Schooling my Thoroughbred - Peter Pan! Questions on schooling/others experiences

E

ellieplatt

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 June 2009
Messages
333
Visit site
Sorry for an essay but there is a question and meaning for all of this :)

I bought a beautiful ex race horse back right at the beginning of march (well mummy did for me:P ), everything about him seemed so special when I went to my mums friends yard to see him and he just had the WOW factor to me even though he lacked condition (saw him back at the beginning of feb).

He's a 16.2hh about to turn 9 Irish chestnut, my dream horse! I did worry about how old he was to re-school and how difficult it would be, i've schooled young horses and re-schooled a polo pony so i've got experience just not with race horses that have been raced for 6 years!

Very lucky that he's came out of racing completely sound and ready to roar! But anyway cut to the chase, when he arrived he was just chilling for around 3weeks, with lunging work towards the end till i got a saddle to start working him (he's been out of racing since beg jan2011 and been 'chilling' since then, but thrives on work so old owner whose re-schooled before seemed to think it would do him good to start working :P )
But in 6 weeks i cannot believe how far he's come from walking around the school like a draff (sp) to working well in a beautiful outline in walk and trot :D, although trot needs abit more work we've deffintely cracked the walk! He can work very lovely in trot and with lots of perseverance, eventually works in this incredible big trot and just oozes potential!

Anyway here's my question, any of you miss jumping or going for good gallops on hacks :(? Seems like there is only so much road and little quiet bridle path work you can do before, dare i say, it gets abit dull! I'd like to start little bits of pole or canter work but want to get his trot a bit better first and don't want to fill his brain with too many things to think about just yet as he's got so much to learn!

So has anyone got any good 'entertaining' trot exercises i could try in the school? I go away at the end of may so fingers crossed after lots of lessons in between then when i get back after 12 days he'll be working well so i could start popping him over little fences!!

But any exercises to help keep me sane would be much welcome! Sorry for the essay just thought everyone should get his back ground before they assume i'm rushing him or anything silly! I'm hoping to unaff him dressage and s/j this autumn/winter season and start BE next year, can someone tell me how to put pictures up and i can show you the lovely lad too? :D

Also some experiences and/or before/after pics of your lovely little beasties :D

Fresh sunday roast with ice cream for anyone who gets this far, Thank you for reading!
 
I got my little man this time last year, and like you after while realised there was only so much pootling about I could do!!

I found trot poles were great for getting his trot much more 'useful' try having them on a short stride on one side of the school and a longer stride on the other.

I also do a lot of 'Big Trot, Baby Trot' try and get as few strides as possible on the long sides of the school (Big Trot) and as many strides as possible on the short side of the school (Baby Trot), will help to balance him up and use himself!!

PJ Before;

PJ4.jpg


PJ Now;

PJ2.jpg


(I hope those worked)

We still have a long way to go but will get there soon!!

Good luck with your ponio!

V & P x
 
YAYY Thankyou for replying :P

And will deffo try out those exercises this evening in the school

Just to say what a difference a year makes hay! Your boy looks fab :D
 
Don't think you'll want to hear it - but I waited two years after I got my ex-racer to start jumping him :rolleyes: Having said that, he was a bit of a special case, couldn't canter left even in the field, couldn't trot a circle on the lunge without losing his balance and as far as I could tell, had never been worked in any form on the left ever. Also grew a couple inches after he came off the track, and turned into demon horse for a good year, so we didn't have the best times ;)

As it is though - he started jumping a year ago, then had 5 months off when I didn't have a saddle, and he's jumping 1.10m happily now, got one/two more 90cm shows before we step up. He also tends to go a bit mad at shows so after our last dressage in September (where he reared then left the arena backwards) we cooled it for a while, and are going back in 2 weeks to do Novice/Elementary.

For trot exercises, I'd do things like spiralling in and out on a circle, leg yielding, big trot to little trot and plenty of transitions between walk, trot and halt (and canter if you so desire :) ) Maybe try counting strides, so say 5 walk, 5 trot, 5 walk, 5 trot, 5 canter, trot, halt etc. Keep him listening to you, get him nice and obedient to both going and stopping aids.
Don't make the canter a big deal, so do put in short canters in your normal work. Umm..trotting poles maybe?

Out of ideas now..
Oh, pics..the most recent ones are a good 3-6 months old but hey :)

Near when I first got him:
Confoshotweek1.jpg


Now:
trot.jpg

DSC_0271.jpg

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae23/katebake123/Cody/20110215_153504_101-6266.jpg?t=1304260672 - him jumping an 80cm just as a re-introduction to jumping
P1040285.jpg




http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/...8030132_13277791_4851934_n-1.jpg?t=1304260802 - and a 90cm show about 4 months after he started jumping (before the long break!)


Sorry, photo overshare!! Good luck with your boy, they are extremely rewarding horses :) Post pics!
 
To be honest I would be introducing canter as I find it is much easier to introduce canter and reschool the canter before they get too fit and strng and seem to think they know best! What is his breeding and what was his racing name?? Re: Trot exercises trotting poles are very useful and if you are happy with the walk then perhaps start with basic laterals
 
Justme22 - thanks for replying! All i can say is WOW you can tell how much work you've put in through the 2years and he looks totally worth it!
Thanks for the exercises i'm going to write them down and keep them up the yard so i can alternate which ones i do to keep everything interesting :D

All the pic's are great, really helps as i love seeing the transformation!

How do I post pics?

and amage -

Thanks for the tips i'm going to use some of justme22's exercises she told me about and introduce little canters, sometimes after a schooling session i'll canter him on each rein loosely to loosen him up after working on the bit just to give him a strech and warm down, his canter is lovely and laid back in the school - like a rocking horse so i doubt he'll get too strong.. well fingers crossed :P
 
I'm sure you can start canter work in the school. You will be surprised at how balanced he will probably be (having worked most of his life in this gait!), getting the right leg can be an interesting experience on an ex-racer though!
My mum got her racer out of training at 8, he had 3 months off and then six months later he was 2nd in his first dressage test, a BD prelim. 2 years on he now has points at novice and has been placed nearly every time out BD.
I think my mum introduced pole work after 3 months of flatwork training.
Im sure your horse would like starting poles now, raised trot poles will help this trot.
We also cantered our ex racers out on hacks pretty much from day dot! They were fine, we did it in a controlled manner on nice ground in a safe place. They were good as gold :).
 
firewell said:
I'm sure you can start canter work in the school. You will be surprised at how balanced he will probably be (having worked most of his life in this gait!), getting the right leg can be an interesting experience on an ex-racer though!
My mum got her racer out of training at 8, he had 3 months off and then six months later he was 2nd in his first dressage test, a BD prelim. 2 years on he now has points at novice and has been placed nearly every time out BD.
I think my mum introduced pole work after 3 months of flatwork training.
Im sure your horse would like starting poles now, raised trot poles will help this trot.
We also cantered our ex racers out on hacks pretty much from day dot! They were fine, we did it in a controlled manner on nice ground in a safe place. They were good as gold :).
Click to expand...

Thanks, feeling alittle better about starting to canter him now, i just didnt want to rush or spoil him by going to fast! Do you have any pics of your ex racer? Would be great to see how he's changed too :) But wow at how quick he got out doing dressage! He's perfect in company but gets abit spooky and trys to gallop home when hacking in open spaces alone and not many people at my yard hack when i'm around so i have to stick to tracks and roads unless i arrange a hack.

So lots to do really, lots of exercises to try including raised trotting poles! Cant wait to get cracking this week, thanks everyone :D
 
canterwork can help imporve the trot esp if the trot is a stuffy one. Try some canterwork but I'd leave the jumping untill he can balance on turns, and is easy to steer in all three paces
 
To keep things interesting for both of you do lots of changes of pace both between the gaits and within the gait, so walk trot walk halt trot halt and so on and try and get a little collection in the trot around the short side and push the trot on a little along the long side.

You could also weave in and out of cones in each pace and try and ask for little tiny bits of leg yield to try and get him moving away from your leg and to balance himself.
 
As for cantering him when he is out hacking, it is really important to remember to keep you leg on!!! I know this sounds basic but a lot of people when confronted with a strong horse tend to take the leg off and just try to stop with the reins, this does not work!! Try to keep as relaxed as possible, nice deep breaths and a nice soft hand. Remember that it is fun to be cantering outside on a horse that was made to do it!!:)

Best of luck with him, i hope you have loads of fun :)
 
a personal favorite with my ex racer is trot down the long side and do a 1/2 10m circle reclining to the track(like a wonky ice cream cone shape) and then head straight on diagonal to b/e and do again (as you have changed rein) also really good for bending and my boy would try to just walk sideways... why turn hey!?!? haha i do sitting trot around the 1/2 circle to collect and mix it up and rise the rest, started doing it in canter now and is good fun and something to work on...
 
also this one: its like yoga for horses... : ) haha trot around then slow trot right down till your horse crounches his hocks to walk and push forward really builds up quarters and and engage behind... Its really athletic and worth it will also take some time to perfect but worth it!
 
Id be cantering now and there is nothing wrong with starting to teach your horse to jump, it seems a bit odd to not want to canter until your trot is perfect. Most ex racehorses are much happier in the canter as they have worked more in that pace. My mare at the moment has always had a super canter but the trot is a much harder pace for her and still is now, a year into her reschooling. So id say get cantering and jumping, dont rush and make things easy though, as you would do with any young or inexperienced horse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top