Ideas for keeping work interesting

[spotty_pony]

A bit of background for you… So I have three horses, all currently in some sort of work. I don’t have an arena, I do have a field I can work in which is reasonably dry and fine when the weather is fine. I have a fair bit of hacking around us, but a lot of the routes are very long without having to go on some busier roads and after my near miss with a bus last week I am a little apprehensive about doing too much road work. The other option is to go somewhere different and then turn around but again I’m not a fan of turning them around on the spot. I can get out into the village through the side gate in one of the fields so that’s not too much of a problem. I don’t particularly like riding fresh horses straight out into a field so
Lead them across and get on once through the gate at the moment to be safe. My old boy (23) hacks and hunts and is currently hunting fit so he is pretty easy - just keep him hacking and moving a couple of times per week. I also trust him the most so happy going off road and having a good blast etc to add variety. The Friesian is about on week 5 or 6 of coming back into work since he got swelling between the tendons and I’ve just introduced trotting. And as some of you know I have a new mare that I am itching to do more with and get to know better but am limited! I’ve done a bit of lungeing with her, hacked her out round our main hacking route (1 hour) and hacked her round the village. Not managed to get a proper canter yet due to ground and with her being green in dubious about asking for it in an open field for the first time so we have so far rolled into a few strides on a grass verge. She isn’t great in big traffic so again, I’m trying to avoid the roads. In the summer I’ll be able to school her in the field and long term we plan to get an arena but right now I’m struggling to think of things I can do with them that are interesting, beneficial and also don’t take hours and hours with limited daylight hours and having to yard chores and also work (part time) in too. It usually ends up I need to exercise all of them on the same day ? sharing or loaning them out is not an option, they all have their quirks - I’m looking for things I can do to fit into an exercise programme with them that have a purpose and are quality over quantity.

I used to love four hours of hacking in my teens and 20s even in minus temperatures but I think those days are gone now I’m in my 30s! ?

 

[AntiPuck]

Do you have good enough ground for interval training? You can get a lot done in a very short session that way

I really like doing 'obstacle walks' with mine, either ridden or in-hand, where you deliberately take the trickiest route through ground, like off-piste in a forest, over logs, long grass, up and down banks, over little streams, etc.

There is an FB page, mentioned by someone on HHO before, called NoBackNoHorse which has a lot of groundwork exercises for building strength through the back and thoracic sling, those are great for when you don't have much time but want to do something helpful as no tacking up (just a cavesson and line)

 

[spotty_pony]

Do you have good enough ground for interval training? You can get a lot done in a very short session that way

I really like doing 'obstacle walks' with mine, either ridden or in-hand, where you deliberately take the trickiest route through ground, like off-piste in a forest, over logs, long grass, up and down banks, over little streams, etc.

There is an FB page, mentioned by someone on HHO before, called NoBackNoHorse which has a lot of groundwork exercises for building strength through the back and thoracic sling, those are great for when you don't have much time but want to do something helpful as no tacking up (just a cavesson and line)

thanks, the mare is showing signs of teeth problems today so I don’t think I’ll be riding until she’s had her teeth checked now ? so I’ll take a look at the group you suggested.