Horse tiring in school

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Caballito

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After about 20 mins of schooling, my horse feels like he's had enough. He's only 6 and a big boy at 17.2 so we're taking things very slowly and working to build his balance and stamina. My instructor says it's just because he's finding the work tricky and that he'll get better as his stamina and balance improves.

I'm very conscious about listening to him and not pushing for more when he feels tired and I trust my instructor but I've had so much bad luck that I guess I just want a bit of reassurance from others who've experienced similar. He's naturally quite a whizzy, expressive horse with big paces so feeling him go flat makes me worry! Has anyone else with a young horse experienced this and come through it?

Thank you from a very paranoid mum!
 
Yes, there is a difference between being fit and being school fit, esp if the school is a bit deep. My young lad just runs out of stream, it's like the power cable gets pulled out, you can really feel it. It will get better, once I feel he is struggling I tend to cool him down and finish on a good note.
 
Thanks Sukistokes2. I always end on a good note too. Our school surface isn't deep but the school itself is less than half the size of what he's used to at 20 x 40 so I guess that makes it a bit more difficult for him too.
 
What about more hacking and less schooling. If he is big as you say and struggling with the arena being smaller than he's used to I would be careful about strain on his joints / suspensories etc.
I would be very careful about pushing a young horse if he is saying the work is hard, at aged six (and so big) he may not be fully mature yet. Maybe better to do shorter sessions - 15 mins, or do a short hack and then 15 mins.
 
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Thanks Smurfsgran. I should have said, we only school twice a week at the moment for a max of 20 mins or less if he feels tired before then. He hacks three or four times a week and sometimes before or after schooling as you suggest.
I know what you mean about not pushing him. I've really had so much bad luck with horses that I'm more inclined to wrap him in cotton wool than push him! I just wish I wasn't such a worrier!
 
If you school then hack, or vice versa, you're still developing stamina without creating a sour, sore horse like you could if you pushed it in the school. I'd say you've got a good plan going with what you're doing.
 
I can give reassurance too. I got Jay at 6yo. He found school work hard, and as you say, 20 minutes was the "wall".

He still competed, I took him to dressage, and the whole lot could be done in 20 minutes. For a Novice test we would just long rein walk/ trot/ canter, then pick him up and ride some transitions, and tra-la, ready to go in. In the early days he was too "hot" for this so we would have a quick lunge before putting him on the lorry, but just 10-15 minutes so he had got rid of any energy build up.

He was reasonably fit, and was eventing too. He tells me it is a different type of fitness.

I used to admire the horses in the collecting ring, those that would pound round for up to an hour in full engagement, white sweat and hard work. I just accepted that this was not Jay. In fact when it is hot or raining I celebrate that he does not need much warm up ;)

As he has got older the sessions have just extended. In spring after the winter resting the sessions are short again. I find if I school more frequently, maybe four times a week but for the 20 minutes or even less, and then hack afterwards, this seems to bring him on. This plus the occasional bursting through the "wall" on a lesson for a longer session, and although it wears me out it does seem to help him realise that longer is possible!
 
I suspect the school may be too small for him, and would cut out cantering , plenty of hacking, using slow steady cantering uphill instead. Lots of grid work, a bit of lateral work and lots of time. Keep sessions short and pleasant.
Feed small feed with minerals all year round and 25gms salt.
 
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You can also check out if there's anything diet wise you you can tweak to help .
Make sure he's getting enough high quality protein in his diet and that his diet is fully meeting his needs he's a big horse and sometimes they need a lot of food .
You could look into a course of myoplast which many people including one of my vets swear by .
I would do as much slow hill work as you can walking up sleep slopes to get the horse puffing and using his back without straining the forelegs .
I think it's worth looking at how you structure is work sessions .
I would try to work a few minutes then let walk on a completely loose rien and then start again and do this several times through out a session .
You can also do work at the walk in between the trot and canter to break up the work more .
Experiment with working on what the horse finds easiest just after what he finds hardest , for example if the horse finds the working preparing for learning the collection hard always do something he finds easy and is good at after .
Try using poles and cones within your work to give focus and interest .
I think you won't see a huge imrovement in a six year old stamina any time soon on twenty minutes twice a week it's not enough .
You might be better hacking and schooling four days I would try short hack say twenty minutes then ten to fifteen minutes schooling then out to hack again , on the other two days do longer hacks .
One horse I have at the moment I hack in the middle of a session I work a bit then go for a hack then work a bit more that suits him ATM.
Try to pin point what in the training the horse is finding hard and work on that as soon in the session as he's ready to try then go on to the stuff that's easier that works best with some horses .
I do understand your worry I have seen young horses who are like this who develop problems but I have also seen more who come through it and are just fine .
Some horses are best ridden straight after turnout so they are half loosened up as soon as you get on .
I am a fan of working twice a day with some young horses I do two sessions of about a half hour one in the morning one later on.
Developing big horses needs skill and time doing the right things enough be not too much to get where you need to get to .
 
Completely normal for some. Especially bigguns. My 17.2hh lad is 8 now and only just coming into his own in the school. They find it hard work / boring so make sure you keep it interesting and easy and build up as his fitness improves. I've found introducing lateral work and using the whole arena with serpentines, figures of eight etc keeps it interesting and their mind on the job. Are you allowed to loose school? If so, try that once a week - just to encourage him to 'open up' and find his own balance. really focus on your hacking, having fun and increasing his fitness out and about. does he use himself properly out on a hack or does he just go any old fashion?I wish I'd done things differently with my lad in our early days - since we've just focussed on our hacking, only schooling once a week, hr has really come on...
 
If he's fine out hacking I wouldn't worry. Some schools are deeper than others as well which makes it more tiring. My mare only has to look at my dressage instructor to go to sleep, she knows it will be much harder work than the SJ lesson in the same arena!
 
Thank you all for your helpful replies. Many of the suggestions we're already doing. I'm confident I'm not asking too much of him and now feel reassured that his stamina will eventually improve with careful little and often schooling interspersed with plenty of hacking :D
 
Caballito said:
After about 20 mins of schooling, my horse feels like he's had enough. He's only 6 and a big boy at 17.2 so we're taking things very slowly and working to build his balance and stamina. My instructor says it's just because he's finding the work tricky and that he'll get better as his stamina and balance improves.

I'm very conscious about listening to him and not pushing for more when he feels tired and I trust my instructor but I've had so much bad luck that I guess I just want a bit of reassurance from others who've experienced similar. He's naturally quite a whizzy, expressive horse with big paces so feeling him go flat makes me worry! Has anyone else with a young horse experienced this and come through it?

Thank you from a very paranoid mum!
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Sorry but I have gone through here - with horses tiring which came to an issue - I would recommend a blood test to see if underlying problem

Do bloods first before tweaking his diet or changing anything else.
 
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