Is a school essential, to bring on a young horse well?

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xTrooperx

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So question is really in the title, have a horse who is on winter break after being backed, so spring would be looking to bring back into work, start gentle hacking have some fun at shows, therefore some basic school work required.
But current yard has no school, yard is good have been there some years turn out is great but worried about horses education. So reluctantly to leave due to turnout.
Would boxing out to a school once weekly for lessons be sufficient? Horse was sent away to be backed and got established in walk/trot and canter. But after serval months off I understand it’s going to be a case of reminding and go slowly then I’m overthinking worried once weekly is not really consistent and could result in limiting muscles being developed correctly in readiness for trying our hand at ridden shows.
Fields can be used in summer but we all know it’s either mud or bone dry.
 
We too have 24/7 huge turnout fields, but no arena. One big field in summer for jumps, schooling and driving my ponies. However so lucky to have the whole NF to hack out on, together with lots of tracks and a nature reserve on our doorstep. So all our youngsters are schooled whilst hacking and seem to go very well as a result.
 
Esmae said:
Riding arenas for the masses is a very recent thing. Back in the day we all managed very well without. I schooled all my horses out hacking, never had a problem.
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While this is true, I also think the hacking used to be better/less dangerous.

I think you either need good hacking or an arena to be able to bring a horse on nicely. I'd say really good hacking is almost the preferable of the 2 if you had to choose.
 
i think it depends on your hacking, and how experienced you are yourself. i’d like to think i’ve done a good job of diva to say i’ve done it myself from day 1, but i definitely would’ve struggled without an arena as our hacking is pretty pants.

i do think for a baby, schooling once a week would be sufficient, especially if it’s a lesson. you’ll get homework that you can implement out hacking, even leg yielding around cars etc is beneficial. transitions can be worked on in a straight line, transitions within paces etc.
 
xTrooperx said:
So question is really in the title, have a horse who is on winter break after being backed, so spring would be looking to bring back into work, start gentle hacking have some fun at shows, therefore some basic school work required.
But current yard has no school, yard is good have been there some years turn out is great but worried about horses education. So reluctantly to leave due to turnout.
Would boxing out to a school once weekly for lessons be sufficient? Horse was sent away to be backed and got established in walk/trot and canter. But after serval months off I understand it’s going to be a case of reminding and go slowly then I’m overthinking worried once weekly is not really consistent and could result in limiting muscles being developed correctly in readiness for trying our hand at ridden shows.
Fields can be used in summer but we all know it’s either mud or bone dry.
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Definitely not essential if you can fence off an enclosed area the size of a school. But the ability to be able to go and use one when the ground isn’t right would be a good idea else you will be stuck to mostly walk work. It certainly will be fine when you’re doing the basics, but having just had a school put in ourselves I can say my mare has come on on leaps and bounds since this summer and progress was a lot slower in the field because I couldn’t do as much as I wanted to with the ground etc. She also seems a lot happier working on the surface. Not a very helpful answer I know, but I think it depends.
 
I guess it depends on you as well! do you work full time and only have evenings and weekends to ride? or are you around in the day time so you can go out hacking regularly?
 
It depends what you’re looking to do, and whether you can ride in your/any fields in the drier parts of the year, as well as your arena hire options.

No arena pluses:
- happy horse who sees value in the things you teach them (collecting for better balance down a hill, leg yielding off softer bits of track/round puddles).
- less likelihood of injury from overdoing circles, turns, deep surface etc
- horse who can concentrate well despite distractions (because you always ‘school’ in the big wide world)
- less spooky horse (but not guaranteed!)
- having to go to arena hire in winter to do anything other than straight lines gets them used to new places, they load regularly, they are super relaxed anywhere and everywhere. If you jump, every venue has different fillers, lighting, surface, makes those things routine.
- schooling on grass makes a horse more balanced and is more protective for joints because you can vary circle sizes and angles and arena size.

Negatives:
- if your hacking is non existent you’re going nowhere and it’s not viable. You need to be able to do more than ride on roads and stone covered tracks.
- in winter, fitness suffers as in most of the country hacking becomes walk/trot only. Obviously if/when you hunt you would have that option.
- if you cannot ride in a flattish field to school in summer you’ll struggle to get out enough to arena hire for schooling fitness, canter fitness, jumping practice, suppleness round corners etc.
- we found ponies used to hacking extensively didn’t trust wax arenas and went less well in them.

I don’t have an arena, the above is my experience over the last 15 or so years mostly spent without one. When we had well draining, flat grassland to ride on, can’t say I really missed having an arena at all. Life was cheaper and the field did fine. When we had nothing but slopes and bog and wet hacking it was a nightmare.
 
I dont think its a one size fits all and will be very much dependent on a whole variety of factors including

Time of year / weather / ground conditions
Horse temperament
Rider skill
Rider availability (daylight hours etc)
Support system
Hacking quality

So no you definitely don’t need a school to produce some young horses but it can make your life a hell of a lot easier depending on the above!
 
Produced my very hot boy with no school. We have amazing off road hacking behind my yard and then take him out for arena hires, clinics etc. He has never napped, said no or resisted anything asked of him. I think alot of that is down to the fact everything for him is so varied. We are going to put a school in at some point, but its definitely not the main thing. I grew up schooling my jumping ponies in a field with my mum shining the car headlights on us! We managed back then. Though the hacking was safer. Also you will find their were less lower leg injuries. My farrier always says lower leg injuries are now more common due to schools and bad surfaces.
 
rhino said:
Not essential, but makes things easier (and quicker to progress). Are you able to work/hack your horse in daylight through the week? If so, and you have safe hacking, I wouldn’t be as bothered.
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Yes good hacking, time wise ish.. some weeks more flexible then others
 
I don’t think it will work young horses need to experience with an arena a few times a week or you risk never being able to get them into an arena in the future . I know a few people young horses just hack there young horses when they eventually tried to go into the arena the horses started napping. Also young horses are unpredictable and the roads are extremely dangerous nowadays
 
Very doable in my experience. Only used an arena when out showing etc. Never had a problem getting any of them in the grass ring or into an indoor arena. Mostly I would just make up a small schooling area in a corner of a field and very often just hacking out if the fields were too wet, ground too hard etc. I have even used a nice long hack to politely school and remind some older horses where the buttons are when they get a bit bored and jaded with it all.
 
I bought one of mine just before his 4th birthday and I don't have an arena. Because he went through a wonky growth spurt he gently hacked and did odd bits in my fields until he was 5 when we got out & about more. Never had a problem getting him into an arena, although he found company very exciting. Nowadays I'll school in the field at home and hire something every few weeks if my ground gets bad.

My 13yo happy hacker had never seen an indoor until April this year. Didn't bother her at all and she loved flirting with herself in the mirrors. She also won her dressage class despite never being "schooled" so you can definitely do a lot hacking.
 
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