Training - aim high or know your limits?

Not everyone wants to be a grand prix rider :) A majority of my clients are prelim to elementary level.

But they all have one thing in common; they want to be better. Better than last year/month/week/yesterday.

It makes my heart sing when the penny drops and it's nice to be the one to help with that, to develop that feel and connection. My key thing with any horse is ride-ability, without the basics you have nothing.
 
Every time I get on the horse I try to make her lighter, more powerful, more supple. We'll never achieve the upper level movements because she is not Valegro and needs a rider who can help her more, and I am not that rider, but we do what we can. Like a few others have said, I think the horse enjoys the schooling more when she can feel light and powerful, instead of lugging around on her forehand with an extra 9 or 10 stone on her back.

I also want the horse light on the ground -- I want her to step over or back up from a whisper, ground tie, stand quietly to be hosed, lead from a soft feel. It ain't exactly Grand Prix, but very few people where I keep the horse have any ambition for their critters to stand quietly while being tacked up, much less be light and responsive to ride.

It doesn't seem as if most horse owners I encounter (in real life, not on this forum) share this view: people who have no interest in learning horsemanship and who accept that bolshy, anxious horses will be bolshy, anxious horses, writing it off as "cheeky."
 
well i want to ride like pedro torres on oxidado, you tube, if i don`t get there it want be for want of trying, l am mostly inspired by watching him. he is perhaps the best dressage trainer in the world today, and when he rides oxidado at top level working equitation, he is world champion, that horse never seems to go behind the bit and for me is the ultimate thrilling horse and rider to watch, he has the seat to aim for and a horse that dreams are made of.

no, aim high, its only fun, play with things gently, see where it leads, because most limitations are those we impose on ourselves and not really how far we could really go.
 
Interesting thread!

I see a lot of riders who are willfully ignorant about schooling in some kind of weird reverse snobbery. It frustrates me immensely. They will look at me like I've got two heads when I go to do some schooling and talk about horses going in an outline as though it is some kind of dark magic. I understand that they just want to hack, and that is fine, but they don't seem to understand that they would be much safer and have a much more pleasant hacking experience if they had the occasional lesson to improve themselves and their horses. They then look on in wonder and say things like "your so lucky" when my horse behaves and does as it is told out hacking 🤔

There is also a serious lack of understanding of fittening, conditioning and strengthening your horse for the work you are asking of it. You may only want to hack but your horse needs to develop the muscles to carry you without damaging itself.

As for aiming for the stars. I like to improve, I enjoy my lessons, I enjoy competing, I really enjoy improving my mare but I am more realistic than aiming for the stars. I know that at the moment time, money, work and so on mean our aims need to be a bit more conservative. However that doesn't mean that I can't work on improving ourselves and enjoying everything we do.
 
agree with Kat, there is a serious lack of understanding of fittening, conditioning, and strengthening your horse for the work you are asking it to do.

a lot of strengthening work can be done very gently, good moves done gently are probably better for the horse than a lot of overtraining, we have a long way to go to fully understand the effects on the horse and its long term usefulness and soundness.

my vet was amazed at how fit one of my horses was after cantering work on the the lunge during a period of coughing, (he rolled in the dust in the paddock) and at that time he was only schooled two times a week, so fittening is not solely dependent on loads of work, its what you do that counts and how you do it.
 
I am not a competive rider any more .
I was trained within a system and its natural to me to work within it I don't really have to think about it .
I am not someone who will say I must get this HP better because I want to do that test I always on the journey even now when I don't compete I still work the horses in basically same way .
I do it because I like it , I still get trainers who try to encourage me to compete they seem to think it's a waste I don't but although I do spend a lot on trainers I really don't feel the need to compete any more .
 
Kat said:
They then look on in wonder and say things like "your so lucky" when my horse behaves and does as it is told out hacking ��

There is also a serious lack of understanding of fittening, conditioning and strengthening your horse for the work you are asking of it.
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Two issues which I find really frustrating there. The lack of ambition regarding the horse's manners (possibly more infuriating when not coupled to a lack of competitive ambition). Partly the "my horse is nuts and too hot for you to handle" factor, partly ignorance, laziness and a whole host of other factors. It's not luck that my horses are more accepting of things than others (comparing like for like here) - it's been a lot of work and a lot of training, and a heck of a lot of not giving up when they're silly about something in the first place. And Caol Ila's point about a lack of regard for stable management has a lot of relevance here too.

As for the conditioning - so much ignorance. I've been there - I did things I really regret 10 years ago, and I know better now. But some people are very resistant to the idea that there are better ways, or that their horse really isn't as "fit" as they think...
 
JFTD said:
Two issues which I find really frustrating there. The lack of ambition regarding the horse's manners (possibly more infuriating when not coupled to a lack of competitive ambition). Partly the "my horse is nuts and too hot for you to handle" factor, partly ignorance, laziness and a whole host of other factors. It's not luck that my horses are more accepting of things than others (comparing like for like here) - it's been a lot of work and a lot of training, and a heck of a lot of not giving up when they're silly about something in the first place. And Caol Ila's point about a lack of regard for stable management has a lot of relevance here too.

As for the conditioning - so much ignorance. I've been there - I did things I really regret 10 years ago, and I know better now. But some people are very resistant to the idea that there are better ways, or that their horse really isn't as "fit" as they think...
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This frustrates me as well .
I get your horses don't spook you are so lucky they are all good in traffic -like it's just luck.
its hard work and consistency that does it .
And don't get me started on how some horses are cared for .
 
JFTD said:
Two issues which I find really frustrating there. The lack of ambition regarding the horse's manners (possibly more infuriating when not coupled to a lack of competitive ambition). Partly the "my horse is nuts and too hot for you to handle" factor, partly ignorance, laziness and a whole host of other factors. It's not luck that my horses are more accepting of things than others (comparing like for like here) - it's been a lot of work and a lot of training, and a heck of a lot of not giving up when they're silly about something in the first place. And Caol Ila's point about a lack of regard for stable management has a lot of relevance here too.

As for the conditioning - so much ignorance. I've been there - I did things I really regret 10 years ago, and I know better now. But some people are very resistant to the idea that there are better ways, or that their horse really isn't as "fit" as they think...
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Absolutely.

'your horses are so good to handle'

.....Yes..... That's because they're taught that anything other than good to handle isn't acceptable.

I had someone tell me I was lucky Fig was so straight forward once. I laughed myself into 2050. He's a nice boy but easy he is not! Likewise, Nova is a good boy but I've still been decked twice!
 
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