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How do they do it?

I definitely couldn’t remember that many off the cuff! As long as I do a quick review right before my ride (any phase) I’m usually good. I too am amazed at the physical stamina that people who ride that many possess. Granted, I usually trailer in to events and do it all in one day, stabling on site might make it easier, but that is still a LOT of riding!

If you look closely enough, you’ll see that pros riding numerous horses regularly receive TE’s for jumping the wrong fences on XC. I noticed this a while back and figured it’s just part of trying to keep so many courses straight!

I dunno. That many courses, that many horses, I’m sure it’s not precisely easy. But by the same token the dressage tests are not created to be tricky. They have an anticipatable flow (except for the special tests they used at the Olympics!!!), they often have mirror image movements, they progress from one movement to another in a relatively sensible way.

Same with the XC. It’s not like you rocket out of the start box, make an immediate 120 degree turn to a hill back up behind you for fence 1 or anything. It’s not designed to be a memory challenge, but rather a jumping/galloping/timing/fitness challenge. Put a little sticker of tape on the horse’s bridle up near the ears for the color fence you are currently riding, and that might be about the only clue you need, until you get to the very upper levels where there are options. How many options are there in courses at Training? How many mind-puzzle options are there in Prelim? Not a whole lot.

The place I could see things getting dicy is in Show Jumping, but even then, the people who run the show don’t want to make 9 major course changes in one day. I’ll bet the tracks for several of the divisions are relatively similar, with only a couple fences changed in some notable way. And the jumps are numbered.

I’m not trying to downplay the abilities of these people – at all. I could not do that much in one weekend, that’s for sure. I’m just pointing out that there’s a logic to the parts of the sport that help with the progressions up the ranks. It’s not like Gambler’s Choice or anything.

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The show Jumping track will usually be the same, just changing some of the combinations into single fences.

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Is there a limit in the US for how many horses someone can compete? Here in the UK a rider is limited to 5 XC rounds per day. Can still work out as a lot of horses over a multi-day event!

There is no limit for the national levels, though organizers can set their own. EV 104.5

I do wish some organizers in this area would limit the number of horses one person can ride in each division. I jump judge a lot, and it can get old to have to sit and wait for 15 minutes at the end of a division when all the other rides are done, but a pro has to warm up and ride their 3rd or 4th horse of that division. I know they are moving things along as quickly as they can but during a long day of volunteering it can be a bit frustrating. Especially when it cuts into critical bathroom break time!

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Oh yes! And even worse, due to superstition, we won’t pack up our kit to move until the last horse is past otherwise that last runner will fall. So waiting to finish a section can really cut into bathroom break time.

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When I started eventing, some 25 years ago, Ontario limited riders to 2 horses in any division, and a maximum of 3 total for the day. These were all one day events, so it still amounted 9 rides during the day for someone with three horses.

Now we sometimes see one pro with 4 or 5 entries in a division that has a total of 10 - 15 entries, so there is a lot of waiting around if one person is every 2nd or 3rd rider. And that rider would have another bunch of entries in other divisions. Scheduling must be a nightmare for the event Organizers.

EC rules actually have a limit of number of horses per rider at an event, however they also say that the event can make an exception .

I was show secretary for one venue this year - the secretary does the scheduling. At our second show, one pro had 7 entries out of about 100 total. Being my first year scheduling, it was a bit of a challenge! A more experienced secretary is training me, and said this pro can be scheduled with as little as 15 minutes between rides :open_mouth: She has a good support team who makes sure the horses are tacked up and ready for her, although under our rules nobody else can get on to warm them up.

Thank you!