We all know how expensive riding and training can be so H&C’s Jenny Rudall looked into how you can get free help to ensure you get the most out of your season.

“With competition fees, petrol prices and the cost of feed going up, it's a struggle to find the funds to gain that all important help and training to ensure a safe and successful season.  Any free help and training advice is hugely welcome and I have found some great websites and ideas that can help supplement your own training regime, without you spending a penny!

H&C comes to the rescue

I am obviously a bit biased when I say that the help and advice offered by H&C is not only free but fantastic as well, but it truly is. 

H&C has a huge team of experts all willing to share their advice and training ideas and all it takes is a quick email to the editor with your query. So if you have a burning question or are in need of some training tips please do get in touch by emailing webeditor@horseandcountry.tv.

H&C has a huge array of videos that range across the disciplines, from How to Succeed at Prelim and Edward Gal's Masterclass for dressage fans, and for those who like their horses hooves to leave the floor, Sharon Hunt’s How Tos are brilliant.  A particular favourite of mine that not only gave me a ton of training ideas but made me cry with laughter is the Geoff Billington Masterclass. 

H&C has manged to cover many topics, from videos on How to Leg Yield to case studies on riding shoulder in, and if what you want is not there, all you have to do is ask and we we will make it for you.

Enough about us

There are few sites that I really find exciting, but when I saw this Facebook page I marvelled at the simple genius of it.  For those of you who event at the lower levels, it is a tricky business deciding which event to go to and with no time or money to school or check out every event, you want to be sure to choose a course suitable for both horse and rider.  This page solves that problem. Visit the British Eventing Course Photo page.  

It is such a simple idea: When you're out eventing this season, take your digital camera with you and take some snaps of each fence on the course you are walking and then e-mail them to bexcpics@hotmail.com. 

This means that over time there will be a complete and free catalogue of courses to help you in your choices throughout the season.  So whether you like a small course or a big and bold course, you can find the course right for you.

Camera action

My next site follows the same lines and on Equi-spy you’ll experience the thrills and spills of riding through a helmet camera worm by Kate Lukas, a professional event rider in Surrey. Kate takes us through show jumping and cross country rounds with her trusty camera attached and it is great for training and awareness or to help you plan which courses you and your horse would like to undertake throughout the season.  

The horses range from BE90 to Advanced and go around a large variety of the courses. With footage unedited, you get to see the good, the bad and the ugly.

Youtube and dressage

Some of us find it easier to ride a test than others and, when reading through your test for the first time at home, have you ever been confused by the movements listed? Check if you're translating the instructions correctly by clicking onto www.youtube.com and type in your dressage test, for example Prelim 18, and I guarantee that some kind soul will have recorded themselves riding the test and you can watch and learn and decipher what to do. 

By watching a few, you can take away some tips on how to ride or indeed how to not ride the test.   

Forums

Another great place to find free advice is on forums and it is worth checking out the forums on BE, BSJA and BD. Although not all the advice on there is helpful, you will find some likeminded people willing to offer some tips and you may even find others who share your worries.

Get watching

My final tip is to get out there and watch at your local shows. Go onto the BE, BD or BSJA websites or look in our Events database to find out when shows are on and go and watch.  These competitions are normally free and even though they are smaller than events like Hickstead or Badminton, the big names will all be there working young horses or giving their more experienced horses a run.  Watch how they walk the show jumping course, see how they work on the flat and pick a fence cross country you don’t know how to ride and watch as the different competitors tackle it.

Watch, learn then go out and have fun.”