Back in the saddle

[Heids164]

Hi Everyone!

I have started riding again after a 6/7 year break. I used to own my own pony when I was teenager - I am now 22 and decided it was the right time to start again!

I am helping exercise a 5yo 13.2/14h pony (welsh type - I am only 5ft2 and 8.5 stone) for a local lady. He is lovely and I am really enjoying it! I have been back in the saddle about a month and I have done walk, trot, canter and popped some small fences on him. Now I am starting to feel more confident being back in the saddle I was just wondering if anyone has any tips for a young pony? I am riding him 2-3 times a week. He has a bit of a belly so trying to work this off - tips?

He hasn't really hacked out much so I have started taking him down a quiet road near the yard - he can be a bit spooky - any tips on getting him past this?

He also tends to rush at fences and then knock them down - any tips here?

Also any tips for riding after a long break?

Should I get into a routine with him? E.g. schooling in the field once a week, hack out once a week, pop some jumps once a week?

Thank you
Heidi

 

[Barnacle]

Firstly, well done on getting back into it! I know that can be tough - particularly if you'd only ridden as a child.

How much has this pony done? He's obviously very young and maybe hasn't been backed long but you have a field to school in by the sounds of things. The first thing I would do with a horse like this is teach him to free school (explanation here: http://intheequinemind.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/sharper-plods-free-lunging.html ) Once he knows that, you can get him free jumping with small crosspoles and grids around the school. That should solve the jumping problem easily... And then you can tack him up and try again with you on board.

Free schooling should also help him become more focused on taking cues from you so that when you are out hacking, he takes a bit more confidence from you. Groundwork also improves ridden work by making the horse less stressed (according to studies that monitor physiological stress indicators). But all youngsters usually start out spooky. You just have to ignore it and insist on doing what you want. What you should never, ever do is give up and turn around. If you feel like a situation is getting dangerous/too much for you to ride through, dismount and lead. It's always better than giving up which tells the horse that maybe there really was something bad about to happen...

If you're not confident riding a spooky horse or just want to try something a bit different, try taking him for walks in-hand a bit first. Horses take confidence from having someone on the ground with them who can lead the way. If you approach scary things confidently, your horse will learn to trust your judgement and the more you walk around, the more he'll experience and the more confident he'll be. It'll also let you get used to how he reacts to things without you worrying about falling off. If you teach him to lunge, you can even bring a lungeline with you and do a little lunging in a clearing or just jog next to him for a bit. On foot, you can still do all sorts of useful work like teaching him to leg yield, turn on the haunches, shoulder in and haunches in... Transitions. You can teach him to stand still and start really cementing voice commands to make it easier to do all these things when riding as well. You can even take him through scary things like puddles... And reward him after. Or even over a log or two. Not everything you do has to be from in the saddle

As for losing the belly... Lots of hillwork (trotting up/down and cantering up - make sure not to do too much downhill on steep slopes so as not to damage the front legs. Particularly as he's only a baby and probably not perfectly balanced yet.) should help while hacking. In the school, do lots of transitions (both within and between gaits) and lots of figures. Try not to spend the whole time around the outside. If you can get him working from behind and going forward, he'll lose the weight as he'll be working hard. Lots of work on a loose rein is good to develop topline. Do lots of walk to start with and only work on the other gaits if he's starting to relax and stretch and step under loosely.

Getting into a routine is a good idea for progressing him consistently but it doesn't have to be weekly... Maybe set yourself some goals and work towards those and see what your routine needs to be to achieve them. Then make a longer plan? I would probably give him 1/2 days hacking or in-hand work "out". And groundwork or flatwork the other day to start with and leave the jumping for once he can free school easily and you can adjust him easily on the flat. Then perhaps he could jump every other week, depending on how everything else is going.

Of course, I have no idea what this horse can do... Perhaps he is already very adjustable and you are putting him off going over jumps This is why a good instructor is also invaluable... Or an experienced pair of eyes on the ground. So my final suggestion would be to also ask the owner these questions and see if they'll watch you ride and offer any critique. Though I can understand not feeling up to that.

 

[Heids164]

Thank you so much for the reply - your advice is brilliant!

He was broken in at 4. The owner has done a lot of lunging with him so he listens to voice commands really well. Would you suggest lunging/free schooling with or without tack? We have a cavesson headcollar.

I hacked him out all the way to the next village and back last night (with my partner on a push bike... just incase!) he was brilliant. I trotted up the hills and if he got a bit spooky I just spoke gentle to him, turnt him in a circle, gave him some rein and leg and on he went. He really listens to voice well so I praised him all the time.

He has a forward going walk which I keep on top of and don't let him slack. What is your advice on getting him 'working from behind'?

When I school him in the field I try to do figures of 8, small circles, trot poles and weaving round cones - would you say this is ok? I worry about over doing it but he seems to take everything in his stride.

He does seem to get a bit fired up when he sees jumps appear - he seems to really enjoy the jumping!

Thanks again for all your advice. I am going to read up on free schooling and speak with the owner about giving it ago!

 

[Barnacle]

Oh wonderful about the hack! It sounds like you're getting on great and having someone with you is always a really good way to start - gives the horse confidence too.

For free schooling, just do it without tack... Don't even need a halter on but you can keep it on for your convenience. If you want to use a lungeline for something, whether you use any tack will depend on what you're trying to achieve. If you're trying to do something like in-hand work, you'll need a cavesson/halter at least but you'll need a bridle if you want to also simulate the feel of reins or to long rein as you need the bit in his mouth. If you hack out and want to do some lunging in a clearing or something (I sometimes hop off and do a little work in-hand), you can keep the saddle on. Just make sure your stirrups are either crossed over the back or let them hang loose by his sides as many horses have a bit of a freak-out if the stirrups slide down the leathers unexpectedly

Getting a horse to work from behind is a massive topic in its own right haha... My first suggestion is lots and lots of transitions within gaits using your seat/core (e.g. slow your rising in trot to slow the trot) and legs but very little rein and lots of active work on a loose rein. If you can get your horse to relax and naturally begin to stretch and swing his hindquarters under him, you'll be getting somewhere. A lot of horses, especially youngsters, when you start working with them look like they are on "high alert", with their head up in the air even on a loose rein and a tense back - and no rhythm! You just have to keep moving forwards in a calm way but with plenty of energy and do lots of figures in the school (or you can just do this while wandering about out on a hack) and encourage him to stretch and swing and relax. Make sure your body also goes with him. If you're tense, you'll restrict his movement. On a younger horse, in canter it may help to actually take a light seat so he can use his body without having to worry about your body. Hillwork is also great for getting a horse fit and working from behind. As is jumping actually - grids especially (both ridden and free). Really, working from behind properly comes from the body developing a certain way and the horse being fit and working the muscles he needs - so it's a gradual thing rather than something you can achieve in an instant but you can guide the process by getting him to use the muscles in his hind end through things like transitions, hillwork, poles, jumping etc while also developing his topline usefully through relaxed work and schooling exercises.

In terms of figures in the field, what you are doing is fine - what shapes you actually make really doesn't matter as the horse doesn't know the difference. If you watch me schooling, I don't do anything specific half the time - it's all crazy squiggles. Just make sure to do the same on both sides and make sure you are giving light signals with your reins and the appropriate signals with your seat/legs to get some bend. If you practice turns on a loose rein, you'll start to notice how much you actually rely on the rein and how responsive he is to that. I always find it a really useful exercise in walk/trot on the circle to prepare for a proper leg yield. Spirals where you have to push the horse out are also great for learning the feel of this I think. Something else you can try is serpentines as you can make them as big or small as you like but they are a bit different cause of the straight sections across. Remember you can also add poles to this... Like a pole across the diagonal for a figure 8 or poles on 20m a circle.

It's worth saying though, since he's only been in ridden work for a year, there's really no rush to achieve anything specific and I would mostly just be trying to have fun, keep things relaxed and avoid getting into any "battles" that would lead to bad habits. Lots of flatwork in-between jumping (even during a jumping session - so jump one jump, do a few circles in a relaxed but forward walk, jump another etc) might help keep his mind a bit more focused and less excited so you can avoid that particular battle when he gets 'fired up' but otherwise it sounds like the hacking and flatwork is going to go well with him so I'm sure you'll have a great time together!