Change of direction?

dwi

dwi

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Daisy and I have really hit a rut in our schooling recently and it making me think about what I actually want from her. I love spending time with her and riding her but trying to turn her into a dressage horse is making is both stressed and frustrated. TBH even with months of schooling she's never going to look as flashy as a bigger striding horse.

What we both love doing is hacking and its the thing that I'm really proud of. I don't seem proficient at schooling in a manege but I've taught her to hack out alone or in company calmly and in a snaffle, she will open and close gates and is okay in all but heavy or idiotic traffic. When other people's horses are leaping about or trying to shoot off at the sight of an open field she will trot calmly and wait until she is asked before she changes her speed.

I'm wondering if I should try taking her out to endurance competitions so that I can get a competitive fix without making both of us miserable trying to turn her into something she isn't. She has fantastic stamina, was out for 6 hours in January when we went hunting, will hack for four hours without breaking a sweat of looking tired.

I suspect her breeding has quite a bit of Welsh D in there as well as the obvious Gypsy cob and i seem to read lots of articles saying what fantastic endurance horses they make.

Any thoughts either way would be welcome. if anyone does endurance I'd love to know how you got into it. I've been looking at details for SportEndurance as they do lots of events within driving distance of us.

*cookies if you got this far*

Becky
 
Well I think this sounds really sensible.
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Good on you for thinking about what would suit your horse, and therefore what would make you both happy. Go for it, I am sure you will really enjoy yourselves.
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Very sensible idea, i'm sure you'll both have loads of fun doing something you both enjoy and a bit of a social too!! Sounds like you've done a great job with her on the hacking front,so why not go with that. Go for it and have lots of fun.
 
I remember when I was doing endurance I met a lady at the horseshoe (we stayed at the same place) and she did the 100 on a welsh cob and also did race riding with it. It was very sound and was placed regularly, so they certainly have form so to speak.

The only disadvantage is if they have a high knee action they may not do the higher level stuff. Also, and this goes for any breed, the heavier set may struggle with the heat, however if I remember rightly there was a welsh cob x that helped Britain win team gold at WEG in Stockholm so it is very dependent on the horse and its attitude!

If you enjoy hacking and going different places, endurance could be for you. And yes it is very competitive once you go up the grades (this is something many non endurance riders don't get!) so you will more than get your fix of adrenalin!

And another good thing, all that schooling won't go to waste as it will help keep your horse sounder for longer.
 
Cobs make excellent endurance horses because their heart rates quickly return to normal for the vet check.

Do you have a sport endurance type club close by? You could enter some of their rides as a pleasure ride and not competitively for a few times, just so you can assess fitness and your ability to make the times required to be competitive.

Good luck.
 
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Cobs make excellent endurance horses because their heart rates quickly return to normal for the vet check.

Do you have a sport endurance type club close by? You could enter some of their rides as a pleasure ride and not competitively for a few times, just so you can assess fitness and your ability to make the times required to be competitive.

Good luck.

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One of their rides was based at my old yard. We never paid to do it because the route was our standard Saturday hack. D was certainly more than capable of that route which is what got me thinking
 
My boy is only 14.2 18 years of age and a total all rounder. Last year we discovered the joys on sponsored rides - non competitive - both of us along with my hacking buddies had a great summer clocking up 100's of miles on lovely routes.

Today we all went to stressage - walk and trot test and prelim - and whilst ours did not do brilliantly (since we all prefer hacking to schooling!) I couldn't help but think a lot of the nice big posh horses (one of whom ditched his rider in both the car park and the warm up arena) would not survive a sponsored ride!!

Another non-stressful as a rider but competitive idea would be in-hand showing.
 
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Another non-stressful as a rider but competitive idea would be in-hand showing.

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Unfortunately there would be nothing non stressful about trying to stop Daisy eating while she waited in the line up.
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I never do let her eat but it doesn't stop her trying. Its like she has a voice in her head screaming EAT EAT
 
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