schooling without a school-questions

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Megibo

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does anyone here have to school without a menage ?
in winter i cannot ride in-fields too wet,slippy and boggy so can school her out hacking.
in summer the ground is mostly hard so not an ideal situation. is there anything you can do when you ride on harder ground to reduce any strain on joints etc ? apparently riding on grass helps a little...
do boots help...

any info appreciated.
 
I do the majority of my schooling out on hacks, transitions and lateral work. I school in the field too although don't do a any cantering or jumping if ground is hard. I never had a school as a junior and competed at a really decent level and when you get to ODE's that you warm up in a field- you can tell the horses that don't get schooled in open spaces.

My horse wears sport boots/wraps all around as standard

Lucky because I also have a fortnightly lesson at one of the best arena in the country though so that helps :p
 
I also have to school in a field. Not ideal as I find it requires much more self-discipline and inventiveness. Unless the ground is very good I tend to stick to walk and trot. Or if it's very bad just walk. There's a lot you can teach a horse in just the walk and as my trainer used to say 'walk is the gait of education'. They can't use speed to evade and it gives you a bit more response time if evasions start. I do lots of lateral work, shoulder-in, renvers, travers, half pass, pirhouettes, rein-back, etc, all at the walk so when the ground conditions improve there is a solid base of correct work to build on.
 
i always school in a field, we have one paddock that is almost school size so we tend to use that. we're hoping to make it more usable by putting a woodchip track down around the edges, hopefully softer in dry weather and not so soggy in wet weather:)
 
I only ever school in a field (or a school if having a lesson where instructor has a school or i'm able to hire one)- I am not overly worried if the grass is a bit long and thick as that adds cushioning to the ground. I try and avoid slippy mud as don't want to jar/strain anything by simply slipping on dodgy ground. If there's a soggy section i'll ride through that as you would if eventing or endurance - just don't do a huge amount of work in it - if its only one corner its only a few strides and horse has to use back end more.
Even when i worked my youngster (when he was young) it was in a 5acre field or bigger - it really teaches the horse to listen to outside aids. Lateral work and hillwork on hacks is great for building the correct muscles so that when in a school you can work on movements/exercises.
 
Ill be following this thread as i only have a 15 x 25 sand school at my yard.is that enough to do any decent schooling with an id x? Shes. only 20 mths atm tho so not worried yet.
 
I school my 5yr old RID in my top 2 acre field which is reasonably flat (well for Holmfirth!!). I tend to do a lot of walking as my youngster does try to evade through her shoulder in faster work. We do trot if ground conditions are good and sometimes have a bit of a canter to get her off the leg more. I think it's of benefit to school in an open space and on grass as it certainly helps to teach them to balance on the not so level bits. The only thing I would say is it does take slightly more confidence in a rider to school in an open space as there's not the contained feeling you get in a school. I've been riding 35years so I'm use to not having a school , they were only for the very rich or large establishments then.
 
not worried about not having a school as can use it as normal, just wondering how you all deal with the hardness of the ground in summer ?

would she be ok with boots and no faster than trot? (wouldn't canter anyway i might add!)
 
Ibblebibble said:
i always school in a field, we have one paddock that is almost school size so we tend to use that. we're hoping to make it more usable by putting a woodchip track down around the edges, hopefully softer in dry weather and not so soggy in wet weather:)
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Carefull doing this, we filled a yard with woodchip to try and help during the winter and just ended up with a thicker looking mud pit, wasnt pleasant

We dont have a school and I love schooling in the field. Helps to keep horses straight as you dont have the sides for the horse to lean on
 
you'll be alright schooling in the field, just when the groound is hard don't canter. Don't see a problem with troting on hard ground tbh as when you go for a hack you trot on roads and the ground can't be harder than concrete! And when its muddy i'd be carefull with canter too so that horse doesn't slip BUT saying that, it's very good practice for when the weather goes bad at shows, and its good practice for the horse to keep balanced. you'll be fine :)
If they can run round the field like loonies when ground is hard/muddy/icey etc then i'm sure they can do a bit of walk, trot and lateral movements :)
 
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If your horse is shoeless you can do much more in the way of schooling out on the road and on harder ground.
I do all my schooling out hacking and cantering on the road does not worry me.However I tend to work on transitions,so we never canter for more than a few strides.
The other great thing about schooling out hacking is it keeps them busy,so less likely to spook and you can use the terrain to build muscle and confidence.
 
It also depends on how old your horse is I suppose. The field that we school on is not particularly flat, so I know that my older than years teenage pony is not so supple and balanced to deal with it at too much speed, so I tend to just walk or trott on these bits.

But I agree, it's great to get horses used to riding and schooling over differing terrain!
There's also something quite fun about having the free roam in a huge field to really stretch out and do whatever you want rather than being confined to a small rectangle manege!.
 
We school in the open field sometimes, and in a leccy fenced off bit at others. I find really long grass is a bit slippy when it rains, but is better when it's dry as it's softer. Best footing is grass that was long and has been cropped to about a couple of inches high. When it's really hard the biggest issue is slipping round corners with anything young/green, and then of course hardness. If I can hear their footfalls I don't canter, and limit the trot. Brushing boots won't do anything for concussion.
 
Years ago we had a field bordered by a row of bungalows and one of the owners wasnt very nice (tried to feed my horse grass clippings) but he kindly installed a security light at the back of his bungalow which was triggered by movement, so the winter months were spend doing figures of eight and serpentines next to his hedge in the field. It was the best arena lighting we could have got - at no expense!
 
Orionstar said:
Years ago we had a field bordered by a row of bungalows and one of the owners wasnt very nice (tried to feed my horse grass clippings) but he kindly installed a security light at the back of his bungalow which was triggered by movement, so the winter months were spend doing figures of eight and serpentines next to his hedge in the field. It was the best arena lighting we could have got - at no expense!
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excellent :D
 
I also have to school in the field, varying what I do to ground conditions etc (this year majority of time has been rock hard or squidgy wet!! :( ) As much as I would love a school/arena to work in I found you do have to be a little more imaginative with a field. Made a kind of agility course for 5 yr old with major attitude & because she had to use her brain, she was quite good!!!

As for the comment about cantering on the roads, i'm either too protective of my horses legs or that is an absolute no no?!
 
I'm the same, and I dont hack either! TBH I dont generally ride through the winter, I turn mine away to chill out and have a break once it becomes to dark to ride after work anyway. During the rest of the year, I just tailor my riding to suit the ground. If its super hard in the summer then I will just do lots of walk exercises and a bit of trot but wont canter or jump obviously. I'm lucky though as I keep my horses out so they keep themselves quite fit for competitions anyway.

If you dont compete, you could keep your horse barefoot as that will minimise concussion further. Metal shoes definately amplify the shock through the legs.

I would never ever dream of cantering on the road. The concussion is horrific and will destroy your horses legs!!! Sorry but I wouldnt even trot on the road anymore after my very first pony came down with concusssive laminitis which I strongly believe was due to trotting on the roads that I did as a young kid (as you do back then). Never again.
 
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MagicMelon said:
I'm the same, and I dont hack either! TBH I dont generally ride through the winter, I turn mine away to chill out and have a break once it becomes to dark to ride after work anyway. During the rest of the year, I just tailor my riding to suit the ground. If its super hard in the summer then I will just do lots of walk exercises and a bit of trot but wont canter or jump obviously. I'm lucky though as I keep my horses out so they keep themselves quite fit for competitions anyway.

If you dont compete, you could keep your horse barefoot as that will minimise concussion further. Metal shoes definately amplify the shock through the legs.

I would never ever dream of cantering on the road. The concussion is horrific and will destroy your horses legs!!! Sorry but I wouldnt even trot on the road anymore after my very first pony came down with concusssive laminitis which I strongly believe was due to trotting on the roads that I did as a young kid (as you do back then). Never again.
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She doesn't compete as much anymore. Would if we could! But yes staying barefoot for as long as her feet cope and she has for ages so far! She'll live out though I'm clipping her so rugged to compensate...I trot on the roads though not for very long. Short periods with brisk walking! NEVER canter on them. Ever. Only twice by accident, pony decided that's what we were going to do...
I think that next year I might have her fully clipped out all summer too if it's as hot as it was this last one!
 
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