Sending horse away for schooling? experiences please

[lucky7]

I have a 6 year old welsh D who has been brought back into work back in Feb after a 3 month winter break.. TBH he has always been stop start, owned him since he was a foal and have backed him myself and had him through 2 of my pregnancies, and i didn't ride through pregnancy (very ill!) so he got lots of time off backing him and between babies No more babies planned now and my youngest is 1 next month. I really like him and we get on, he is very willing and moves beautifully and i really want to do some dressage with him and some showing classes this summer. I ride him approx 3 - 5 days per week, over the past 3 weeks we have been mainly hacking out for up to 40 mins, road work bit of trotting and hills. The past 2 weeks he has done 2 x 45 min sessions in the school. He is very green but he's willing (he is however very spooky and it does take him a while to settle but once hes relaxed hes really on my side). What i am struggling with is his left rein. Along the long side he throws his quarters to the inside and sort of crabs up the sides, or goes the other way and almost scrapes me on the fence, he does find bending difficult too. On the other rein he's fine. Up the centre line again hes quarters out and seems really difficult to correct him to get him straight even in walk. Since i am short on schooling time and can only school him realistic 1 x per week (we have to hire the school from the livery yard and its always booked up evenings and i work most days or have the little ones so only weekends are good for me) i am thinking of sending him away for 2 weeks to a trainer then having lessons with said trainer 1 x per week just to help him along. He doesn't really concentrate enough out hacking to do a bit of schooling work as hes really spooky and tense - he never really relaxes enough!! (maybe i should try a magnesium supplement?) I feel it would benefit us both if he went away then on return we both had the same trainer for lessons. I know the said trainer and have had him in the past, he did actually help me back him and my cob a few years back.
Has anyone else had these sort of problems and have you ever sent your horse away and did it make a difference??
Thanks

 

[paddi22]

i sent one of mine away for schooling and it worked out great, was delighted. What really helped was having a burst of lessons with the trainer, so that i completely understood what exactly he was doing. 2 weeks isn't very long though, i sent mine for 6 weeks.

 

[Booboos]

Getting regular lessons and dedicated schooling periods is the way to go. Has the trainer seen him recently? Does he have any advice on how to straighten him? It is also worth considering if there is a physical issue like muscle soreness that is making one rein a lot more difficult for him. I've had a lot of horses improve and become easier to ride with regular physio visits.

 

[samlf]

Echo above - have you had lessons recently? Are you sure it is a schooling issue and not a physical issue?

My 5 year old was similar on left rein and it was a tooth problem, the change was immediate once it was sorted.

 

[lauracwd2]

My horse has just had 3 weeks at my instructors yard while I was on holiday and travelling for work. I sent him there partly because I didn't want him to have 3 weeks of doing nothing while I was gone (he's 6) and partly because I felt my riding was stopping us from progressing even with regular lessons. It's made a big difference, those 3 weeks of working correctly and consistently has meant he now understand what I'm asking of him in terms of contact and impulsion. Obviously I still need to keep putting the work in and having lessons but it's given us both a good nudge forward and I feel motivated to keep on the good trend with him. I'd be worried that 2 weeks isn't long enough for a trainer to get to know a horse and start making changes, also depends how well your horse will settle in a new place?