schooling programme for cob

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Cassy

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I own a lovely 5 year old cob mare. We have mostly hacked due to lack of facilities. Last week I fininshed building a sand arena and was all ready to get started on the schooling, then she went slightly lame on her near fore! She is now sound again and I am looking for advice on a schooling programme which will help to get her more responsive, off her forehand without putting too much strain on her legs. I would like to do some dressage tests with her in the future and I know that cobs CAN do dressage because I have seen the heavier types at competition looking light and tripping the light fantastic around the dressage arena. The question is how do I achieve this level with my willing but somewhat laid back mare who I realise is bred to pull a cart rather than do fancy foot work. So any advice would be gratefully appreciated especially from anyone with experience of schooling the heavier types.
Thanks
 
A lot of transition work should help to get your mare more responsive. Also include lots of circles and serpinties etc to keep her focused and prevent her from getting bored. Do lots of walk/halt , trot/walk, pick certain markers in the arena and aim to change pace at that exact point you pick. Focus on being more precise every time, but pick different markers so that your mare doesnt anticipate what your going to ask next. Polework should also help her suppleness and get her picking up those feet, not just trot poles but randomly place poles and ride them in walk, trot or canter. Concentrate on striaghtness when changing the rein, or even ride 1 metre out from the track and focus on not drifting left or right. Hope some of that helps!
 
Very interested in responses! I'm also in the same boat with my 5yo cob gelding :D

Even if anyone has any schooling exercises to get us going that would be helpful!
 
I have a 5yo cob and a 25yo, both HW. The main thing is to get them to use their hindquarters more which will help lift them up of the front.

I use lateral work, such as leg yield to help. It's also important to not fix your hands as cobs tend to like you to carry their heads. So they plough on rather than lift up. I use circles, serpentines, leg yielding both directions on the same line and plenty of half halts to stop them moving on too fast. If they don't go off the leg a schooling whip to help back up the leg is also good, if you don't get a response tap with the whip. Fortunately my 2 don't have a problem with moving on, it's slowing down that's more the problem!!

Also keeping the shoulders supple and stopping them falling in helps. They need to learn to use all 4 legs, not just the two on the front!
 
Big daugher has a 6yo cob, she has been doignlots of work getting a consistant trot, hers tends to get faster and faster nd more heavy on the forehand. She has been doing lots of transistion work and school figures, direct transistions, big trot little trot, standing for 5 beats sitting for 5 beats, poles random and in trotting sequence. Anything realy to get her flexing bending and listening. Seems to have payed of as she got mostly 7's for walk and trot at her 1st dressage test, just got to get that level at canter now (got 3-5's)
 
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Try maybe some rein back into canter to get them to sit down in the canter and to engage there hind legs also i find that the pessoa lunging aid helps a treat as it encourages them to carry themselves and to bring there back legs under them
 
When i got my cob she was a lazy ned lol, I found the 'legs off method' worked perfectly with her, legs sat nicely on her sides and then lift them very clearly away from her sides and if no response 2 big kicks and send them from say walk to canter (they catch on pretty quick), we have fine tuned it so that legs off a tiny way (hardy noticeable to somebody on the ground) and on in a relaxed way means the next pace, legs of a tiny way and on with a squeeze at the same time and them relax is from say halt to trot or walk to canter (i also slide my outside leg back for this) and if i want to move up within a pace just squeezes.
tbh you need to get the horse in front of the leg before much else will work. Once your horse is nice and in front of the leg doing lateral work is really good.
I find trotting down the centre line off the left rein and leg yielding towards the right and then 3/4 of the way down the school circling to the left half a circle and leg yielding towards the right again, then changing the rein and doing the same works quite well and is a fairly flowing exercise.
PS if you use the legs off legs on thing then once the horse understands it you have to adapt it so its more subtle so that when other people or judges ride your horse they are responsive for them too.
Also I find that position is important, hunched shoulders doesn't help if your horse rushes off or falls onto the forehand.
 
I have found this post very useful as have just started schooling my HWcob who is very dead to the leg - so will try all of these comments - he won;t canter in the school at all but will try all the above and not get to worried about the canter till I have everything else right - my cob is 12 - do you think it is too old for him to change?!
 
I have a 7 YO middleweight cob who i do mainly dressage with. I have an amazing instructor who has helped me and my lad and we are working novice and a few elem movements. Things i have found that have helped with him are things like:

1- Transitions- within and between paces. Recently collecting him up and then sending him on has really helped lift his front. Walk to canter halt to canter really makes him step under and lift.

2- lateral work on a circle really helps(generally helps anyway), keeping control of the shoulder with the outside rein when going out and visa versa coming in, even though i really hate doing lateral work due to having a weaker lower body!!

3- Rein back was one which i was realy shocked at how much it worked. He picked it up pretty quickly but i only do it with someone on the ground at the moment so he does it properly, but after done a few times he becomes much rounder in his frame.

Also another thing as someone has allready said, position is really important. I changed instructor and for about 2 months all we concentrated on was me, and how i sat and used my aids. Only then we looked at flint and then everything became alot easier as i was in the correct place to ask for what i wanted.

I dont know if maybe lateral work may need to be kept on the low if you say she has been lame, just untill she is a bit stronger.

Another thing i have been taught with my lad which i thought was counter productive is to get him working down and over his back, even slightly on his forehand, stretching over his back. i warm him up and cool him down like this and once i have got the suppleness from the stretching i can pretty much put him where i want.

Main thing is to take it at their pace, go slowly, lots of little breaks in the sessions. It is very rewarding to get a little coblet prancing around because they sure can do it!!

Have fun.

Watch this, Cardi, superstar welsh cob http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9w59hvGZUg
 
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Brilliant responses thank you. Lots of things to work on. One day my girl will be holding her own in the dressage arena!
 
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