Training Advice with Lee Pearson and Equisafety

Training Advice with Lee Pearson and Equisafety

Lee Pearson MBE. OBE. CBE and Multiple Paralympic gold medallist answers a few questions put to him by Equisafety owner, Nicky Fletcher.

 

Q1: How do you warm up? Do you start ‘long and low’ or do you walk for 5 minutes stretching and starting to make the horse do exercises such as ‘shoulder in’?

I do lots of walk and then break this up with little bits of trot. I don’t insist on ‘long and low’, I’m just more focused on if the horse is accepting the bit on the leg. But, when warmed up, the horse gets regular opportunities to stretch long and low in between being in a competition outline.

 

Q2:  How long before you start really working your horse. My horse, Oscar, takes a good 20 minutes before I get proper work out of him. Is that because he is not fit enough, or is that about the right time for a large 17hh to warm up?

I treat every horse as an individual. For example by the time Zion has done walk exercises, little bits of trot, and underpowered stretching canter it normally is about 25 minutes before he is ready to be totally engaged and permanently in a competition outline ready for any movement asked of him.

 

Q3:  Does the size of the horse determine the time needed for warming up?

No, not really. I think age, fitness, any stiffness and any schooling issues can influence the warm up more than size.

 

Q4: What bit do you use when you are schooling and what type of nose band do you use?

I use a loose ring snaffle with lozenge and flash nose band.

 

Q5:  Once the horse is working correctly, how long do you keep up the high level for? Would it be around 20 to 30minutes?

Yes between 20 and 30 minutes is about right.

 

Q6:  What is your routine for “cooling” the horse off?

Stretching in Trot and Canter and then lots of walk with different neck positions.

 

Q7: How many months before a major competition such as Rio, do you start thinking about increasing your horse’s fitness.

To be perfectly honest I don’t increase fitness. However, what I do is more schooling within a weekly programme, which includes lunging and hacking and days off.

Q8: Do you ride longer to increase fitness, or more times in a day with more intensity?

I don’t school more often in a day to increase fitness, I just school on more days.

 

Q9: What does your horse fed on? Is this altered at all nearer a major competition such as Rio? For example will his feed increase? Is he on hay / haylage or anything else?

The horse has no change of food before any competition. I feed Dodson and Horrell ERS pellets, Alpha A oil plus and Dodson and Horrell Haylege.

 

Q10: Is he turned out in the field and if yes, for how long?

Yes – all day and sometimes night.

 

Q11: Is he regularly hacked out to increase stamina, to chill out or both?

Yes I regularly hack out (and yes, I wear my Equisafety hi-vis!). The change of scenery is beneficial for me as well and the horse.

 

Q12: How do you stop him getting ‘dressage bored’? Is he ever jumped, or does he do something different in the area?

Lots of hacking out keeps him, and me, from getting ‘dressage bored’ to be honest. He’s never jumped – he’s rubbish at it!!

 

Q13: Is he lunged regularly, and if yes, how long and what is the routine?

Yes, he’s lunged at least once a week and he’s worked like he would be if he was being ridden.