Taking Exracer to the beach....

marley and danni

marley and danni

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Hi All!!

in need of some advice or previous stories.....

me and my friend are wanting to take our horses to the beach this saturday!

thing is we both had our horses 8 months and neither have been to the beach with us... (mine has never been the beach)....

my firneds pony is very speedy and hard to stop!

my horse is very responsive in the school and out hackin (exracer) hes extreamly well be haved when iv asked for a gallop in the school or a fast canter out hacking.... thing is theres a dirt track on our yard with tall bushes and tees either side its proberly 400ms long enough to gallop on and i ask fo a canter down there and he just gallops flat out and there is absolutly no stopping him... other than this track hes very easy to get back from any gait.

so i am wondering what everyone thinks hell be like on the beach?!

hes currently in a D ring Roller snaffle/ martingale when hacking as hes a rearer! and i have a flash but never have to use it... hes 6 years old out of racing 1.5 years now.... and hes schoolings going well and he comes back from a canter and trott from the word woah (majority of the time) lol

please any stories or advice would be great...

up to know everyone has just said let him go flat out and just hold on ahha!!

xx
 
Make sure you have plenty of beach, get someone to walk him out, holding on to the rein, have your stirrup leathers up one or two holes, and learn how to bridge your reins.
Do not panic,, he will know what to do, just sit there and enjoy!
 
Theres nothing quite like a good gallop on the beach. However, you do need to be VERY careful if you don't know the beach. Sad tale - I know two people whose horses have hit a deep bit of sand at gallop, and fell and broken a leg. This is why I always try to trot the stretch that i will gallop on first, then you can at least see how the ground is.

Sounds like the track where your horse takes off looks to him at least like gallops, which may well be why he gallops on it!

I wouldn't be just letting him go if I could help it!
 
personally i would just go for a walk and a trot for the first time, maybe a steady canter if all goes well- especially if you don't know the beach very well- and certainly if the pony you're with is likely to set him off!!! last thing you want is for your horse to lose his brain if you dont know the terrain and have no brakes!!

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time though, and your beastie certainly will!!! :D:D:D
 
aw thats not a nice story i planned on walking and trotting both ways there and back to the trailer then maybe try a small canter see how he went and then slowly ask for a controlled gallop... i know how to bridge thankfully i dont have to do it to often and it does work!

thanks :D keep the advice comming lol xx
 
Cadfael&Coffee said:
personally i would just go for a walk and a trot for the first time, maybe a steady canter if all goes well- especially if you don't know the beach very well- and certainly if the pony you're with is likely to set him off!!! last thing you want is for your horse to lose his brain if you dont know the terrain and have no brakes!!

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time though, and your beastie certainly will!!! :D:D:D
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Sensible advice! I've had my ex-racer 18 months and he's been out and about hacking, placed in every prelim dressage he's done but he's still not ready to go for a gallop on the beach. Have you been before with other horses? My previous ex-racer grew to at least 20 hands on arriving! We just took it very steadily so it wasn't like a return to the racetrack.
Just be cautious and take it slow, you can always go back again!
 
im quite nervouse about it i have never been with other horses before either new for me and horsey!

i dont mind not cantering or galloping 1st time out just want to see how he goes but if we do gallop was just wondering what i could do for extra brakes or to help him settle and so on :) xx
 
Just another thing - is your horse up to a really good gallop? Someone I know insisted her horse was fit enough (it wasn't) and went to Ainsdale - came back with a bowed tendon.

Might be a good idea to make your will first too :)
 
In that case would say get some more practice around home and out hacking cantering and stopping when you want to. If you are going to go, make it just a 'normal' hack with walking and once he's settled have a trot and see how you go. You need to be safe and you don't want to blow his brains just for the sake of one outing. Good luck!
 
marley and danni said:
im quite nervouse about it i have never been with other horses before either new for me and horsey!

i dont mind not cantering or galloping 1st time out just want to see how he goes but if we do gallop was just wondering what i could do for extra brakes or to help him settle and so on :) xx
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I agree with the taking it easy advice! My boy's pretty well behaved, will get very excited and nappy but I just have to keep him moving forward. Generally he will maintain a nice steady canter, may speed up a bit but with some half halts I can bring him back, in his pelham. However, if I asked for a gallop, we'd probably cover numerous miles very quickly, with no brakes at all!! He just doesn't listen and takes a lot to slow him back down! I personally would never gallop my boy flat out on a beach I didn't know, that's not saying I wouldn't gallop him in a beach though ;) Have fun and be careful :)
 
i took my ex racer to the beach about 3 months after i got her, at the start i rode my horse and led the ex racer, it was the first time either had been on the beach but i knew my horse well enough to know he would be sensible which would keep the mare calm. it worked!
my step daughter got on my horse and i got on the mare, we walked down the beach and did a little trot coming back and then i asked for canter, but i kept circling around my gelding who was happy enough to mooch along. the mare stayed sane and really enjoyed it.
after we swapped horses and i led my step daughter as she was nervous and neither horse put a foot wrong.

basically try and relax, don't get on and go for a gallop, just plan to walk and if they are calm then do a little trot and maybe a canter, might even be worth walking along the beach together then afterwards when back at the lorry/trailer one of you leads a horse in one direction and the other one rides in opposite direction and go for a little canter then.

just watch out for people if it's a nice day, dogs, kites and all the other things you might find on a beach and as above keep your eyes peeled for a change in the sand/mud (we have mud flaps here, not good!).
 
Just take it steady, only trot and have a sensible canter to see if your horse is sensible. If it is sensible for a while in canter then let the handbrake off a bit.

I was riding out alone on the ridgeway and was lost and saw a chap in a field with a horse. He said I was going to wrong way and to turn around, he said go round the edge of thier field and go up their track. I thought track meant track so toddled off. A few mins later my 4 month from last race, exracehorse grew about 3 hands and started bouncing! Turns out "track" meant proper gallop, with white rails and surface and everything!!

She trotted nicely (allbeit gobbily!) so let her have a canter, she cantered sweetly enough so I thought go on then and she did!! When shes doing fast work now after shes galloped I ALWAYS make sure she has a nice canter that isnt filled with rudeness after, pref where she galloped, but thats not always possible.

But have fun. I have had lots of racehorses to reschool and there isnt much like galloping on them. I think having a good run is good for their brains too!!
 
Sounds fun!
I have had my X-racer for a year now and only just galloped about a month ago. If you are wanting to compete on him then dont gallop to often, you dont want him thinking hes a race horse again!!:)
I went on a hack with three friends riding two perfect ponys and a showjumper. To all of our suprise my horse was in the most control, the other three horses (escpecialy the ponies;)) were totally out of control, were as i had loads of it!!
If you think about it the raing trainers had to train them to wait untill told to sprint, if they sprinted straight away they would run out of stanima and loose. But when you do go into full gallop it was the most thrilling thing i have ever done, galloped an x-racer!! Im sure you will be fine, have fun!
 
hi all thanks for the tips!!

turns out we are not going the beach now as its going to be nice we think there will be alot of people about and we dont want any accdents!!

so we are going for a nice long hack a few canters and a gallop or 2 :D cant wait!

hes ussually very sensible its just down this mud track haha he loves he he flew off when i took him inhand down there the other day i had to let go haha!! hes a mad one!

xx
 
My ex racer used to do part of his training at the beach so the first time I took him down there I was bricking it to say the least ............ Anyhow we walked along for a bit then had a trot and then a little canter he wasn't bothered at all and was actually quite hard work to keep going, so they can surprise you !
 
Couple of things really - be aware that they might freak out when the see the sea the first time.

Also, try to relax - go with the flow a bit - don't try to make him walk, if he wants to jog then get him going in a good strong trot. Check all your leatherwork before you go and be careful of idiots flying kites, kids, dogs etc.

Oh, and have fun!!!
 
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