Curious on training opinions...

[HolsBols]

My mums working very hard at the moment schooling her 5 yo Splash and seems to be coming on in leaps and bounds, but its got me thinking...

When i got my horse, ok she was older but she was still very green (and was worse behaved than splash is now!!!) I didnt school her much as i didnt enjoy it, she got really stressed in that environment and we just struggled. Im a happy hacker so thats what i did, took her out and rode how i ride and now 4 years on she really is a fantastic horse to ride!! Amazing brakes, will lead or follow, and so light in the mouth!

My question is... how far do you train your horses?? If you have ur forever horse, do u train up to the level u require? or do you train fully so they at least know it should you want to go further in the future??

As im a happy hacker, i dont worry about how my horses carry themselves-they are checked regularly for pains etc and they are extremely happy and relaxed. My feeling is that if i dont interfere with them, they will tell me if they are unhappy with anything and will hold themselves where is most comfortable. I do this because i dont compete, and i dont do anything too strenuous for my horses. walk trot canter and the odd gallop but again they generally pick the speed the faster we go-i dont force them into anything other than slowing down their pace!

Lots of people are now able to ride my crazy ex racer-including a 7 year old girl so im very proud of what we have achieved together. She knows enough for us to do really well together... is that enough, or should there be more??

Should their age have relevance on how far we train them?

Should we ensure that they are always carrying themselves properly in order to hold our weight, and who decides what is "proper" as every horse is different!

Opinions please

[jennyb]

Can of worms opened.... ;D

Personally, I bought my horse with the intention of seeing how far I could train him, and how high up the dressage ladder we could go. So yes, I do a lot with him. However, he is only schooled 1-2 times per week as I am mindful of his age and the fact that he is not fully mature, so we also do lots of hacking. He'll be fully mature in a year or so, so then I won't be restricted on what I can do with him.

I would not allow an unknown or novice person to ride my horse, he is very sharp and he gets very worried by people who aren't confident. He is trained to respond to the lightest of aids (Ok, still a work in progress, but still!) so it wouldn't be fair on him to put a novice on board, he isn't used to novices and so would get upset by them not being able to communicate well, be that through their body language, aids, position or whatever. I'd like to think that when he's older and more laid back, he might be a nice schoolmaster and more forgiving, but for now he's a cocky 6yo so I'll only trust him with people who know what they are doing!!

Their age should indeed have a relevance on their work, young horses shouldn't be ridden too hard or too long, nor should they do excessive work in the school.

Yes, they should carry themselves well in order to avoid unnecessary strain. Who decides? The horse! Simple anatomy and biomechanics. However, for a hacking horse, it should be sufficient to ask that they are light and forward and not excessively on the forehand. I think you need to pay more attention to correct way of going if you demand more physically from the horse.

[KimT]

Someone once said to my mum that there is no point in getting a horse competition fit if you are a happy hacker because you have to maintain it. they dont stay fit all the time and you stop enjoying it because it feels like you have to ride to keep them fit. He said just make sure they are physically happy and capable of what you want. I guess the same could apply to education because if you are teaching them more than what you want I think you stop enjoying it. At some point you with think 'Im never going to use this, why am I doing it?'

If you decide to do more in the future, there is nothing stopping you from teaching your horse more then. I never used to make Jack 'work' in an outline all the time. As long as he was reasonably balanced and using his back end by swinging through comfortably he was fine. I hasten to add that I didnt push him to walk fast but rather encouraged his natural rhythm.

So far as back muscle goes, as long as its strong and you can see a good covering of muscle (instead of the spine/ribs showing) then you should be ok.

i have been at yards where they focused on outlines all the time. Even on hacks and my horse didnt enjoy it and neither did I. i didnt want to compete so didnt see the point in doing it. They were fit enough for me and had good muscle coverage.

There is the saying, horses for courses, after all.

[Deleted]

I'm trying to avoid 'schooling' session as such at all for the time being. I have a 6yo who was very badly backed at 3.5yrs and I'm still trying to sort out the damage.

I have found most of our 'issues' (of which we have many lol!!) disappear when we stop riding round in circles. I think there's probably two reasons - bad association with his first backing - and he is very very bright and any more than one 20m circle without a change of gait, speed or direction and he gets bored, and I'm just not that good at keeping him occupied

Out hacking he is proving to be very confident and relaxed and so I now intend to do most of our work out there. For the forseeable future I will only take him into the riding area to teach one very specific and focussed lesson at a time, and I'll only do that if its something I can't do out on a hack.

I'm quite happy with how my horse carries himself, but then I'm lucky that he moves really nicely naturally. I think if he slopped along on his forehand all the time I'd be more inclined to interfere!

[Amanda Seater]

Me I agree with all that has been said above.
I will school mine to a high standard.

But in the past I have been at trail riding centres where the horses have doen nothing but hacking , not trekking with all sortsof human lumps in daft positions on them and the horses have been hale and hearty to a ripe old age - not back man in sight!I must add though that there was only one Tb on the trail and that was not ridden by just anyone. SO again horses for courses
Look back in the day of the old hunters carrying folks sat in a chair seat and cavorting over the fences all day. Some horses didn't cope but many did.

Do whats right for you and your horse

[HolsBols]

Jan 10, 2011 15:04:52 GMT 1 jennyb said:

Can of worms opened.... ;D

My Fav hobby Jennyb lol!!!

out of curiosity JB, how would you proceed ur training if you werent planning to see how far u could go with dressage, and just wanted to have a nice enjoyable hack?

I know if i wanted to do more with my horse i would train her so that she doesnt strain any part of her body doing too much!!!

I never thought my mare would ever be ok for novices... im so proud of her that shes now chilled out enough to manage it!!

[big e]

I am a happy hacker but i also like to do a bit of schooling. My cob has done a little bit of everything except driving. All just basic stuff to see if he excelled in anything. He has hacked, jumps a small clear round show jumping, will do a small xc course, has done a beginners dressage test, sponsered rides, beach rides, etc etc

I think he enjoyed all of them but was never going to be a superstar, (pigeon toed and not a big jumper) so he is just a good friend and hacking buddie and a horse people can gain confidence with.

I have a 5 year old and 4 year that will be starting their education this year and yes they will do a bit of everything too and if there is something they seem to enjoy then that is the path i will lead them up

[jinglejoys]

Guess its like people.I hated lessons unless we were given a book with sums/questions,a quiet well behaved class and allowed to get on with it(Hated being interrupted every few minuits!)Some people like sitting round a table with a load of others to "study"
Not interested in dressage (BORING yawn!) reminds me of riding lessons at school when we were taught what to do but never why...it was when I had to do endless figures of 8 with my own pony I really went downhill as I didn't know why,whether I was doing them right or what to do about it if I wasn't.
If someone had taught me the fun of hacking I might've stayed interested.Now I expect my Mule to be able to negotiate steps,sidepass out of trouble,back up,stand perfectly still when asked,squeeze through narrow gaps etc

[jinglejoys]

P.S. I thought hacking WAS schooling!? ;D

[HolsBols]

For those who have said they do educate their horses, can you give specific examples as to how far u educate them?

For example, my horse can walk trot canter and gallop thru voice command (her fav is walk to galOP - YEEEHAAAWWWWWW lol) open and close gates, back up (only if she can see a reason for it tho aka a gate lol) and turn...

People who do more, what extra do u do and WHY

[HolsBols]

Jan 10, 2011 15:48:07 GMT 1 jinglejoys said:

P.S. I thought hacking WAS schooling!? ;D

heehee i LOVE ur thinking!!

[laurac]

I think its a case of listen to you horse and dont be put under pressure by others or thinking about the horses age
My horse will be 9 this yr and hasnt been properly ridden in over 3 yrs due to physical issues! We enjoy waling out in hand currently and longlining
Some horses love schooling & going out to competitions, some hate it and some find it uncomfortable due to physical issues but can hack happily, and there are some horses who dont like to hack alone
As long as the horse is well and enjoys whatever you do with them then thats all good ;D
Well done with what you've done with your horse

[jennyb]

jinglejoys - dressage is only boring if you don't understand it! It's actually very absorbing when you understand the *why* behind what you are doing. I used to find it very boring and only wanted to school enough to jump well, then I started to learn more and got hooked.

HB - if I just wanted to hack, I would want my horse to do all that yours does, and definitely a leg yield so that I can tuck him out of the way of big lorries on the roads!

What extra do I do? All of it! ;D Why? Coz I can, lol! Gazdag isn't quite seven yet but he hacks alone and in company, in front or behind, he works well in a collecting ring without losing his head and he knows about dressage arenas (although he is still slightly suspicious of the judges huts). He is totally chilled out about being in a show environment. Schooling wise, he knows to collect and extend in all three paces, although obviously there is more to come from the collections and extensions when he is older and stronger. He will leg yield, shoulder in/out, travers, renvers, half pass, turn on the haunches or on the forehand, etc, etc. His latest things are walk pirouettes and the very baby beginnings of learning piaffe. Why? Because I wanted to teach a horse all of these things from scratch, and not just ride them on a horse who already knows about them. Mainly for personal development and achievement.

[HolsBols]

Thats great Jennyb Its great to hear how passionate u r about it

and yes i forgot to say leg yielding-she is fab at that Not a clue if she does it properly but she steps to the side of the road while still in a straight line so thats good enough for me!!

[jennyb]

As long as you can get her over and out of the way of traffic, that's all that matters! Doesn't matter if it's technically correct or not, as long as you are getting what you want out of it.