What to do with a 2yo

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Tink_87

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I've got a 2yo Sec A who's looking a bit porky and bored!
I'm intending to do some in hand showing with her this year so have been practising in hand work and taking her for walks out.

What do you do with your 2yo's? Any idea's would be gratefully received!
 
My 2 year old loved going for walks and once she was bitted I'd take her all the way around some of my short hacking routes. I also introduced her to trotting poles and weaved around cones etc... I also stood her by the mounting block and then I stood on it while I groomed her (this got her used to standing nicely by it while I was towering over her). I'd also stand next to her and bounce up and down as I was told that this is good preperation for mounting when she is old enough to be backed.
 
Tink_87 said:
I've got a 2yo Sec A who's looking a bit porky and bored!
I'm intending to do some in hand showing with her this year so have been practising in hand work and taking her for walks out.

What do you do with your 2yo's? Any idea's would be gratefully received!
Click to expand...

Walks with and without company are great for getting them used to traffic, people, dogs, plastic bags and of course horse eating monster that live on hedges!!!!
I've Been getting my 2 year old used to loading, just practising in and out. In the spring I'll be long reining, some people think it's a great start to their education but I think it's a great way if doing something different with your horse and if they learn something then great!!!
As above, get used to standing above them and depending on their size, a little gentle leaning over...keeping your feet on the ground or block of course.
Practice putting a roller on or a light saddle.
Good time to get them used to things flapping and noise if your thinking of showing, even you wearing your showing gear, as hats, canes etc can be scary!!!!
 
Loads of walks, bitted, saddle on, walked over everything i can find, past as many things as could possibly meet in its life.
Walking over poles between jump wings.
Getting people to wave things open umbrellas, just as much experience as i can
 
I did lots of walking in-hand with mine - also a Sec A, and grossly obese when I was given her as a yearling, so I had to exercise her as much as could taking into account her age in order to get her to a healthy weight! I led her out both on foot, and alongside my ridden mare.

I also did some in-hand work with her in the school, just when I could, nothing 'structured'. She's naturally very bold so didn't turn a hair at anything like that - in fact she's been very calm and trainable all round so it was easy to forget her young age a lot of time. She got used to a bridle as a yearling/2yo so that I could legally take her out on the roads, and she also got accustomed to wearing rugs and tack.

Showing is a great education for them - not just the show itself, but all the prep it entails, from bathing to travelling. So she had 'pamper days' on the yard, and loading/travelling practice too.

She did two in-hand shows as a 2yo (2 classes on each outing) and 1 as a 3yo (again 2 classes which I felt was enough in terms of time/effort from her. In the 3yo show, she also got put thru into the in-hand championship so effectively did three classes in one day - she was pretty tired by the end of that, and she was SO well-behaved that was partly behind my decision not to take her out to any more parties that year.) She will do a couple of little shows again this year as a 4yo - some in-hand but also one or two lead-rein ridden classes with a friend's daughter, now she has been backed.
 
I have a 2.5 yo welsh A too! Basil has been lunged (3 or 4 times on a very long line and only for 3/4 mins each way), I have tacked him up, my 4yo daughter and 7yo have layed across him and sat on him bareback and with saddle.

I am hoping that the small gang of girls up my yard will thoroughly start to pull him around when the weather gets better. I have had loads of interest in him - some of them want to show him in hand! I'm not that bothered about doing that - I want him for M&M LR classes in a year..


Good luck with yours!
 
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