Loose Schooling

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Evil_Cookie

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Hi, I've searched this, but can't seem to find anything as its two words
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Anyway I was wondering what are the benefits to loose schooling with and without jumps? And how do you go about it, I assume you don't just turn them loose? How do you get them to go in the right direction? I've never tried it and just wondered really? Thanks
EC
 
turn them loose !!!!! my lad listens to my voice very well especialy change of rein, I sometimes have to push him a little, by position and body language. He then comes into me when I invite him. Gives him a chance to work free, without worrying about a rider and have a good relax, gallop and buck.

He worries a lot with riders on him, he is sooooo caring.
 
I meant to say 'turn them loose and see what happens' sorry
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, I can just imagine my mare b*ggering of and standing by the gate,
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I'd love to have a go but worry so much that it would do more harm than good. And do you need an indoor school to do it or just a well fenced arena?
 
I think that a lot of people are quite into it - and do find that it has some benefits.

I've never been clear what these are though to be honest. The horse usually gallops around like mad - bucking and flinging. Quite often falls over, and ocassionaly jumps out!

I've done it once or twice - but gave it up as a waste of time.
 
I loose school one of my boys once every few weeks as a bit of a treat. He loves it, doesnt buck or fart but has a lovely canter round and loves it when I put some jumps up for him.

He is such a good boy anyway and I have no worries about him jumping out of the school, he just wouldnt do it.

If you havea horse that is sane and listns to you you can really do some nice work.

The reason I loose school my boy is because of his size, 17.3hh I find it hard to lunge him in our school , it just isnt wide enough and I dont want him putting all that strain on his legs from practically leaning in to stay balanced.

So loose schooling for us means he can have a bit of fun, born off some steam and both of us enjoy it!
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Loose schooling is abit of a bonding process too , Gets your horse listening to your voice (would recommend lungeing first though) Yos horse that im working with at the minute is great to loose school, she really listens to me , I can get her to come closer and work in a smaller circle or i can get her to go large , When jumping I dont even need to stand close to the fence, she does it of her own accord .

Like previous poster said , It lets them stretch out without the weight or restrictions of a bridle .
 
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It lets them stretch out without the weight or restrictions of a bridle .

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Don't they do that in the field?
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How do you go about it? If you have control on the lunge allready? Do you need a rope or lunging whip to encourage forward movement? And what about turning?
Thanks for your comments so far
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It lets them stretch out without the weight or restrictions of a bridle .

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Don't they do that in the field?
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have to say I thought the same thing! If I want pickle to have freedom of movement then I will turn him out in the field, him and my sisters horse always have a good run around!
 
I loose school my horse sometimes. Not really to exercise her but just as it's something different that she seems to enjoy. She's quite easy as she happily goes round the track or on a circle and changes direction. It just allows her to loosen up a bit without me on top. Occassionally she'll have a bit of a buck or run about but most times she just does what you ask.

I use a lunge whip as sometimes she's needs encouragement to go forwards but she's never even considered jumping out of the school (none of our horses ever have).

Just give it a try!
 
I enjoy loose schooling, but mainly for my own selfish benefits - I just love seeing horses moving freely and having a nice lope around. Of course they do do this in the field, but most of us arent around to see it
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Thats my 10p worth!!
 
I love loose Schooling.

I tend to let him have a hooley about. Infact I encourage it as it is their way of stretching and freeing themselves off. It also gets rid of any high jinx and then they relax. So I praise this behaviour. It makes the whole experience fun for him too.

Once he has had a wooopeee woo we then start working. Pretty much the same way as you would when lungeing without the bumpf.

Once you get in to it your body language and voice controls what happens. You can really get the horse to learn to use his body on his own.

I find mine has a bigger trot these days. I am positive it is because we have spent time working on it "free".

I also like free schooling as you can stand back and assess your horse. If you see any tightness you can do some in-hand exercises to help free them off.

It is also a great way to stand back and say "My god you are soooooo bloody handsome"!!
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Loose schooling is work, not turn out (that's great, too, but not the same purpose). Like everything else it's just the ticket for some horses, neither here nor there for most, and a REALLY bad idea for some. It depends what you hope to gain and what sort of horse you're dealing with. Risk and reward in all things.
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From a training perspective I like to be able to watch the horse as sometimes the information I glean can be helpful. Sometimes I can see something that's different than in the ridden work, sometimes the horse graps something more easily. At the very least many horses benefit from being able to go straight and forward without having to adjust for the weight and interference of the rider. I've also used it for fitness in situations where riding out of the school is limited.

When I loose school I don't let the horse careen about madly. I might let them canter and even buck a bit at the start if they are fresh but they stay with the program, going in the direction I want and they settle into the pace I want as soon as possible.

It's almost essential to teach young horses to free jump these days if you're going to offer them for sale. Many people want to see even very young prospects jump at least a small fence. And proper free jumping is easy to teach so it shouldn't, under normal circumstances, stress the horse undully. Plus I find it's very educational for the horse if done correctly and, from the riders point of view once again, it lets me see what's going on.

Plus it IS fun. And something different to do. It's quite a trick learning how to control a horse with body language and well worth knowing. It can also make the rider think about how he/she is communicating with the horse at other times - if you can control the horse without even being attached to it what does that say about other areas of horse-human communication? It can teach a lot about having a conversation rather than just issuing orders and relying on force.

If you have a quiet horse and a suitable area (good, high fence, decent footing etc) you can experiment perhaps with a bit of reading up on body language. For a sharper horse you might need someone to first get the horse used to the process and then help you fit in but free longing is very natural for horses and it shouldn't take much time at all.
 
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