Advice on how to Structure a Schooling Session?

[Wandering Star]

I'm lucky enough to ride a lovely schoolmaster who knows a lot more than me about dressage and I'm hoping to compete him in some Novice classes next season. My question is how do I get the most out of my winter schooling? I know all the elements - transitions, dressage movements, lateral work etc - but I'd really like some advice on how to string all this together into a really useful schooling session. For example, how long should I warm up and what should my warm up include? Should I be asking for an outline from the start or work long and low for warm up and take up a contact for the main part of the session? And how long should I cool down and what should that include? I'm sorry if these are obvious questions but I would appreciate any advice! Thanks.

 

[Bodger]

I'm not a schooling expert but i didn't want to read and run. He sounds lovely!

The best advice really would be to have some lessons with him and get your trainer to help you make a plan based on that.Also, it sounds like you don't actually own him so would be worth having a chat to his owner and seeing what they think.

In terms of how long to warm up etc it really depends on the horse! I would generally start with some walk work for about 10 mins, then some trot and canter to loosen up. Then I would start work proper - lots of transitions to get him listening, circles etc - this is where i'd be seeking to work in a proper contact but as to what you actually do it just depends on what you're trying to get out of a session. My loan mare is quite unused to school work so we mainly work on bending and circle work in walk and trot to get her more supple but this might be different for you. I think that lateral work is generally done towards the end as that's when the horse is most warmed up but we're no way near that yet so i can't really advise! Cool down involves some longer rein and stretching (still working a bit though, not just pootling about!) before a bit of pootling at the end. I find it really helps to have thought out a bit of a plan before going schooling - there are some really good schooling exercise books as well that might give you some ideas.

Hope that helps, good luck and let us know how you get on!

Bodger

 

[Wandering Star]

Thanks for this advice. I'm without a riding coach at the moment - my old one put her prices up too much and I'm trying to find a new one, hence the fact I'm needing a bit of guidance in the meantime. I part-loan the horse and his owner is a great rider and very helpful. She watches me ride sometimes and gives me lots of pointers, so we do have good schooling sessions but I just don't want him to get bored or go to waste, as he is a very good horse. Your pointers on rough timings do really help so thank you for those - my problem in some ways has always been that I *have* had a coach there to do the thinking/plan the session etc, so I've just had to concentrate on riding and never really considered how long I've been asked to warm up for etc! I have the 101 Schooling Exercises book but have always found it hard to string them together into a coherent session - so these rough pointers on a plan will give me a starting point as a framework I can slot the exercises into. Thanks again

 

[Morgan123]

Hello, I agree it depends on the horse. My horse takes around fifteen mins to work nicely, so I do ten mins of walk exercises and that's mostly lateral work, getting him listening to me,to then a bit of trot working on him being forwards and stuff. After that I get to proper work for maybe twenty mins and then five or ten warm down.

I try and have an aim before I go in, so that 101 exercises book is great, just select two or three exercises and you're good to go. Or else, think of an aim like, today I'm going to work on getting him really forward, or today we will work on suppleness etc and plan exercises accordingly. You have to vary it though, so in a week of three schooling sessions I probably do one where I focus on forwardness and snappy transitions, one that's more controlled lateral work, and the third whatever I think.

I also find it is soooo useful to keep a training diary and note down what you've done, and I also try and write down one thing I have learnt from every session I do, sounds a bit silly but I find it really helps me think about what I'm doing (this is after 25 years, I don't just mean for novices!!). So sometimes that is just something like 'leg more on the girth for forwardness, has greater effect and helps me sit taller' and sometimes it's like 'if you're having a bad day don't push it, aim small, make it work, and leave it at that' (that's yesterdays, after one of those days when you just shouldn't have got on!!!).