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‘If I could build a horse, it would be him’: Yasmin Ingham on the ingredients of a perfect eventer
The 2022 eventing world champion outlines the prototype for her ideal ride, and explains how she adapts her training approach to each horse – while retaining certain core philosophies. Plus, she reveals how she makes a fuss of her horses, in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers
“You want them to have a tidy, clean jump,” Yasmin Ingham says, as she explains what she looks for in a horse. “Two out of three phases of eventing are jumping; it makes up a lot of the competition.
“Also, character, and presence that stands out in the dressage arena, good paces, athletic, nimble, and good stamina. They have to tick so many boxes, they’re multi-athletes”.
“If I could build a horse, it would be him!” she says. “He’s beautifully put together, elegant, with character and presence. His paces are beautiful, in cross-country he’s brave, agile and fast, and in showjumping he’s careful, quick and nimble.
“He ticks all the boxes and he’s in the back of my mind when I see other horses”.
Yasmin’s top horse Banzai Du Loir demonstrates his super uphill paces.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
Temperament is key.
“You hear a lot that the quirky ones are the best,” Yasmin says. “Banzai was very sharp growing up, very giddy and excited at an event – he’s getting more relaxed. Every horse has something that makes their character special.”
At home, he’s undisputed king of the stables.
“He knows he’s the best; there’s a hierarchy, and he’s at the top,” she says. “He knows his place and he’s earned it.”
He’s a confident horse, but he’s also “such a gentleman, gentle and quiet, no trouble, everyone’s best friend and such a nice person, as well as a successful event horse”.
Banzai is sired by Nouma D’Auzay, and Yasmin’s a fan of the bloodline (her nine-year-old Goliath Du Loir shares the lineage).
“I love it when they’re talented jumpers,” she says. “On the last day of competition, you can have faith and confidence your horse can jump a clear round. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than a stunning dressage test, being in the lead after the cross-country, and you lose on the final day.”
Ability over the coloured poles is a key asset for Yasmin.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
Yasmin Ingham’s training philosophies: “I listen to the horse”
With any new horse, Yasmin starts slowly.
“I don’t have one system for every horse, they’re all different,” she says. “But what they all have in common is that the only way they learn is from positive repetition.”
She’s always listening – to how the horse is feeling, what they are telling her, whether they are ready to progress.
“If you have a careful jumper, and he over-jumps and scares himself, I listen, and take it back a level, or stay at the same level for longer, until they’ve grown in confidence to progress to the next level,” she explains.
Knowing your horse and establishing mutual trust is the building block to success, and Yasmin does that by using nothing more sophisticated than time.
“We have a very small string at the yard, and I spend pretty much every day with all of them,” she says. “We all chip in, tacking up, grooming, washing off, mucking out. I spend a lot of time with the horses, getting to know them inside out; there’s no better way to connect with them.”
Her grooms, Denise, Alison and Owen share the same goal to “forge an intimate connection with all of them”.
Yasmin builds strength and avoids the enemy of enthusiasm, staleness, with plenty of variety in their work. Hacking, cross-country schooling over water jumps, ditches and natural fences, spins up the gallops, water treadmills for conditioning and “not too much time in the school”. She’s ever mindful of her horses’ well-being, as she says: “They are your partner, you have to connect to bring results and their welfare is always at the front of my mind. They’re such important athletes, we really need to look after them.”
The goal of training is to make the competition easier, and her method of training is to give the horses exciting and interesting challenges at home, including “random and weird” cross-country jumps.
Jumping “random and weird” cross-country fences at home means Yasmin’s horses are ready for anything when it comes to the biggest stage of all, such as the World Championships.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
“I also love gridwork,” she says. “It’s so important to have good footwork. Placing poles before and after fences, or a long line of a grid is interesting for them. Having fences of different heights, smaller and slightly higher, and if you want them to put their neck down and have a good stretch over their back, wider oxers in a grid.”
With physios, farriers, nutritionalists on call, she is quite sure, “they have a better routine than I do!”
Treats, carrots and holidays in the field
Elite athletes, but also beloved like family pets, with treat jars dotted round the yard to reward goodness and when they come back from big events, her grooms put up balloons outside the stable and carrots in the haynet.
“They’re so spoilt. we make such a fuss!” she admits happily.
She tries not to ask too much of them, explaining: “If I’m trying to get a perfect half pass or flying change, it’s about small wins, small progress, a pat to let them know it’s positive. Instead of doing it until it’s perfect, then they’re flustered and they’ve lost confidence, you’ve got to make sure they’re understanding what question you’re asking. If not, you need to simplify it, go back a few steps to make sure they understand so they don’t get tense and have a negative experience.”
Yasmin breaks her season in two parts. For instance in 2024, after a demanding, flagship event – in his case Kentucky – Banzai had a few weeks in the field to wind down and refresh, before Yasmin picked him up for the second part of the season, and the same after Bicton for her younger horses.
Horses need time to just be horses, enjoying their holidays in the field.
“I know what makes Banzai happy,” says Yasmin. “He loves to roll without his rug on. As much as I love to keep him as clean as possible, he loves to go out roll in sand and get dirty. As long as he’s happy I’m happy.”
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Born in Australia and bought up in the Midlands, Kate has ridden since childhood. After completing her degree and living abroad for several years, she became an award-winning BBC radio producer and Channel 4 documentary producer after which she became a freelance journalist, contributing to the Daily Mail, The Times, The Telegraph and others. She also collaborated with top jumps trainer Nicky Henderson OBE, to write his best-selling memoir, Nicky Henderson: My Life in 12 Horses. She owns currently cares for retrained National Hunt racehorse, Stop the Show.
