Leasing an Andalusian Gelding

[Frances Ann]

Hi, I am hopeful to someday own a horse of my own. I returned to horses and riding this year after an absence of about 30 years. My riding skills are coming back and I've decided to lease my instructor's 11 year old Andalusian gelding for the winter starting this December.

I call him Pino. He's being ridden only 1/2 hour on Saturdays by a teenager. For the first 8 years, he was not ridden and new nothing when she bought him. My instructor bought him with another horse about to go to an auction house. My instructor just doesn't have time to ride this guy and progress has been slow. So, I came along and we are going to give it a go. My instructor teaches the Tristan Tucker TRT method and we have a training session on Wednesday nights.

I am trying to work out a schedule to ride and work with Pino to advance his skills. He's a lovely guy but his back is tense and he doesn't really know how to balance himself well. As I work for a living, time to be with him and ride can be complicated. How often should a horse in light condition be worked to improve tone? I have a riding lesson every Friday and sort of worked out a Wednesday, TRT class, Friday ride, Saturday ride with TRT in the afternoon and Sunday ride. We've just started so I am open to sorting out what works best for me and Pino. My instructor said, come out whenever you want and ride. It's up to you.

 

[be positive]

As Pino must be very unfit I would be looking at developing his fitness for a couple of months with plenty of gentle hacking, straightline work in walk and some trotting before thinking about advancing his skills, he will be unbalanced and tense if only doing 1/2 hour of exercise each week so needs a very gradual introduction to doing more, don't expect too much too soon it will take months for him to be fit enough to make true progress beyond the basics.

 

[Shay]

Its likely to take you 4 or 5 weeks at least before Pino is ready for schooling. You need to take time to harden off bones and tendons first and then build fitness hacking rather than plunge straight in. Otherwise you have a recipe for a sore, unhappy and quite possibly lame horse.

Have you spoken in detail with your instructor about how much work you want to do and the best way to bring Pino up so he can be fit enough for that? I would be surprised at a qualified instructor saying this was OK. Might they have misunderstood what you wanted?

 

[Frances Ann]

There is not a lot of room for hacking at this stable. I can take Pino for a walk around the property which is around the grounds, outdoor ring and up the road on property. It might be about a 1/4 mile loop. We did this yesterday and he was fine being outside roaming around. Off property would most likely be unsafe as it's on a country road with almost no shoulder. The traffic can be loud with trucks rolling by. Well that would be only Sunday for a walk as I work during the week and don't get there until after dark.

The instructor is qualified as far as I know. She trained Pino's companion Bastian these past years to 1st level dressage. She has a second dressage horse now at Intermediate I. I asked was he okay to just get going riding more and she said he was sturdy, strong horse and can take on more work. She suggested riding him Saturday afternoon, after his routine lesson with the teenager in the morning. I said no to that one. It's possible things have been misunderstood. When I have a lesson Friday, I'll talk about wanting to get Pino loose and able to stretch out and down while at the walk. Just work at that for a while. I wonder if lungeing at the walk over cavalletti wouldn't help him learn to walk and give that stretch.

He did stumble yesterday when we were riding at a trot. I am happy to say my hands followed him lightly and I did not lose my balance. I let him recover safely without a fuss. He's unbalanced as I say and tense.

I appreciate your help.

 

[Frances Ann]

I have a photo of him but cannot figure out how to make it a URL to be inserted in the reply. Sorry my user skills are not too sharp.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

I have a photo of him but cannot figure out how to make it a URL to be inserted in the reply. Sorry my user skills are not too sharp.

If you upload the photo to photobucket you'll then be able to copy the url and embed it into your post.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Leasing is unusual in the UK, as are the circumstances you describe. Best to learn to ride before taking on any horse.

 

[Shay]

I suspect OP isn't in the UK. The only place I know of to class its Novice as "1st level" is the US. Leasing high level competition horses isn't that uncommon. But it isn't a term I'd expect for a leisure horse here. It may be that instructors in the US take a different view to fittening than we might.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I wouldn't be trotting an unfit horse that has only been ridden once a week for some time. The best way to get a horse fit is lots of good quality walk work, no matter where in the world you are.

 

[Frances Ann]

Sorry, I am in USA. I hope this site is open to folks outside the UK. A lease is a loan of a horse. I pay a certain amount each month and agree to ride/care for the horse but it is owned by my instructor. He is kept on her property. I can come on the property during reasonable hours and for the twice weekly lessons. Wednesday late afternoon is TRT method, Friday is a riding lesson for 1/2 hour. 1st level dressage is novice. Intermediate Level I is high level, performing flying changes every other and every stride. It is above Prix St George and below Grand Prix.

Pino is a project. When I told my instructor I wanted more than just a riding lesson and wanted to learn TRT method, she offered her horse and suggested he would benefit greatly by the training. We both would as are both beginners at it. I am a fairly good rider, kind and responsive. I handle horses pretty well on the ground. I tend to be passive at times and not establishing who is in charge.

I think my goals will be going forward, take him for a nice long walk around the property as much as I can and walk, light trot on a long rein in the ring. I have been watching some You Tube videos and get the idea of how this should go. The TRT method teaches the horse a lot of flexion exercises on the ground and in the saddle.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Sorry, I am in USA. I hope this site is open to folks outside the UK. A lease is a loan of a horse. I pay a certain amount each month and agree to ride/care for the horse but it is owned by my instructor. He is kept on her property. I can come on the property during reasonable hours and for the twice weekly lessons. Wednesday late afternoon is TRT method, Friday is a riding lesson for 1/2 hour. 1st level dressage is novice. Intermediate Level I is high level, performing flying changes every other and every stride. It is above Prix St George and below Grand Prix.

Pino is a project. When I told my instructor I wanted more than just a riding lesson and wanted to learn TRT method, she offered her horse and suggested he would benefit greatly by the training. We both would as are both beginners at it. I am a fairly good rider, kind and responsive. I handle horses pretty well on the ground. I tend to be passive at times and not establishing who is in charge.

I think my goals will be going forward, take him for a nice long walk around the property as much as I can and walk, light trot on a long rein in the ring. I have been watching some You Tube videos and get the idea of how this should go. The TRT method teaches the horse a lot of flexion exercises on the ground and in the saddle.

There should be no doubt who is in charge, the herd need a leader, and that is you, however the equine needs free exercise, lots of it and companionship of others, he must have regular exercise if he is to be ridden, walking round a small yard does not really count: in the wild the mustang might be expected to cover thirty miles a day. Keeping a horse stabled seven days a week with only two or three sessions is not going to be a lot of use imho.
I don't know the horse, your instructor, your ability, but the facilities do sound very restrictive. To me, a project horse is likely to need a lot more work and attention than you seem able to give. If you can only ride for a couple of hours a week, far better to get a more experienced horse which will teach you all it knows.

 

[Frances Ann]

He basically lives outside in a large paddock with a companion horse. He has a shed for weather protection but is free to roam constantly. It's an adequate size space and provides freedom of movement. He had a nice lie down in the sun on Sunday afternoon. I was in cleaning his paddock and saw how relaxed he is.

 

[be positive]

There should be no doubt who is in charge, the herd need a leader, and that is you, however the equine needs free exercise, lots of it and companionship of others, he must have regular exercise if he is to be ridden, walking round a small yard does not really count: in the wild the mustang might be expected to cover thirty miles a day. Keeping a horse stabled seven days a week with only two or three sessions is not going to be a lot of use imho.
I don't know the horse, your instructor, your ability, but the facilities do sound very restrictive. To me, a project horse is likely to need a lot more work and attention than you seem able to give. If you can only ride for a couple of hours a week, far better to get a more experienced horse which will teach you all it knows.

Not many horses over here cover anything like 30 miles a day, plenty lead fairly restrictive lives with small areas of turnout, limited hacking and not everyone is able to have a schoolmaster to learn on, the OP sounds sensible, fairly competent and has an experienced trainer so why be so negative.

OP he sounds as if he has a good enough life and with time, effort and enthusiasm you should have fun with him, you will learn a lot from a green horse, as he is older he may prove challenging at times as you start to ask more but there is nothing to lose and plenty to gain, a stroll around the property is not going to replace proper hacking but it is still more than some get, life is rarely perfect make use of what you have.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Not many horses over here cover anything like 30 miles a day, plenty lead fairly restrictive lives with small areas of turnout, limited hacking and not everyone is able to have a schoolmaster to learn on, the OP sounds sensible, fairly competent and has an experienced trainer so why be so negative.

OP he sounds as if he has a good enough life and with time, effort and enthusiasm you should have fun with him, you will learn a lot from a green horse, as he is older he may prove challenging at times as you start to ask more but there is nothing to lose and plenty to gain, a stroll around the property is not going to replace proper hacking but it is still more than some get, life is rarely perfect make use of what you have.

Well, if I am too negative she will probably weigh up various opinions, think about it and decide to go on with her project horse.
There is something to lose , like $$$$$$$$ , and confidence. Yes gains can be learning and improving rider and horse skill, but that probably means more lessons, ie more $$$. Now if this was a short term loan in the UK, with the rider schooling the horse then returning it to the owner after say six months, we might say "well the owner has more to gain than the loaner".
I did not say our companion type horses do thirty miles, the point was , that it is best to have the animal have a reasonably free life, I understood , initially, that it was just used about twice a week, wheres if training a horse you generally want to do some work 5 or six days a week, and to build up the work in a planned manner.