutual confidence - and it takes time and miles.
ReplyDeleteI have the same fear! It seems so silly to me, but your post made me feel better about it :-P
ReplyDeleteSomehow I event and gallop anyway ... I guess I just try not to think about it. I bet that by the time you get to a level where you need to gallop it's less of an issue because of all your practice at covering varied terrain at a good canter. Long live eventing! You will love it.
I agree with everybody's comments. At BN you are going to be going around a xc course at a show ring canter. You don't move up until it all fits together and you are comfortable. You are not galloping until Training and even then you can probably get around at a brisk canter. And at Training the fences start to get technical. That's a ways off, don't worry about it.
ReplyDeleteWhen you walk your courses you will find your self looking at the next level and at first saying - wow, scary, we can't do that. And gradually that will change to 'we could do that, I want to learn to do that.'
It's a slow progression, enjoy it.
Don't worry, you do NOT have to gallop at Maiden, BN, OR Novice. Heck, BN, we had to trot in lots of places so we wouldn't get speed penalties. The best thing you can do to get your horse ready for terrain though is get on terrain. Put some serious trail miles on him at all speeds. This is honestly the BEST thing I ever did for Solo. He can handle himself in any footing, any weather, and topography because we have done it all.
ReplyDeleteGo for it, it is FREAKING HARD work, but there is nothing on earth like it and the sport and the people in it are unmatched in passion, generosity, and fun. I'm completely unbiased of course. ;-P
Do it!!! It's so much fun, it's always good to try all sorts of different disciplines on for size! I mean, we're trying WESTERN right now!! What's up with that. As the gals said, at BN level you wont be doing any galloping unless you want time faults. Learning how to gallop is just like learning anything else. You learn pace, balance, position so that you and your horse are safe and no one ends up face planting. A good eventing trainer can absolutely teach you how to confidently and securely take your horse to the next level with your cantering and galloping. It's way more than just going faster. Cant wait to hear all about your eventing progression :) Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThink how much you trust your boy! That's the start. If you can hand gallop now, but I bet you didn't when he was first learning to canter! In time you'll have slowly pushed that enough that suddenly you'll be feeling confident galloping!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to hear you're dreaming of eventing with Hampton, I've been thinking all along how good he'd do if you jumped him!