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In this blog we catch up with In The Saddle sponsored rider Rosie Warner as she prepares for the start of the event season.

Rosie says, “with the event season almost underway I have been busy training to get myself and the horses well prepared for the exciting season ahead of us.

Recently, I’ve been lucky enough to get some fantastic training from 4* event rider Ben Hobday and Olympic equestrian Jeanette Brakewell.

In January I headed to Somerford Park in Cheshire for an arena cross country lesson with Ben Hobday. The facilities at Somerford are fabulous, with a huge variety of fences. I chose to take Milo to this lesson as I have never had a cross country lesson on him before. Although Milo is a machine cross country, as we start moving up the levels it is very important that we are well-established as a partnership.

Milo was absolutely awesome, jumping fences and combinations that you would get at intermediate/2* level. It was amazing how much we developed throughout the lesson. It helped me to realise how important the ‘right canter’ is and also how keeping the same rhythm through the technical combinations without pushing the horse out of rhythm can help the horse get to the fence at the right place and improve the jump technique. I learnt a huge amount and I would definitely recommend a lesson with Ben to my fellow equestrians.

I also took Romeo my 5yo along to have a play over some cross country fences after my lesson with Ben. Romeo has only been cross country once before. He was brilliant and jumped everything like an old pro, so I’m feeling very excited for our first event season together.

Then, a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to have two one-to-one lessons with Olympic rider Jeanette Brakewell at her yard in Derbyshire. I took Romeo and Milo.

Romeo was up first. We worked on his straightness and getting him sharper off my leg aids. It sounds basic but it plays a big part in a young horse’s education and now is the time to teach Romeo to work properly so we can get the best out of him in the future. It really sharpened Romeo and I up and made me realise that I need to be more disciplined with my horses when schooling at home. We finished off with a bit of grid work and gymnastic jumping which really helped with Romeo’s straightness and technique over a fence. Jeanette seemed to really like Romeo and said we are lucky to have bred such a nice horse!

My session with Milo was next and although he is a very different horse to Romeo, we worked on the same kind of basics with him. I had to work on getting him sharper to my aids and engaging more, which created the most incredible canter. Jeanette then asked if she could have a sit on Milo….what an honour!

This was really helpful for me as I was able to watch from the ground and Jeanette was able to give me feedback and help me push the right buttons. She really gave me some great pointers to get the best out of him, especially in his huge canter which I sometimes  struggle to keep engaged. He’s such a clever horse and learns so quickly; once he understands what you are asking of him he will always try his best to give it to you. I have lots of homework to work on at home and I can already feel the difference”.

Thank you Rosie. What an exciting couple of training sessions with some top riders. It is great to have some input into a few new techniques and as we all know, you never stop learning with horses!

STOP PRESS: Some bad news, unfortunately Rosie took at fall at the weekend and has suffered a fracture to one of her vertebrae. We would like to wish you a speedy recovery Rosie. We know with your hard work and determination, you’ll be back in the saddle soon and will be ready to make a big impact of the rest of the event season.