kellybee
Well-Known Member
I'm moving my ponies to a new paddock next month (giving notice today) and am looking forward to the freedom that comes with being away from the riding school (current yard used to be liveries only, but now with a riding school, slotting into the menage between lessons isn't easy and the off-road hacking is being turned into a housing estate).
My appy is rising eight and has never really done any roadwork. I've always ridden on the bridlepath or in the school. He had a girl ride him last summer and she'd hack him out now and then inside of a bombproof horse (to get to the bigger bridlepath at the other end of the lane), but he's never gotten used to tractors, lorries or anything like that (he loads onto a lorry with no problems, we moved him from the prev owners place to temporary livery before we moved on the lorry again to the current place). The new field is on a bridlepath which goes for a few miles, but I'd like to get him used to hacking on the road too.
I was hoping to start out riding down the bridlepath, do 5 mins on the (wide but quiet) lane at the other end, then go a little further each time so that he gets used to it gradually. That lane leads onto a slightly busier one, which eventually comes out onto the main road in front of our field. Our other pony is a shetland. She's bombproof on the road but Appy is the more dominant of the two and has little respect for her (in the field he's the boss). Obviously I'd take it slowly, gradually, and I've got a "Young Horse Training" jacket but I hope eventually to be able to ride round the loop instead of going down the brodlepath and back every time, so he doesn't get bored. I do ride in the field too, so it wouldn't be too repetitive I don't think.
Off road he's safe as houses, he's just never seen enough traffic to be comfortable. Part of me regrets not road training him sooner, I've jut never needed to ride on the road before and in the two years I've had him, he's only been out maybe a dozen times on quiet back roads, with a different rider. He hasn't been on the road at all since last autumn though, when the rider went back to uni. Does anyone have any other kind of tips to offer?
My appy is rising eight and has never really done any roadwork. I've always ridden on the bridlepath or in the school. He had a girl ride him last summer and she'd hack him out now and then inside of a bombproof horse (to get to the bigger bridlepath at the other end of the lane), but he's never gotten used to tractors, lorries or anything like that (he loads onto a lorry with no problems, we moved him from the prev owners place to temporary livery before we moved on the lorry again to the current place). The new field is on a bridlepath which goes for a few miles, but I'd like to get him used to hacking on the road too.
I was hoping to start out riding down the bridlepath, do 5 mins on the (wide but quiet) lane at the other end, then go a little further each time so that he gets used to it gradually. That lane leads onto a slightly busier one, which eventually comes out onto the main road in front of our field. Our other pony is a shetland. She's bombproof on the road but Appy is the more dominant of the two and has little respect for her (in the field he's the boss). Obviously I'd take it slowly, gradually, and I've got a "Young Horse Training" jacket but I hope eventually to be able to ride round the loop instead of going down the brodlepath and back every time, so he doesn't get bored. I do ride in the field too, so it wouldn't be too repetitive I don't think.
Off road he's safe as houses, he's just never seen enough traffic to be comfortable. Part of me regrets not road training him sooner, I've jut never needed to ride on the road before and in the two years I've had him, he's only been out maybe a dozen times on quiet back roads, with a different rider. He hasn't been on the road at all since last autumn though, when the rider went back to uni. Does anyone have any other kind of tips to offer?
