ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE?

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aimeejay

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I do not have the money to afford my own horse so, I have to part loan them. I really want to get into dressage, but the horse I share is the only one around my area. This cob would not know an outline if it hit him in the face, and to be honest it would take me ages to get him up to the standard of prelim. I really dont no what to do? I cant get into dressage if I cant even get a horse which knows what it is but I would rather part loan a horse than go for weekly lessons. Help please??
 
If you want to get into dressage I would sooner get your little chap into it too! Think how great your 'dressage' will be when you have managed to get your cob (who can do dressage) to work evenly and forward into a lovely outline. But remember basics at dressage is not all about riding in an outline, but getting a good forward rhythm with even paces and being correct in the test (i.e if they say circle then circle and not a triangle and if they say halt, halt!)

Goodluck, you will be surprised what a bit of termination and hard will bring.xxx
 
Thanks
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, I think Ill just have to persevere. Nothing comes to you perfect
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xx
 
just read your other reply on your other post, no dude you are not being pathetic i know how frustrating it can be if you feel like you are not getting anywere but i really think if you got some lessons on him then you get some1 elses opinion on where to start or if they think he'll ever do what you want to do, and they'll give you lots of help. also it will be so rewarding if you teach him what it is you want to do. x
 
IcedYumYum, thanks alot youve really made me feel better bout this situation
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, Ill keep posting if I get somewhere with him
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x
 
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This cob would not know an outline if it hit him in the face,

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Amen to that!!!! I gave dressage a fleeting thought, 'fleeting' being the operative word!

If you can't do any dressage how about in hand showing with the cob until you find a more suitable share? You might meet people at shows that are looking for sharers?
 
i think that you should be grateful than you can share a horse not everyone is lucky enough to be able to do that !!!!! and horses are not born working in an outline they have to be schooled into being able to work correctly, if you put in the work then every horse is capable of working correctly and able to compete at prelim
 
If that happened to be my horse that you spoke so ungratefully about, I'd be showing you the door. I think you are acting like a pathetic child.

Workman...tools.
 
and why cant this cob do dressage??!! So he doesnt work in an outline at the moment?! So school him!!! How do you think any horse works in an outline - which by the way is not the be all and end all, dont think just cos the horse has its head in its working well and will do well in dressage. Prelim is all about accuracy, riding, getting a nice forward rythym, and obedience. I agree - ungrateful!! When I got my pony on loan he was completely unschooled, so guess what i worked on him and he now goes in an outline and a lot more than that too!!
 
My unbroken gypsy pony couldn't do dressage when I got her either!! Now she has lovely engaged elevated movement, & can do all the fancy lateral work & lines of 3 time changes, she jumps BSJA & events as well. She was barely halter broken when I brought her home, so the answer lies in patience & training, not just ramming its head in.
 
Advice,

1. Stop being so ungrateful about your part loan horse, if you don't like it return it and see how far you get in dressage on a riding school horse, like the rest of us that don't have our own.

2. Get some lessons and invest some time and effort in your share horse and you might find he is a fab dressage horse.

3. Try a prelim test, prelim is dead easy, any type of horse can do it and outline is low on the list of priorities for the judge. Going forward in a nice rhythm is far more important as is performing the movements in the correct place. At prelim the horse should be in a novice outline anyway which simply means head on or a little in front of the verticle and poll at the highest. Better to have the outline a little unpolished than to be overbent.

4. Forget where the horses head is - focussing on this is the fastest way to ruin a horse. Think about rhythm, straightness, supplness, and impulsion. The head will follow when you have acheived the other things.

5. Get yourself a good book about classical dressage so you can learn what dressage is. Sylvia Loch is very good and has a range of books.

6. Dressage ISN'T going round with the horses head tucked in!!!
 
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I really want to get into dressage, but the horse I share is the only one around my area. This cob would not know an outline if it hit him in the face, and to be honest it would take me ages to get him up to the standard of prelim.

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you actually been to a dressage show recently? The "standard of prelim" is not exceptionally high at unaff, and that's not meant to be a snotty comment. Prelim is a STARTING point, both for riders and horses. So your horse can't work in an outline yet, big deal. Get into the school and start work on him. If he is supple and responsive, and you can ride accurate school movements, then you are perfectly capable of "doing dressage".

Of course, if you just want a ready-made rosette machine, you may have to wait a bit longer for the right pony to come along.
 
kizzywiz I want pics!! and pref a vid of the 3 times I bet they look great
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agreed you just need to teach them, it takes time they need the muscles worked slowly to be able to do it but you can do an unaff walk/trot prelim so long as you can turn and stop, the horse is forwards in good rhythm and you are accurate at your markers.
 
Thank you Ester, your post made me smile, I am very proud of my pony, she has in no way been an easy ride, & not the ideal conformation. It has taken a long time & a lot of effort, she actually finds the changes quite easy, & they are true changes, trouble is she started doing it for fun, last test sheet at an event said "lovely balanced flying change, sadly not required, oops" We have quite a lot of show jumping lessons, so Paul works on the changes with me, & then I just played with it & joined them up.
 
From your post I would say the horse isn't the issue here.
Your lack of knowledge about the required standards at various levels of dressage and how to achieve them is.
IMHO if you cant get your horse working in enough of an outline for prelim within in a few weeks then chances are you wouldn't get a dressage schoolmaster working correctly either.
Lessons are the way forward here.
 
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