Professional schooling?

LollyDolly

LollyDolly

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This is only crossing my mind as I am set to go back to University next week and combining that with my job I am going to struggle to find the time to do some serious schooling with Apache pony and I'd hate for him to be 'stale' until next summer when I can carry on riding 5/6 times a week.

Sadly at this stage in my life horses are having to take a bit of a back seat, I still go down and look after him every day however there is no way that I am going to be able to ride much. Especially with winter coming!

So what I was wondering is what are the costs involved with professional schooling? Ideally I would much prefer for the rider (schooler?) to come to my yard and work with him as I wouldn't like to send him away on schooling livery partly due to costs and partly due to me wanting to be able to keep tabs on him.
To be honest there isn't loads that needs doing, just getting him to relax and work in a better contact and some glitches with his canter which I am in the process of trying to sort.
However sadly I can't do everything as I'm not Superwoman.. yet ;)

Does something like this exist? A professional producer or rider who will come to your yard and work with your horse maybe 2/3 times a week?
Obviously I would want constant updates as I would need to know how my boy is progressing and what the rider thinks and recommends etc. etc.
I know pretty much all of the theory and mechanisms behind what needs doing however it's actually finding the time myself for me to put it into practice, if you get what I mean? :o

If such a thing did exist, I presume that I would just pay x amount per hour or something like that? Similar to having an instructor but one who schools your horse?
If all of this was possible, then can anyone recommend any good producers/riders who travel to yards as oppose to taking the horse away on schooling livery?

Thanks in advance! :D

How did I ever cope without you all? ;)
 
I have my wonderful friend H, who is a professional rider. Depending on my work schedule, she hacks out/schools etc Mr Horse 2-3 times a week. She charges £25 an hour, but she spends ages catching, grooming,tacking up etc, takes him out for a minimum of an hour and usually more, washes him down, dries off, rugs as required/not, grooms again, cleans his tack and sweeps yard! The fact she is wholly reliable, a lovely rider and loves Mr H to bits, is a bonus!
 
OH is an instructor, he also rides and schools clients horses at their own yard so yes it is possible:) He charges the same per session as for a lesson
 
He's young and green isn't he? Why not just turn him away over winter and pick him up again in spring - surely this is the best cure for a "stale" horse anyway...
 
When I lived in London and horsey was on full livery in Essex I couldn't get there each night. I had a instructor ride him 3 times a week. She enjoyed the ride and we came to a deal. £15 per ride - her normal rate was £30 per hour. But she didn't have to travel nor bother grooming etc.
 
Since breaking my foot fatty mare and I have put on some weight and lost fitness. I am moving yard next week - to the same one as my instructor is on so I plan on having her school Olive once a week to help me out over winter, bring her on and get her fitness back up. She has charged me the same as a lesson costs when she has come to ride her before. Not sure if she will charge the same as we won't be 12 miles away but I'm not sure. I would expect to pay the same I guess.

So, yes - of course those people are out there. I doubt you will find someone who has their own 'producing yard' to come out to you as they might prefer him to stay with them as they will have others to work with but an instructor would probably be your best bet.
 
I do it, but on certain terms.

I have between 10 and 18 horses in at home at any one time, so I travel 20 mins at the most and wherever I'm going must have lights. I don't come at completely unsociable times, but 7.00pm is not unusual. Weekends are different, I try and get a lot of 'outside' riding done on a Sunday, when mine have a day off.

I charge £20 a ride, and rides can vary for 20 mins on a just broken 3 year old, to 2 hours on a nappy naughty horrible one.

PM me if you like, I'm in Cheshire too.
 
Tough to recommend without a more precise location but just to reiterate yes it is possible, the ones that will come out usually charge a similar fee to a lesson and some may do deals.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone! :D

Haha sorry, I am based in the North West, Cheshire.

JFTD, that is a very interesting idea and I hadn't thought about that!

I would love to just know of a few local people who come and school etc. and then I can go from there.

Is it reasonable to expect good results? I mean I would be looking for someone to actually help to bring him on in my absence and not just have him ticking over if you get what I mean?
 
It's a service I offer. I charge less for frequent rides ($50/ride if ridden two or less times a week, $40/ride if ridden three - four times a week, $35/ride if ridden five times a week - all plus travel costs) and I do have a couple of favorites that I give better deals to :p

The whole point of me riding is - at the risk of sounding very big headed! - to make the horse 'better'; I'm schooling and training, not just out for fun. You could have anyone ride your horse, probably for free, you're paying a decent rider to get decent results!
 
You could have anyone ride your horse, probably for free, you're paying a decent rider to get decent results!
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Thank you! This is pretty much my view on it!
Not to sound arrogant but I could do the work myself, however I just don't have the time to commit and therefore it would end up being a very long and drawn out process. I will only be able to ride about twice a week so I'm not going to get that far, therefore I'd rather pay someone else to help.

However I would begrudge paying them if there were no results :o

My main concern is trying to chose the professionals from the dolly daydreamers who fancy themselves as 'producers' but are only in it for essentially a free ride! :o
 
LD it would partly depend on how often you can have them ride - if you can afford to have them ride a few times a week, they will be able to do more than if he's only being ridden once a week (as he would be unfit and therefore couldn't do so much when they did ride etc). I personally would only invest in having him ridden if I could afford to have him worked twice a week by the rider, and be ridden on weekends by me or if I could afford to have him ridden 4 or more times a week by the rider. Otherwise I would turn away and invest time in spring after a break (which in itself can do wonders). Does that make sense?
 
JFTD said:
LD it would partly depend on how often you can have them ride - if you can afford to have them ride a few times a week, they will be able to do more than if he's only being ridden once a week (as he would be unfit and therefore couldn't do so much when they did ride etc). I personally would only invest in having him ridden if I could afford to have him worked twice a week by the rider, and be ridden on weekends by me or if I could afford to have him ridden 4 or more times a week by the rider. Otherwise I would turn away and invest time in spring after a break (which in itself can do wonders). Does that make sense?
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Could combine the two and give him a decent long break, then perhaps bring him back into work yourself over Christmas and then get the other rider in. I really believe in giving the younger ones some decent time off - it's amazing how much stronger they tend to come back, and their work ethic does tend to improve too IMO :)
 
rhino said:
Could combine the two and give him a decent long break, then perhaps bring him back into work yourself over Christmas and then get the other rider in. I really believe in giving the younger ones some decent time off - it's amazing how much stronger they tend to come back, and their work ethic does tend to improve too IMO :)
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even better. And funds which would have been used to pay for rider before Christmas could be put to more frequent rides after Christmas, thus allowing a break followed by more intensive and worthwhile training.
 
A reservation that I have about turning him away is that when I bought him as a 5 year old he had been loosely broken (sedated, vaulted onto and then 'ridden') and then turned away so really he has spent the best part of 5 years in a field.
Would turning him away now do him any favors?

I have worked so hard to desensitise him to everything and actually get him going reasonably well so I worry that it might all be undone if I turn him away again?

JFTD I totally understand, I would plan on having the other rider probably 3 times a week and then me ride once or twice depending on whether I have any upcoming exams/assignments/extra shifts at work.
 
He won't forget everything by being turned away. I think that turning away is important after periods of work with youngsters, regardless of how long they've spent in the field previously. Physical and mental development is aided by the break - even if that is only a month or two. I have turned my now 6 y/o away for at least 2 months every winter since he was three, and he has come back more willing and more mature mentally in his work.
 
By turning away I don't mean chucking in a field and forgetting about him! :D You will still be handling him daily, and putting in a bit of groundwork/playing in the school if you want.

It's a long old winter, especially with a young 'un, so I've always found it works well for me and the horses! Come Christmas I'm always desperate to get back on and get them going :)
 
He will not forget what his already learnt - may need a reminder.

Does he have more growning to do? Was he only sat on for the first time this year?

I agree with what JFTD is saying - it needs to be 3 or 4 times a week or nothing at all.
 
By turning away I don't mean chucking in a field and forgetting about him! You will still be handling him daily, and putting in a bit of groundwork/playing in the school if you want.

It's a long old winter, especially with a young 'un, so I've always found it works well for me and the horses! Come Christmas I'm always desperate to get back on and get them going
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So really it's more the case of lay off the schooling for a while?
He does have a very young mind!
Would I be ok to have a weekly cheeky hack on him? We have loads of fields and offroad hacking :D

Does he have more growning to do? Was he only sat on for the first time this year?
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I doubt it, he is 6 and *just* scraping 15hh so he may fill out a little. Although if he wants to grow some more that's just fine by me, the taller the better! :D
He was sat on last year for the first time, but prior to me buying him I think that he was ridden about 4 times maybe? Fully sedated of course, with him being such an imposing, strapping young colt ;)
 
LollyDolly said:
So really it's more the case of lay off the schooling for a while?
He does have a very young mind!
Would I be ok to have a weekly cheeky hack on him? We have loads of fields and offroad hacking :D
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As long as you're not putting pressure on him then sure :) Just remember while he may be physically 5/6, he won't necessarily be mentally as mature, especially if his early life and initial breaking were less than well dealt with.
 
Not at all, my yard has four schools (two indoor and two outdoor) so when we going hacking it is purely for fun :D

Tell me about it, mentally he is about 2 as he is so immature and has such a severe lack of experience. However he is a sweet little thing and he is getting braver everyday bless him! :D

But while we are on this topic, he cannot canter straight in an arena! Originally he used to leap with both forefeet off the ground into a frantic, wrong legged canter however I have pretty much stopped the leaping into it but now he strikes off not straight.
If you get what I mean, when I don't let him leap into it and am really clear with the aids he just spins his backend off the track and goes completely diagonal! If I bring my leg back and place pressure then he will put his quarters in a bit but he is not straight and the pressure only causes him to go even faster.

What an earth can fix it!?
 
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Word of mouth is probably the best way. I've always worked on the philosophy of 'if you need to advertise then you need the work' be it horses for sale, livery yards, riders, instructors etc. Ask about a bit. Farriers, transporters and vets are usually the best people to ask as they don't usually have any ulterior motives for recommending people. Just make sure they have insurance and are reliable and consistent with their work.

As for a cheeky hack every now and then, personally, so long as he isn't 'stupid' and fresh and so long as you don't go bombing about/go on 3 hour hacks and just stick to walk as he won't be very fit, I couldn't see it being a problem. I think people will disagree with me here though. In agreeable with most about turning him away, won't do him any harm-never think it does any of them, regardless of age to have a holiday every now and then. He sounds like a sweety.
 
Thanks everyone! :D

Just a shameless bump to help get more opinions and get some advice about his canter ;)

I think that it's a balance issue with his canter, so when he comes back into 'proper' work in a month or so should I canter more so that he can gain his balance? :confused:
 
It's not uncommon for them to find cantering difficult initially, and bringing their quarters in makes it easy for them. What is he like cantering out in the field/hacking? It is SO much easier to canter in a straight line than to manage the constant turns in the school, it's normally just a strength and balance issue.
 
If you have someone school your horse 3 or more times a week I would also suggest they give you lessons. Nothing more confusing for a young horse than to be ridden in two different ways.
 
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