could you live without a school?

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skye123

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and those who dont have them how do you manage?

got a chance to rent a lovely yard with friend but it hasnt got a school so just wondered how everyone gets on?
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We don't have a school. When the ground is ok we can ride in the field, otherwise "schooling" happens on the road.
 
We haven't got a school, but have access to great hacking though. We also have two 60x20 arenas close by that we are allowed to use. In the summer we can ride in our fields.

The main disadvantage is in mid-winter, when it is too dark after school for daughter to hack out or go down to the school and too wet to ride on the fields.
 
I find a school hard to live without in the winter as i have to go by road to the bridleways. I suppose if there is no roadwork involved then it wouldnt bother me so much. Also i do dressage and school twice a week so i couldn't live without one
 
Don't have a school always used field or hacking unfortunatly due to this and no trailer my pony had to be out of work evey winter because by the time I got back from school/college and got him ready it was near enough pitch black.
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We don't have a school but friend moving closeby who is going to put in a decent surface and we will be able to use that. Personally I miss having one a lot (used to be at livery) cos my girl can be "interesting" in the winter and a good twenty minute lunge meant she was much easier.

However, we have managed without one and things were fine, just a bit more hairy sometimes!!! We use the field at the top when not too wet and slippery but not for canter work.
 
don't have one, really want one need one, we have one field thats really gd for riding in but the horses are in it at the momment
 
I think we had a period of 1-2 years when i first came to the yard without a school.

In the summer we rode in one of the fields, and in the winter it just meant a LOT of hacking out down the roads... which paid off as Blue was only 3 1/2yo and he is now perfect to hack, due to the amount he did as a baby!

Also there was an arena a short hack down the road we used occasionally
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Don't think i could cope without now we have one though
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I've lived without one for the past 4 years. I can school and jump in a field when the grounds ok but in the winter I mostly hack out to keep the horses fit. You can still do some schooling exercises while out on hacks, shoulder in, leg yielding etc. My friend competed dressage at intermediate level without a school, but had weekly lessons where she used a good arena.
 
I'm the same as Jemima_too, have to ride in the field when it's up to it.

Yes it is hard and my schooling sessions are inconsistant. If I had a young horse or did a lot of dressage I'd have to hire one locally.

I wouldn't say no if YO decided to have one built though!
 
I don't have a school sadly, and ponder moving, but I love my yard and the girls up there very much.

I school in the field in summer. There is an indoor school about 15 mins in the lorry to hire and a friends outdoor school. The yard across the road is re-vamping their school which we can use for free!
 
Nope and I only use it once/twice a week.

When I first got my boy we did not have one but I could not be without the option and the ability to ride in a lit and safe environment in the winter.
 
yes i currently do live without one, my yard is building one at some point but i love it the way it is, i have no great need for hard core schooling, i just do some basics out on hacks
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We have never had a school. We work in the fields when we need to and hack out a lot. Have a lesson every 2 to 3 weeks. It hasn't stopped the ponies qualifying for HOYS.
 
I have been lucky enough to have the use of a neighbours but they have just agreed the sale of their house and some land which includes the menage. I am hoping that I may be able to arrange something with the new owners as I would be lost without it now but time will tell.
 
I (try to!) event at PN level. I have no school at home so try to box/ride to one twice a week. In the summer I can usually use the field but as we're on Devon clay it's impossible for the winter!
 
Have done for a couple of years now, schooling happens occasionally whilst hacking, leg yield, shoulder in, extension/collection, al done on the roads, and I always ask for canter on a leg decided by me, not my boy! Been at seven livery yards before we got our own field, and three had schools, but we live in such a fab area, who wants to school when you can hack!?
 
I've tried and found hacking just isn't enough. Planning permission now in for a school and can't wait for the spring!
 
we have lived fine with out a school, its quite amazing actually because we are fairly succesful in the equine worl and we dont have a school at all and only a handful of jumps made for us. I think its good to be honest with you because i school in an open field so it really makes the horses listening to your aids and bending when you make them and not confined to a school and relaying on the rail lol, it also helps when in shows on a rainy day because theyd be use to it lol:):)
 
Never had a school until I came to England!!! I had fields I could ride in but most of winter I relied purely on hacking and due to restrictive light after school and having two ponies I would ride one lead the other. All weather arenas are somewhat of a novelty in Jersey due to very strict planning regs although they are becoming slightly more common now, but the surfaces are still often poor due to the cost limitations of bringing it over from England.

But yes was never a problem then although I did have fields and good hacking.

I think I remember Tigers_eyes saying she got the majority of the way qualifying for Badminton without regular access to a school as well!!

On said ponies I jumped both up to JA (well Jersey JA so 1m10s/1m15s!!
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), Open PC XC and ODEs, and Santa I competed successfully at BD Elementary level.
 
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