Naughty pony school - what to achieve in 2 weeks intense schooling?

R2R

R2R

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My youngster (aged 5) is going off to naughty pony school for an agreed time of 2 weeks.
I sort of want him to have a bit of a straightening up and intense couple of weeks. He is fit and up to it and ready to go....

His good points are once he has done it he is fine and will just "do it". If, however, he thinks it is going to kill him and you ask too many questions too quickly, he backs up and does mini rears and stamps his feet in a proper temper. The bugger.

What sort of things should I expect to achieve? He is currently at this sort of level -

Flat
At the moment - good forward walk trot canter, starting to come round in trot but hollows in transitions, learning some basic lateral work
What I want - good forward walk trot and canter, improvement on transitions so he learns to hold himself a bit more

Showjumping
At the moment - jumping small course of x poles (about 2" with groundlines etc) , with some doubles etc at a slow and balanced pace. I have jumped him through a grid with a 3" oxer at the end and he was bold and careful but dont want to push.
What I want - jumping course of 2"3-6 jumps confidently, with some fillers/planks

XC
At the moment - jumping course of minimus logs (boldly!!!)
What I want - introduction to water/schooled over something slightly bigger.

He is going for 14 days intense schooling after which my instructor is going to ride him once a week as well as giving loaner lessons... do you think I am being unrealistic?
 
I've got to admit that it sounds like he is already doing alot for a 5 year old. He might still be rather a baby, hence the rears etc when he is challenged with something new. If it were me then I wouldn't be looking for him to be doing particular things, but more a confidence improvement. If he felt more confident when asked something new then it would be easier for you to tackle the improvements you mention. But without that then there is always going to be something new for him to tackle, so he needs to understand how to approach this rather than having a panic and a strop.
 
Suppose every horse has to be pushed out of their comfort zone at some point, but they can be all different at this age, no doubt having 14 days at 'boot camp' will do him good because he'll be worked and slip into a good routine, providing they don't spoil what he's confidently doing at the meantime, some 5 year olds are further on that others, some need a bit more time to catch up.

So long as your trainer understands what your horse needs and not what you necessary want, otherwise you might be better of enjoying and perfecting what he can already do.
 
He can do it - he came back from being broken in (different trainer) jumping through 3" grids and really enjoying himself - I gave him the winter off and have been bringing him back into work since the clocks went back in April. Just reached a bit of a sticking point recently where he had learnt to say no, so sending him off, but also want to build his confidence :D
 
not a particular set of things tbh! It just sounds like with his response that he is lacking confidence a bit, so made me wonder if maybe he needs a little time consolidating what he has learned so far? Some can really keep on learning and nothing seems to phase them, others just hit a bit of a baby block earlier! Sounds like he is doing fab, is just maybe a little too much of a baby to get more learning on board? I would want the two weeks to work on his rears and response to requests. I reckon you'd get more out of him if he didn't have such a stress at new stuff?
 
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