Homemade Le Trec/Horse Agility obstacles - ideas please

emfen1305

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Hi all, hope everyone had a good Christmas! :) I was hoping to get out to some Le Trec/Horse Agility type training events but it looks like it might a be out of reach due to distance and cost so was wondering if anyone had some ideas for home made courses? We have a big parelli ball and some tarps but wondering what else to do? We have jump wings, cones, poles, tyres so any ideas welcome, looking for ways to spice up my groundwork! Thanks
 

JFTDWS

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It's easy enough to set up bending poles or a clover leaf with jump stands or cones - or a figure of 8 for neck reining. A rope tied between two stands makes a reasonable may pole or a rope gate. If the stands are tall enough you can use a whip or similar light pole to make low branches (I usually use bandage tape to make a groove for it to sit in so it doesn't slip off). Short poles or fence posts can make an s bend - I usually use pole pods to raise them from the ground. Long poles can make a rein back corridor or a canter corridor. You can use poles to mark out a spot for immobility training. The tarp can make a bridge or a fake ditch.

If you look up the rule book, you'll see all the different obstacles and which you can cobble together out of your kit.
 

Red-1

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Bending poles are easy to set up, as is the exercise where you are walking fast then cantering slow.

Draw a circle in the sand with flour for the horse to stand in.

Practice mount/dismount doing everything in the correct order and fast.

Lead over tarp so the horse treads on it, and ride over.

Jump a small jump, staying in walk until late on, then going back to walk straight after,

Leading down corridors.

Backing straight in hand and ridden, using poles that are increasingly ridiculously close together.

Make a "bridge" with a sheet of wood (I took off the store room door to do this!) with hand rails that look close. Make a see saw bridge with the store room door.

Practice picking stuff up. Noisy stuff like gravel in a bottle, being able to carry it, change sides with it and put it onto a scary looking receptacle (table/barrel).

I use a fly curtain to have the horse going under stuff.

Practice leaning over the withers whilst riding.

Leading and the horse either keeping up or staying behind, depending on how you hold the reins.

For starters!
 

Shay

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Have a look at the horse agility UK website. Every month they have new courses to buld and try. Video the results and take part in online competition. Most obstacles can be easily constructed at home.
 

emfen1305

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Thanks guys this is really helpful for ideas - I also had no idea about the online competition so that's something I'll definitely look at! He's really enjoying the work on the ground so just want to keep it interesting for him and teach him as much as I can before getting back on!
 

Red-1

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I just tried to look at the online competition to see if we could do that at home here, but you can't see what the obstacles are without paying the £30 join fee. I am not doing much with her ATM as I have a lot of other things going on that also mean I won't be building obstacles that can't be made of stuff around the place. Does anyone know what the January competition entails? If it is simple to build then I will join and have a go.
 

The-Bookworm

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Look into Interdressage. They do monthly online competitions and they sometimes do a horsemanship class. You can view all the classes and I enjoyed learning a dressage test test just for something to do with our schooling- you don't have to ride it you can longrein it at home to add to your fun.

Also trec is about things you might come across on a hack. So if it's safe to, lead out and make use of what you come across.

I love setting things up at home, her not so much if she "knows" it's fake. :rolleyes: A real gate was simple, a rope between two jump stands in the centre of the school was initially very scary.

Jumping this was great but I equally had fun on the ground.
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