if you were me, would you carry on using the school?

bigboyrocky

bigboyrocky

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The school at our yard is only 30x15, its not flat and the surface is a little bit dodgey too. My boy just seems to get really short and choppy in there and tends to tense up.. During the summer i was just schooling him in the jumping feild (not completly flat either, but bigger) and he was going pretty well (better than he ever goes in the school) and it just seems pointless doing anything in there because he just becomes realy unbalanced.

There is a school not far down the road which is big and has a really good surface, which we can hire, but can only really afford to once a week..

So my question is, should i just school once a week and try and do as much as i can out hacking aswell, or should i just get on and use the school, in the hope that when he gets onto a good surface (e.g competing) he goes alot better? In the perfect world i would school him at least 3 times a week.
 
I don't know who big your horse/pony is but if its only 30 x 15m then I def wouldn't school in it, surely its just a lunge pen?

I'd hire out the other school, you can't expect your horse to work well when he's anticipating a boggy or uneven bit
 
From past experience, I wouldn't use a school that had a poor surface and was too small to work in properly. More of a hinderance than a help. If the horse feels unsafe and unhappy, the quality of work is going to affected, not to mention potential physical problems.
Last yard had a very unsafe surface, when after my horse fell, I stopped using even for brief sessions. I too woud rather school in a field when the going is good.
 
I recently moved yards after being at the old place for 20 years, It wasn't until I saw my boy being ridden in the large, even surfaced, rubber chipped arena that I realised how good his paces were! I knew the other school wasn't great but I hadn't realised it was actually preventing him from moving properly! I would be tempted to not ride in the small school and hack out lots as this is great for fitness, it's probably best to school once a week properly than undo all your good work in a crap school.
 
Not sure how big your horse is but to start with I would hire the other school once a week and do the best you can lunging in the area and hacking. Although tight the size itself wouldn't be the main factor to me as you do dressage tests in a 20/40 so not too much smaller than that but the unlevelness and rubbish surface would be my main concern.
 
its not boggy/uneven/deep etc, its just because the ground isnt completely level it makes the footing less than ideal, sorry a bit unclear. Loads of people school in it, including my instructor whos been round burghley, so its not just used for lunging, but my chap seems to really struggle with it (he doesnt have the best trot anyway). Hes 16.3 so of course its quite tight, but intructor schooled her baby 17.1 in there before she broke her leg a few weeks ago, he just seemed to cope better than mine does with it! :)
 
I dont have a school so school my horse in fields etc.
I do think though, especially for eventing, you will often be riding on a less than ideal surface, even when doing your dressage test, so it may benefit your horse working on different surfaces providing you are not doing any damage to legs/joints.
Also 15x30 school isn't too bad, it does makes balancing your horse more difficult, but again when you go to a competition it does make 20x40 areana feel 'roomy' and makes it easier for both of you.
Also as said above, you can do an awful lot of schooling hacking out :)
 
i did think that, but he goes a million times better on grass, which is what we will be eventing on, so i think i will keep use of the school to a minimum :) We have grass gallops which are really wide aswell (probably about 30m wide), and flat!!! so i can do a lot of schooling there :P :) Thanks
 
Theres a 30x15 indoor at the yard i was on and my 16hh tb found it way to small to get any kind of balance in it. Luckly there was 2 other arenas at 60x25 so only rode in it about twice in 3 yrs. If they hadnt of had there other arenas i would have moved lol
 
it is annoying, cause everything else is perfect at the yard, we have amazing hacking all over the woods, 1.5mile grass gallops, amazing people, the YOs sort him out in the morning, my instructor has her horses there, horsewalker being built, i work onsite on his brothers p2p yard... so even though a good school was top of my list when looking for a new yard, we have had to compromise unfortunatley! In summer its fine cause im happy working him on grass, just in the winter its a bit of a bum!
 
I would try and do as much as you can out of the school. Provided your horse isn't too big the school size shouldn't be too much of an issue (depending on your level of schooling). The main point that would concern me would be the surface. Its up to you to decide whether it could be damaging...
 
I have a school that I can use once a week for free. It isn't great, slightly bigger than yours but the surface is very deep. There's another I can hire down the road and do so once a week. I have a lesson once a week if I can and other than that I just hack. There's no way I could school in the fields at home. It's not ideal, but I do OK and avoid using the free school as it doesn't do us any good. If you feel yours is doing more harm than good, then I think you've answered your question. :D
 
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