Schooling Plan

[JosieSmith]

Can anyone recommend some schooling exercises I can do with an old mare.

She's not very well schooled but is still going well for her age and I am going to have to ride in the school after work. It's not ideal as she is spooky and can see shadows outside the school but I still want to try and keep the edge off her.

I want to improve her way of going, improve her concentration (she can only keep it for about 5 seconds!) and keep her supple. I might also incorporate some jumping. We have only just started jumping as she's very scared of poles, but is fine once she's done them a bit and there'll be a yard show soon so I want to keep going with it, but when it's darker she might be more reluctant.

Thanks in advance for any ideas

 

[NW1]

Its not an excercise as such but one day of working in the school you can try not going past more than one letter doing the same thing which should keep her attention...

ie a transition at each letter or change or rein or 10 metre circle... anything, just use the markers as your key to do something else & make sure your aids are accurate to! (it avoids just going round and round the menage & her attention wandering!)

its basic but effective, it will keep her paying attention to you as she will not know what to expect- this should get her more responsive to your aids