need advice on training!!

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miayates1

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Hi guys

I have just got a new hanoverian x TB mare a week ago. She currently is nicely built up behind but has no topline on her neck or back due to lack of work and running round with her head in the air!!
So currently isn't able to hold herself in an outline.
Any tips on best ways to build this up quickly?? She is being worked twice a day 5 days a week.
She also has a VERY week left rein and can't bend atall to the left. If you circle she turns as quick and sharp as she can to avoid bending. Any tips to sort this??

She is 13 and was previously a competition mare, has competed at hoys as a working hunter. So knows how to work but has been out of proper work for over a year.

Mia x
 
Can I ask why you are working her twice a day?
If anything with weaker horses that need building up work every other day is more beneficial as it gives any tight muscles time to relax inbetween training sessions. If she is weak then less is more - I would work over raised trot poles and hill work and transitions out hacking to help build her up evenly. I find school work with horses that are weak can often build them up unevenly as they favour their stronger side. If you build up the work out hacking up and down hills in straight lines then you are more likely for the horse to build up evenly and more straight.

There is no quick way to build up muscle (especially in an older horse) it needs to be done slowly and carefully.
 
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If she's been out of work for a year, you're going to have to build things up very gradually. Personally I wouldn't be working her twice a day. I'd start with general fittening work, a couple of weeks of hacking in walk and trot only. Then move on to introducing some school work, starting off with doing lots of stretching exercises, working long and low, 20 metres circles, figures of eight, serpentines and then introducing transitions. After she's been in work for about six weeks I'd suggest you have a physio look at her, just to check there is no physical reason for her to be so stiff on one rein.
 
She's being worked twice a day as she is extremely fit still, my instructor who has worked across the world said she is capable of twice a day. And it's not intense schooling. She is working long and low nicely already however circles and serpentines are a challange due to her being so weak on one side. She has also been checked by a physio in the last month and has had saddle and teeth checked
 
You say she has no topline on the neck or back due to lack of work but is extremely fit. So has she been ridden but just not in an outline?

I don't think there is a "quick fix" for building up topline. It takes as long as it takes! I would be gradually building up schooling exercises as others have mentioned and personally wouldn't be schooling twice a day - this just seems too much to me.
 
Her owner would ride her maybe twice a month that is it, she has just conserved fitness well. And I know most will not agree with twice a day but my trainer worked for lipica in Slovenia and has worked GP horses in Germany so I trust her!
 
miayates1 said:
Her owner would ride her maybe twice a month that is it, she has just conserved fitness well. And I know most will not agree with twice a day but my trainer worked for lipica in Slovenia and has worked GP horses in Germany so I trust her!
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Then you should go with her system and not ask random people on the Internet. Sorry if that sounds harsh but systems are systems for a reason and if you are happy with the one that is working for you then it's not fair to ask other people their advice and then tell then they are wrong when they offer it. There are many roads to Rome.

I am interested that a horse that has been ridden twice a month for a year would not have held her fitness - these things are bound by science, not by opinion. When you say she is "fit" what do you mean, exactly? It sounds like she is weak in lots of quite essential ways.

Riding horses twice a day is quite a common practice in many programs, especially ones based on limited turnout. It's no different than putting a horse on the walker while you muck out. Lots of eventers go twice a day, as do top jumpers and dressge horses, although one can argue these horses are already highly tuned and require the sort of "all day, everyday" looking after of any elite athlete. But usually one session is walking out on a long rein, gradually working up to fitness work, and the other is the usual schedule of schooling, stretching, jumping etc. With very young horses it can be beneficial to do two SHORT sessions during pivotal points so as to maximise progress without overtaxing, although this is usually only done long term in Futurity programs or similar where time is of the essence and great care must be taken not to overcook it.

So, back to the question, the horse will only develop as fast as it develops and that has to be balanced with stress on the system. If you are seeing the results you want with no advers effects then it's all good. I would say your instructor is going as fast as anyone would and faster than most - I presume if she thought the horse could he doing more, it would be.

I also presume you've had a vet look at her. Significant reluctance to bend/turn in an older horse is quite often a sign of arthritis, particularly in, but not limited to, the hocks. Many horses her age who have done hard jobs at a high level require veterinary maintenance to perform their best.
 
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Thankyou for everyones help! And I wasn't dismissing anyone I was just asking for advice not critisism!! I unfortunately don't have my trainer come often so just wanted some ideas of good excersises
 
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