I haven’t read this whole thread yet but I think the original question is a good one to expand on. In my experience it looks like this…
There is no rule but… it would not be considered ideal for a first timer to complete two 4 stars in 4 weeks. This used to be a big deal in the old long format… but not so much anymore. Still it is a move reserved for experienced professionals.
That said… I assume you are referring to Steady Eddie, an experienced campaigner who has depth of fitness from years of 5 star competition with Boyd Martin.
This year he is ridden more than competently by a young man, Mike Pendleton, who could get a job in Santas workshop as an elf. (Meaning he weighs a buck twenty soaking wet).
Generally speaking the fittest a horse will be is just after a major three day event. What is missing is a reserve of stamina. This gets built up over a horse’s career. Eddie has years of fitness trained into every muscle. As long as the horse was sound and rested for a few weeks there should not have been too much worry.
Plus, in Eddie’s case, he is an Australian TB… they tend to be bionic. y guess is that at 15 years old, Eddie’s wonderful owners wanted to make sure he could qualify to do a 5 star next year with Mike. Their strategy worked! Mike is now qualified to make his debut at Lexington 5 star with one of the most experienced eventers in America. They make a great team.
Every equine athlete is a unique individual that presents it’s own challenges to its rider and trainer. There are not so many hard and fast rules, only guiding principles that encourage good horsemanship.
Second guessing the moves of professionals in competition based on a rudimentary understanding of these principles tends to be a favorite pastime of the COTH forums. Some folks tend to keep themselves in a box of rigid rules and standards they read in a book or heard at the feed store. This is not a very good strategy for learning new stuff. Effective horse management requires that you think outside the box more often than not.
For me if what you do improves the horse and makes it happy and successful, I don’t care if you get there by putting the saddle on backwards, keep doing it. Some horses might thrive on tough love and hard work. Some need a softer approach. If it doesn’t hurt him and makes you happy in your ownership, there are very few rules that cannot be broken if the specific need arises.
Sure, there are questions of character that might be fair game like unsportsmanlike conduct or cheating. But most often the choices professionals make are fully justifiable and based on a lifetime of experience and acquired knowledge.
But whenever someone’s choice of training methods, use of tack or competitive choices does not make sense, it never hurts to ask respectfully, as the original post did, how or why it might work.
P
