Sending 8yr old away to producer

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NobodyPutsBabyInACorner

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Hi,

I am looking for advice on sending an 8 year old horse away for producing/intensive schooling and whether it is worth it for our situation. Apologies in advance for the essay, but I thought it was best to share the full background!

My horse is a mother-daughter share with my teenage daughter, who we bought last summer. He is a lovely, (mostly!) sensible sort, but hasn't had the best start in terms of his education. He was backed nicely (I have seen historic videos), but then sold as a 4 year old to an inexperienced owner for her 11-year daughter as her first horse. Unfortunately, the daughter had a fall and lost confidence and interest in riding. Both the previous Mum and Daughter had bad falls jumping him (not because he did anything nasty), and he was then used in a riding school for a variety of riders of different abilities. As a result, he massively lost confidence with jumping and was generally unbalanced, stiff and often dead to the leg when we first bought him!

In the past 7 months, he has come on massively with his schooling. My daughter and I both have a fortnightly lesson with a dressage instructor, who is brilliant. My daughter also has regular jumping lessons, and he is starting to get more confident and enjoy it. However, he is still very green for his age in some areas. For example, the first time they jumped a water tray, he leapt 6 feet in the air over it! His canter still lacks balance, which makes getting around a course of jumps tricky as he usually needs to trot the turns. My daughter is keen to do some low-level competitions (SJ and dressage) with him, but she has never competed before and neither has he! I want it to be enjoyable for them both- definitely not expecting him to be a world-beater and that's not what we bought him for- but I would like for them to be able to go out feeling confident and have fun together.

I am wondering whether it is worth sending him away to a producer/trainer for a period of jump training. To work on getting his canter more balanced, get him used to scary fillers etc and take him out to a couple of competitions so that he has experienced the environment before my daughter takes him out. I also understand from his previous owner that loading is a challenge, so it would also be an opportunity for him to overcome this.

I would see this as an opportunity to get his education to where it 'should' have been. A bit like giving a child some extra tutoring to help them catch up when they've fallen behind in school!

I should add that, although he is my daughter's first horse, I have owned horses and competed in British Dressage, SJ, Working Hunter in the past. However, my jumping days are long over...I have a long-term health issue, which means I have to minimise my risk as much as possible, so me jumping him is not an option (nor would my nerves take it, lol!)!

If you have got this far- thank you! Second question- if you think it's worth doing, is there anyone you would recommend? They would need to be based in the South East so that we could visit him, and for my daughter to have a weekly lesson with the trainer as part of the package; as well as a rider no heavier than 11 stone.

Finally, how much should I expect to pay for this kind of service? It all feels like a bit of a minefield, and crucial that we get the right person if we do this!

Thanks so much
 
I’d say yes it would be worth it with a caveat that the person you choose needs to understand they are not only schooling the horse to improve it but crucially producing it for your daughter to get back on rather than for themselves. Not everyone gets that.

I’m wilts/Gloucs so out of your ideal area but as an idea on price, the person I know that would be good for this charges £300/week.

If you could give a better location/radius maybe others could suggest suitable trainer.

Alternatively if you have facilities at home someone might come to you to train the horse 3-4 times a week and your daughter could hack the other days.

Whoever you choose do your homework on them, because not all pros will have you or your horses best interests at heart.
 
Midlifecrisis said:
I would (and am doing) pay for an instructor/trainer to come to you, even if it means investing in poles and wings. You can watch what is happening, monitor it and your horse is at home and you can continue to ride.
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This is the way I would go in your situation. Keep the horse at home and have trainer into it. You could enter and travel the horse to meet the trainer at a competition as the education progresses. Having the trainer into you means the trainer could do some work and your daughter get on board whilst trainer is there, so you have a 'together' process going on. Find the right trainer/coach will be key.

Sending away may well educate the horse but when it returns to a less confident/skilled rider giving it different instructions than the pro it could all fall apart again. A pro rider will simply get the horse between leg and hand on the unbalanced corners and the hesitant moments at spooky fences and send it forwards with confidence, that is great but your daughter needs the tools to also do this. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.
 
So often the issue isn't what it appears but is a bit deeper. I'd be wanting to really assess him in terms of his posture and movement, his reactivity, diet, management etc (and you may be doing plenty right in those areas but maybe not quite got to the bottom of things) and professional schooling kind of papers over it.

Definitely lessons more often with a different trainer, perhaps one who does groundwork and connection, once the connection is there and he's happier in himself the jumping will come more easily, he'll trust the rider much more, and vice versa.
 
Does your showjumping instructor take horses for schooling? Best option really would be for the same person to take the horse for schooling/come to you to do it for a period, then work with the horse and your daughter together.

I have an older and younger child. Older one gets on and puts in basic schooling, then hops back on at any niggles/does the initial filler training, learning to canter nicely round courses etc. I teach both which provides consistency. Ponies are just about big enough for me to hop on now and correct anything drastic, which I have done. Having the same person teaching pony and child is key to an easy transition back to the child though.
 
Thank you to all who too the time to reply...my notifications weren't set up properly and I have only just seen the messages! Bit of an update: we decided against sending him away. We moved to a new yard a couple of months ago with much better facilities and a new instructor who is light enough to hop on and ride him as and when needed. Without wanting to tempt fate(!), he has come on a lot since we moved. He is more forward going and enthusiastic about his ridden work, and a happier horse in general. Better grazing and herd turnout seems to have made a bigger difference to him than I imagined (even though it seems obvious looking back that he was lonely on individual turnout at our old yard!) My daughter took him over his first cross country fences last weekend, which he loved! Still a long way to go with his schooling, but he is making good progress and we are really happy with him. Our instructor is taking them out to their first arena hire in a few weeks' time...could be interesting as he can be quite nervous/excitable in new environments, but far less daunting with her instructor's support!
 
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