How do you manage in winter without a school?

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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Am basically just rather depressed with the weather and we have no school (indoor nor outdoor) so have to school in the field, but it's so blooming wet and slippy that I can't at the moment
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So was just wondering how the rest of you coped through the long dark winter with schooling or just riding in general??
 
School on hacks? not as effective as proper schooling but you can leg yield and do flexions for short intervals when hacking. Hopefully the ground won't be super soaking all winter, it should dry up over the colder month and you will get intervals when you will be able to ride in the field, just be sure and keep the field free from being cut up so it's usable when the ground harders (not frozen obvisouly
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Don't really school that much
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but have a new found freedom with my trailer that I had this year so I can get out and about to indoor schools.

However pony has just been diagnosed with Bone Spavin so not sure how much flatwork we will be able to do yet - roll on Spring
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I have no school and limited acerage so do virtually all my schooling out hacking. Do lots of transitions, leg yeilding, shoulder in, travers and half pass on the road and fittening work up hills and tracks. Unfortunately there a few flat fields within hacking distance so circles tend to belft until competition
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I also try to hire a school for an hour every couple of weeks for a lesson.
 
Years ago I had no school either so what myself and other 'field' members did was hack to the beach once a week!
Schooling on the beach is such fun and you can have a gallop, jump sand banks or splash in the waves .. all for free!
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everything that Henry learnt was taught to him on hacks. I don't have a flat enough area for schooling in my fields, so I have this problem all year round!
 
we dont have a school - options are to pay to use someone elses or what I do is school out on hacks - i often box up to a large forest and a open grassy common which is good enough p2p trainers use it when their gallops are too wet - I school up there and have a jolly hack too - it takes the boringness out of it!!
 
I have an area of the field i keep for riding on. The grass is left longer so it doesn't get churned up. I ride on the field before work in the winter (7.30am). Managed to get thru all of last winter except for 10 days in January when it poured. I can't hack during the week as I'm on a B road & I don't dare brave it off peak let alone in rush hour! If it's any consolation I couldn't ride on my field on Friday/Saturday but it's OK again today. My vet said that grass is the best surface for them to work on too. Maneges aren't essential - a year ago I'd have told you otherwise!!
 
I hired a local school/had lessons. Our fields were under water for alot of last winter so there was no point even trying! This winter I'll be ok - I only really have Maiden to ride now and I'm under vet's orders not to school her again, so I have an excuse to go hacking
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If I was on a yard without a school in winter I would only be able to ride at weekends! Luckily, I'm on a yard with a full size outdoor and a smaller indoor.
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Unfortunatly at the moment I am not coping at all, I have no school and the fields are FAR too wet to ride in or lunge in. To top things off he isn't the best out hacking and all my hacking is done in early mornings but now it is no longer light at that time so cannot school on a hack.
Horsey has had a rather long holiday recently and will only come back into work when I move onto a yard at uni in october. Otherwise he would have to remain out of work with the ocassional school or hack around the fields when it drys up a bit.

Would be ok if he was good to blummin hack out!
 
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