ELITE athletes abound in the world of sport. From fast as lightning track stars, to brave and burly rugby players, and all the cyclists, golfers and swimmers in between, never before has the public been so enamoured with high-performing sportsmen and sportswomen.

Aside from incontestable talent in their ordained discipline, what is it they all have in common? The answer is simply a rigorous and unshakable training schedule. A quick Google search on Usain Bolt, sprinter extraordinaire, shows that his daily training amounts to no more than three hours.

Of course, these three hours likely represent intensity unknown to the average sports enthusiast, but it is still only three hours out of 24. That leaves significant time (21 hours, should my mental arithmetic be called into question) for rest, relaxation and meditation. Necessary rather than indulgent, such an approach to training is a well thought-out response to the demands of high-level sport.

Closer to home, I am reminded of an observation from one of Team Ireland Equestrian’s mentors during a team sit-down in the National Sports Campus recently.

As the clock approached midday, this training professional noted that his elite swimming charges were, at that very moment, snoozing their way through an obligatory, mid-morning siesta. A suspiciously green hue passed over mine, and my Eventing Ireland team-mates’ faces, as we imagined a world of midday snoozes and early evening massage treatments.

This is the marked difference between elite equestrian athletes and their non-horsey counterparts – our daily structures must address not only the rider but also the horse. Alas, horses are not known for their predictability and adherence to schedules so a planned 30-minute schooling session can extend to an hour, in the rider’s bid to win both the battle and the war.

That phone call to an owner intended for ‘lunch hour’ (anybody working with horses will consider the notion of a lunch hour as entirely laughable) instead takes place in the tack room as we hurry to our next equine ingénue.

Meanwhile, the physio-prescribed 20 minutes of stretching our own aching bodies is reduced to two minutes of touching our toes while impatiently willing the toaster to pop. Welcome to the world of elite eventers!

The amount of time spent worrying about our yard and horses is endless. Time devoted to thinking of ourselves...priceless, by virtue of its very non-existence.

Running track

Yet all this pace and worry aside, would I swap my mucky jodhpurs for the sleek silks of the running track? No chance. The only 100m dash you will see me make is down to the starting box of the cross-country course.

Indeed, my current form allays itself more closely to that of a triathlete as I switch between the disciplines of show jumping, dressage and eventing. Worry not, as I consider myself first and foremost an eventing rider. However, the remaining two disciplines are proving invaluable to my overall performance as a rider, and no more so than at the dawning of a new and demanding eventing season.

Horseware Stellor Rebound (Rocket) proved himself quite the competitor at last weekend’s Dressage Ireland show, kindly hosted by Boswell Equestrian. I entered the Prix St George competition as it calls for similar movements as the highest level eventing tests.

I readily admit to a certain level of anxiety in the run-up to test day, and went to bed the night before with tempi thoughts of three and more. My worry was mostly unfounded, as Rocket did a lovely test and took home the red ribbon.

In fact, the judge was pleasantly surprised to see an event horse perform an almost foot-perfect, canter half-pirouette. Any significant errors on the day were rider-based, as I miscounted the tempi changes on the diagonal.

However, some warm and welcome words of advice from the Dressage Ireland members should serve to point me in the right direction for my next test. That, and the possible employment of an abacus to perfect the supposedly simple art of counting!

Sunday promised to be an exciting day, as it played host to my first HSI/Connolly’s Red Mills Spring Tour Grand Prix of 2015.

BLM Diamond Delux (Murphy) and I travelled the relatively short distance to Kill International EC. A very thorough course-walk revealed a technical course with an average fence height of 1.35m. As is the case at all of these Grand Prix, competition was fierce with every rider looking to get some early points on the board. Murphy was a superstar, delivering a clear and speedy jump-off round which left us with a fifth place finish and an etching on the leaderboard.

Not a day passes without my acknowledging how fortunate I am to own my top horses, Horseware Stellor Rebound and BLM Diamond Delux. Far from parting with the national budget of a small country to purchase them, I bought both horses as unproven youngsters. While their talent was indisputable from day one, it has taken a lot of hard work to hone their crafts.

SUPPORT

However, all the talent in the world is difficult to channel without the generous support of my sponsors. Thus, I am delighted to announce the continued sponsorship by Horseware Ireland of Horseware Stellor Rebound. The road to Rio 2016 promises to be an exhilarating one and I am so pleased and grateful to have Horseware Ireland along for the ride.

Sarah Ennis is an international event rider based in Co Meath where she and her husband Niki run Stellor Sport Horses