Do you really need a school ?

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wallykissmas

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Do you really need a school, what are the pros and cons of using a grass school other than

* wet slippy in the winter/easily churned up
* hard in the summer

How do you change your riding dependent on how the ground is ?

Have you found in the summer the ground is just too hard to canter or in the winter too slippy ? so you spend the time schooling in walk and trot and winters are written off other than hacking ?
 
Yes, I really need a school. We're on heavy clay which means the fields are too boggy to ride in in the winter and like concrete in the summer! However, it comes as a shock to the horses' sytems when they have to jump on grass at county shows, Scope etc!
 
i couldnt live without a school to be honest. i have been in both situations, with and without, and i know with a school I can keep my horse going through the winter and not worry i cant ride.
although I know people who dont have a school and they cope really well. i suppose its what your used to!
 
I was always one of these poeple who thought I couldnt survive without an all weather school. However, I then moved to a yard which just had a schooling field.
We have marked out a menage with letters on some containers and use poles to mark out the corners. This works incredibly well. We just move the markers when the grass wears down.
This was my first winter at this yard and to be fair, the field has sandy type soil, so any rain drains away quickly. During the snow, obviously we couldnt use it. On frosty mornings you just have to use a little caution depending on how slippery or hard the ground is. During the summer, the ground became sandy, which didnt really stop us from doing much at all. However, I personally wouldnt have liked to have jumped on that surface, but some owners at the yard did.
I didnt realise how my horse had struggled through the surfaces in the various all weather schools we had previously used until I started schooling on grass. Her work is far far better than I could have ever imagined.
So really what I'm trying to say is no you dont need an all weather surface to school on.
Hope that helps.
 
I currently don't have a school, just a grass area in summer. Yes, I do miss it in winter, but its pretty useable in summer, the land is good and doesn't get too hard or boggy after rain. I don't let it stop me though, our hacking is good and a lot of schooling is incorporated into hacking.
If the grass is wet or too hard after weeks with no rain, I do ride accordingly. There is plenty of useful stuff to work on without jumping or cantering.
Many livery yards have schools with surfaces that I wouldn't want to ride in anyway and yet riders don't seem to give bad surfaces the respect they'd give if riding on hard/slippery grass or a boggy mud.
I was quite inspired to read about a master horseman in Spain who has no school. He uses a cornfield and he hasn't stopped him accomplishing what most of us could only dream of.Where there's a will there's a way.
 
After 25 years of horses I was always school obsessed.. until now. When I got my boy on part loan kept at his owners amazing place, my main worry was no school but it is amazing how little it affects me.

It is easier that he is 15 and established so doesn't need lots of arena work and I have adapted my routine to ride before work in the mornings (for the light), also we have bridleways directly opposite so can get pretty much straight out to fields in fog/frost/snow/failing light etc. Also I have an arena which I can hire (and do once a week) about 1/2 mile away which is great for more intensive schooling/lessons, other than that we just practice a bit out hacking.

So it can be done, really depends on horse, soil type near you and your schedule regarding daylight etc:)
 
we didn't have a school for years but we managed its all down to just working with what you've got i think.. Irish event rider Sue Shortt got to the olympics and shes never had an arena so i don't think it'll hold you back if your determined! I know theres no pros and cons there but just thought id post anyway! :)
 
I don't think I could ever be on a yard without a school to be honest.

Its probably just about okay if you're in an area with sandy ground and you have a proper fenced off schooling area that is flat and level, but trying to school properly in a big, rough or sloping field is really tricky.

Plus I couldn't be doing with not being able to ride in winter due to either the mud or the frost, or if the ground is really hard in summer.
 
It is the lights for me more than the school that is necessary! I leave home for work in the dark and get home in the dark for much of the year.
 
we moved from a yard to a farm a couple of years ago so now dont have a school or lights at night so now we school in some lovely grass fields and in the winter we rough off its worked out much better for us and the ponies dont mind schooling so much now as not stuck in a arena. i now dont miss it or the bitchy yard!
 
Definately - we don't have a flat field big enough to school in, there's not enough fields as it is and have you seen my horse hack? :eek::eek: :D
 
If your ground is quite chalky or sandy and well drained, you can usually ride on a satisfactory surface for a good part of the year. If you live in an area with heavy clay, it's a bit more difficult as the ground turns from being like glue to concrete very quickly depending on rainfall.

I've seen many horrendously deep sand schools, and tbh I'd rather ride on a decent grass surface than risk my horses suspensories schooling in deep sand.
If you're going to build a new school, it is really worth the extra money to get a decent surface and proper drainage.
 
We don't have a school, but we do have 5 acres of flat land. By rotating the area we use to school and not moving the horses on to the last bit of long grass (post hay cut) until after xmas it is possible to school all year round. I affiliated my boy this winter and went from doing prelims to our first elementary. You do have to fit your riding in around the weather though, so if the ground is good I make the most of it and school.

It does get very hard in summer, but that's what we have and the horses seem to do fine on it, never had any concussive issues and as it is that or hacking on the roads/hard ground I don't think it makes an awful lot of difference. Frank is actually a lot softer on his legs in canter than in trot!

I would really like one for jumping though as this definitely ends up restricted to the ground, especially in summer once it gets hard.

eta they certainly dont rely on fences, we have an advantage if dressage is held on grass, it makes me appreciate nice arenas, and it is better for teaching an oldie counter canter as there is more space :D
 
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Ground: gets wet when it rains, goes hard when it doesn't, impossible to utilize if it snows and you can't ride it after it gets dark.

School: unaffected by rain, lack of rain, snow and darkness.

A school with lights means you can ride 24/7 and all year round. I couldn't imagine trying to do what I do without it.
 
The yard Im at you cant ride all year round in the school, when it snows it freezes because its rolled and compacted, the lighting is poor but doesnt effect me as I can ride during the day and at present its too deep and dry ......

Am just thinking maybe a flat field would be easier.
 
but NM mum and I do end up with horses that are happy to go well whatever the ground conditions.

darkness is never a problem perfectly happy to school by the moonlight in the winter and makes us both concentrate more as there is less distractions to see.

I don't see that snow is a problem for fields and not arenas, unless indoors or heated.

I'd quite like a school but don't struggle that much without it and I don't think the horses do either.
 
No - you dont really need a school, its a nice to have IMO.

No outdoor school allows 24/7 riding up my neck of the woods.

I have access to my neighbours school which is 10mins away but was total out of action this winter due to the weather - so even if i had my own school my horse would have had a holiday but when you have about 3ft of snow and its -16 the last thing you want to do is go out schooling outside!!

You can school a horse when hacking, on tracks, in stuble fields etc it doesnt have to be in an arena and I would go as far as saying being able to school and jump on grass is essential if your going to event as most places have both DR and SJ on grass. I fence of part of my flat field for schooling and jumps and use this as well as borrow a school to keep my schooling routine varied.

Sarah Jane from HHO and of shoestring eventing does pretty well considering she doesnt have a school of her own, so a really good example of how you can get to the top with all the facilities.
 
I have to agree with Dirtymare and ems207, we moved to our present very lovely yard last May and like her, my main concern was having no school, I really thought we would struggle without it, but, we are very fortunate to have plenty of well drained grass fields to ride in, a nice jumping paddock, that the kids tend to use - and I do occasionally- we can school on or around any of the fields, but, have also have roped off and set out a 40 x 20 school area, which we move according to the ground conditions. my horse, who struggles with being on the forehand, has improved no end by me riding and schooling and lungeing on grass, our dressage scores gone up by several marks this year and he feels much nicer and lighter to ride, I do occasionally go use a "proper" school locally as well and obviously wouldnt go haring about on really hard ground in summer etc but overall not having a school has been a real plus and made me really think about working him anywhere I can, corner of field or when out hacking etc, am sure it makes things more interesting for the horse as well.
I must agree the lack of lights in winter after work was the only downfall, but with all the ice and snow we had , dont think most arenas would have been useable for several weeks anyway to be honest. i guess it all depends what type of yard, field area you have available really.
 
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