'Intensive schooling' thoughts please

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Rupert-the-bear

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Not trying to start an argument here, but just wondering what everyone's thoughts and experiences of sending a horse off to have a short, intensive schooling holiday??

I have a 9 year old NF gelding who despite his age has done little proper schooling work. We compete regularly and his schooling has really improved over the last year, if be it very very slowly. However I was thinking a short burst of intensive schooling might be the positive encouragement we need to give us a kickstart??

I do not expect him to come back drastically improved, and am very realistic in my aims as I would only think about him going for a month or so, but just wanted some views/opinions/experiences really!

Thanks ;)
 
I think it can work wonders. The difference in mine after just one session was noticeable. 10 hours in, we have a balanced canter worth going out to a venue with :)
 
FW talks sense, although in my case I will be able to come on in leaps and bounds once my horse has been schooled in a proper way of going. I suspect the first time round nobody explored a contact, outline or hind leg with her ;) big old farm cob is becoming dressage superstar :)
 
I think it does, but its worth remembering that the horses muscles need to build slowly for any major changes, so how beneficial it is depends on the actual horse, the level its at & what you are hoping to achieve. That said, a good rider will improve the horse whatever level it is, how much is down to whether the horse has the correct muscles to do it. Eg if the horse is mega fit, but only has the back muscles for long & low, it can only work at that level till it has the strength in its back to do more.
 
I think it very much depends on who is doing the intensive schooling & how much it differs from what you do yourself.

I was just starting to get a " Feel " for working my Mare into a natural outline when unfortunatly I saw a physio who told me to slow down! My instructor intensively schooled her over a week while I had a break & I have to say best thing I ever did...

I would NEVER send her away though for any sort of schooling as my instructor is one of very few I would trust to ride her.
 
I think that often ability, readiness, and experience can get really murky in this area. If you have a horse that is very used to schooling and has many years under the saddle, sending away for a bout of intensive schooling is not a bad thing as long as when it gets home the rider can continue this. Of course there are cases where intensive bouts of schooling of such horses are used as a precurser to selling - I understand and do not disagree with this either.

When it comes to youngsters or inexperienced horse I hold a completely different view however. If a horse is inexperienced it is inexperienced its age is for the most part irrelevant. Training should be taken gently and steadily and in no way rushed. Just because an inexperienced horse could (in your or anyone elses opinion) deal with 'intensive training' doesn't mean it should.

My mare, was 7 and we would regularly have a couple of weeks on, a couple of weeks off. She would learn for two weeks and then blow her brains and need to have a couple of weeks off even though her learning was not intensive, a couple of weeks rest and she was fresh and willing and eager to learn more.

My youngster is 4 this year. He has never really put a foot wrong since being backed, when I first started to school him he just could not focus so we left the schooling and went back to hacking, 2 months ago we started schooling again and he was exceptional, he took to it all, on our last ride in the school he was going from halt to trot, and working in a nice outline in walk and trot, halting well and transitioning into canter. A couple of weeks in, even though he was not getting bored or fractious I decided to leave it there - on a high note and give him some time off. I would never want to rush or intensively train a horse, if brought on gently they have so many more years under the saddle and are far happier and willing.
 
I guess it would depend on whether you send the horse away for intensive schooling on it's own or if you both go for a period of training together. I've found that if the horse is sent away for schooling with a professional rider the horse will naturally go better for a more experienced rider and then to some degree revert back to previous behaviour/way of going when it returns home to the rider who rides in the same manner as before. I also found my horse had got used to being ridden by someone better, stronger and fitter than me and I couldn't get the same level of work out of her when I rode her. Whereas having intensive training together including some schooling by a professional rider is more successful as you are more likely to continue with the improved work when you both get home. I've had a period of only riding under instruction several times a week for about a month and found that really helped us both improve and I was able to continue the improvement with weekly lessons after the period of intensive lessons. Another time I had a professional rider work my horse before I got on every time I rode (I was ill and unable to work her properly myself.) Doing this enabled me to get a feel for how she goes when working properly from behind and made it easier for me to change how I rode her. It also helped my horse as the professional rider was able to improve her way of going but back it up by enabling me to ride her when she was going better. Not sure I've explained that properly but both situations helped us to improve together.
 
Agree with LynH.

If I have hit a 'block' before, what I have sometimes done is send the horse off to a trainer BUT had lessons on the trainers horse so I can learn what new skills I need, and then been reunited with my horse under the trainers eye.

That has worked quite well!!
 
FfionWinnie said:
I'd rather spend the money on intensive lessons for myself and the horse (or perhaps schoolmaster lessons too).
Click to expand...

I'm doing that at the moment (on a semi-intensive basis, so 2 x lessons a week, one on a schoolmaster & one on our mare) & it is making a huge difference.
 
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