What are you doing with your just turned 5 year olds?

Jango

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 July 2010
Messages
591
Visit site
8Just curious really to compare! I have a 15hh 5 year old ISH mare (well 5 in April!) I currently work her 5x a week, usually 2x hacks, 2x schooling and one something else, e.g. Jump lesson, boxed up hack, lunge, dressage.

I'm sure she would be further ahead with a better rider, but I'm pleased with her! She hacks alone and in company for up to 1.5hrs, she's done 2 prelims and was 2nd in the 2nd one on 70%. Her walk and trot is really balanced now, she has a big canter for a little horse so her canter is still unbalanced but improving all the time. We've jumped a 70cm and an 80cm SJ and she's been xc schooling and a couple of farm/fun rides. She's never stopped at a fence and tries so hard!

Im planning to do some unaff eventing in the spring and work up to a BE80 mid summer and hopefully some affiliated prelims at a similar time :) some pics below of little Goose! VID-20191117-WA0009_000106.jpgVID-20191221-WA0002_000000.jpgVID-20200112-WA0002_000303.jpg
 

gallopingby

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 January 2009
Messages
1,628
Visit site
Nothing until it stops raining! Maybe try to get going in April! ? Not much point starting anything you can’t continue at this time of the year unless you’ve an indoor school or don’t mind getting soaked several times a day. ?☔️??
 

ycbm

Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Joined
30 January 2015
Messages
56,539
Visit site
Nothing until it stops raining! Maybe try to get going in April! ? Not much point starting anything you can’t continue at this time of the year unless you’ve an indoor school or don’t mind getting soaked several times a day. ?☔️??


Ditto. Struggling to get any motivation to ride in wind and rain!

In my defence, he's a very big mover, a late developer in terms of strength, and to learn anything but bad things, he needs riding with a level of precision I can't achieve in bad weather on top of a hill.
 

maya2008

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 August 2018
Messages
2,929
Visit site
One is getting stronger and more balanced, giving some nicer bouncier paces and aiming at a season of prelim dressage. He did a couple of competitions last year and went out to arena hire a lot. I can really trust him now, he has started to actively try to help me and take the initiative to do so.

The other was backed a year later, and is small so only just strong enough for me to school and ride now. We are three weeks into schooling work, with canter a work in progress and the rest coming along nicely. She will also do Prelim from late Spring. She has just got the hang of leading another pony, and schooling without being able to see another horse. We have yet to hack solo, but she is a child’s pony and until three weeks ago had only ever been ridden by one, so work in progress!!!
 

gallopingby

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 January 2009
Messages
1,628
Visit site
Ditto. Struggling to get any motivation to ride in wind and rain!

In my defence, he's a very big mover, a late developer in terms of strength, and to learn anything but bad things, he needs riding with a level of precision I can't achieve in bad weather on top of a hill.
Guess it maybe depends where you live! Wind and rain has been constant for the last 3 months and even summer fields are very very soggy.
 

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 February 2009
Messages
11,027
Location
Slopping along on a loose rein somewhere in Devon
Visit site
Hoping OK to contribute to this; my girly is rising-6!! (profile pic! - on her first pleasure ride).

Well, I've brought her on as a happy hacker, as that's what she is and that's what I want from her.

She hacks politely both solo and in company and meets ALL traffic. We live in busy farm lanes and also a working quarry is just up the road; she was going nicely through all the racket up there when I bought her as a just-backed 4-yo. We also live near a major dual carraigeway and she hacks both over the roadbridges and right beside the road, no problems.

She's been to two pleasure rides and has been fine with all the hustle and bustle. The second one was over local common land and there were a lot of people out, more than there usually were, simply because everything else for miles around had been cancelled. She had to cope with a load of kids coming up from behind and in spite of our green tail-ribbon, almost sitting on her bum! She was a little tricky to load both ways (someone else's trailer), and this was an obvious project to work on.

We also need to keep picking up her feet and tapping them, as she can still be a little bit of a monkey for the farrier when she feels like it, but this is getting much less now.

Paces-wise; she's still a bit lobby in canter, still a bit of work to do there; my riding-companion has picked me up on the fact recently that sometimes she decides when she stops trotting rather than me telling her! She feels (and I agree) that we need to work on transitions, getting them accurate as well as smooth; also working on control of paces and not letting her tank. She does know how to work in an outline and does so very nicely if asked properly, but as she's a heavy'ish cob its easy for her to go onto the forehand, and then to fall into "tank" mode! Especially in trot. We don't have an arena and this little one has never in her life been inside a school (ohhh the shame of it!!) We need to work on forwardness and straightness, plus maintaining consistency - this is why it is invaluable to have a friend for a riding-companion (she rides my other horse - a project mare!!) who can be honest enough to see things and then feed them back to you. It really has been a huge boon and I've been very grateful for her observations. We do all of our schooling out on a hack.

For the future? We're loading nicely now, at home, and have our own trailer now! We are going to a TREC training day at the end of February. This will be in an indoor arena, so it will all be a bit of a challenge for her - we will be taking her field-companion (project mare referred to earlier) so that should help to give her confidence. Plus there are pleasure rides coming up in the Spring.
 

Dyllymoo

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 November 2013
Messages
1,512
Visit site
I feel like I'm taking things VERY slowly! J is a 5 (last August) year old irish cob that I got on 30th September.

J is literally working for 25 mins twice a week in the school (schooling - more like walk and trot, trying to get forward and on the track), we hack one or twice a week (trying to up it as the weather is getting better but between 50 mins and an hour each time). We have a flatwork lesson once every couple of weeks which is around 45 mins but he does flag a bit so i'm really trying to up his fitness (hacking!)

Daylight and weather is a massive factor for me, and time really.

I would love to eventually be able to go out and do a little dressage test, pop some SJ's and maybe go XC (hunter trials or similar) but I cant see anything like that for a year or two as he is so green and I am well... me!

Will possibly take him out to some polework clinics and flatwork lessons over the summer, but just to get him out and about.
 

Cortez

Tough but Fair
Joined
17 January 2009
Messages
15,148
Location
Ireland
Visit site
Not my own horse, but I plan to compete at Novice with a rising 5 year old. I broke him at 3 off and showed at a couple of Prelims last year.
 

Sasana Skye

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 May 2019
Messages
409
Location
London/Somerset
Visit site
My horse is actually turning 6 in 6 months but due to an injury which took her out of work for a year as a 4yo, she is a year behind so I am treating her as a rising 5yo - does that count?!

She is now an absolute pleasure to hack, very forward going, on her own, in front, behind, in a group, whatever the case it's no problem to her. She will walk past anything and do gates mounted. Hacks about 3-4 times a week including some cantering fitness work
Schooling maybe once a week for 30 mins.
We are doing a few little courses every now and again, only little cross poles about 60-70cm high and lots of polework which she seems to really enjoy.
She was xc schooled both ridden and in hand to meet ditches, steps, water etc. in the summer of 2019, we will do lots more of that this year.
She has been to a competition venue and schooled around the dressage boards - a couple of weeks ago.
I try and get her out somewhere in the box at least once a month minimum just for a hack, a lesson or arena hire.
We've also done group clinics to mimic the dreaded warm-up arena.

We haven't competed yet. The plan this year with her is a few unaff competitions. Hoping for prelim dressage by the end of the year and maybe an 80cm SJ course/baby hunter trial and dare I say BE80T?!
 

Jango

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 July 2010
Messages
591
Visit site
Thanks everyone! It's lovely to hear about what everyone is up to :) we're in Manchester with no indoor so if we didn't ride in the rain she'd never get ridden the whole year! I'm struggling a bit with her fitness for faster work as all my hacking is roads as its so wet. The arena is pretty big about 40m by 50m so we can do interval training in the arena but it's not quite the same. I can't wait for some sun and a proper gallop on a field!
 

Fiona

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 July 2001
Messages
10,150
Location
N. Ireland
Visit site
I bought my connie as a riding 5yo, and he could canter 1/2 a circle, pop a small fence and hack out in company or alone.

He was very late to mature.

FIona
 

NooNoo59

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 December 2011
Messages
1,145
Location
kent
Visit site
Lesson once a week, pro rider schools once a fortnight, hack 2 to 3 times a week for half hour, school or lunge on another day if i can be bothered! The schooling is very slow, hacking is good, but just road work just walk and trot. When the weather is better I am going to do more off road. Good to read this post as I thought we were going to slowly but its a marathon not a sprint, at the moment I would just like to trot a circle. Oh and we are also desensitising for clipping.
 

maya2008

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 August 2018
Messages
2,929
Visit site
To add to my post - younger/later backed one of mine now does hack solo! Still need to build a lot of strength though! Planning to do a lot of long hacks this year with both, to burn off the ‘I’m 5 and getting stronger and full of the joys of spring’ energy!
 

HayleyUK

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 July 2005
Messages
1,528
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
Mine came over from Ireland 5 weeks ago, so just getting to know each other at the mo.

Currently hacks 1x a week, and goes in the arena 3x - I try to vary the school sessions with poles etc.
 
Top