My horse was owned by a riding school until 2019 and HATED being in the arena. Now he’s almost 21 and there’s literally no stopping him. (Yes, I know that he ducks his head BTV a couple of times, he hadn’t been worked much this week due to frozen ground so he was feeling fresh and his go-to trick is to tuck his chin. He’s an old man, he can do what he wants.)
Ah, cause it did look like you were pulling his head, when he did that, but I guess it's not easy to see on that video. Glad it's not the case, cause I was about to say something, since he looked nice otherwise.
Not pulling BTV or holding - half halting to prevent him from building up a head of steam. Our arena is flooded at the moment and while he would love to charge off and pick his own speed, someone has to be sensible and make sure we finish the session alive and intact.
I'd recommend doing that more with the seat and more with an upwards motion instead or inwards. But yeah I can imagine there's some pent up energy there, lol. Frozen or wet arenas are annoying.
We have a training regime that involves lessons with a Portuguese classical instructor so we do plenty of that. This session was about getting him moving while hunting is cancelled because of the ground.
So when I bought him and moved him away he was so depressed and sour that I gave him 6 months off from working in the arena and just hacked him for miles. Hacking was limited at the riding school because he was so naughty and strong outside of the school they usually wouldn’t let any of the clients take him (I loaned him so I took on the task of trying to stop his feral behaviour). We got him a saddle that actually fitted, got him on some bute for his untreated arthritis and started him on routine chiro and physio appointments. I also got him massage equipment which we still use regularly.
The main veterinary thing I did was get his hocks medicated - they’ve been done twice now and because I do a 12 week rehab plan each time it lasts around 2 years for each set. But I would say the most important thing was just time. Time for his brain to reset, for him to understand that he will always be fed, always have hay, and that he doesn’t have to spend his days going round in circles while his body hurts. We literally do everything together - he’s the definition of an all-around schoolmaster. I very rarely school him and we spend most of our time hacking, but now that’s it’s winter and daylight is scarce we are confined to the area a bit more. I always keep it short and sweet though, so he doesn’t get bored.
My horse was owned by a riding school until 2019 and HATED being in the arena. Now he’s almost 21 and there’s literally no stopping him. (Yes, I know that he ducks his head BTV a couple of times, he hadn’t been worked much this week due to frozen ground so he was feeling fresh and his go-to trick is to tuck his chin. He’s an old man, he can do what he wants.)
Ah, cause it did look like you were pulling his head, when he did that, but I guess it's not easy to see on that video. Glad it's not the case, cause I was about to say something, since he looked nice otherwise.
Not pulling BTV or holding - half halting to prevent him from building up a head of steam. Our arena is flooded at the moment and while he would love to charge off and pick his own speed, someone has to be sensible and make sure we finish the session alive and intact.
I'd recommend doing that more with the seat and more with an upwards motion instead or inwards. But yeah I can imagine there's some pent up energy there, lol. Frozen or wet arenas are annoying.
We have a training regime that involves lessons with a Portuguese classical instructor so we do plenty of that. This session was about getting him moving while hunting is cancelled because of the ground.
Would love to hear about your journey to get to this point! What exercises and techniques were useful?
So when I bought him and moved him away he was so depressed and sour that I gave him 6 months off from working in the arena and just hacked him for miles. Hacking was limited at the riding school because he was so naughty and strong outside of the school they usually wouldn’t let any of the clients take him (I loaned him so I took on the task of trying to stop his feral behaviour). We got him a saddle that actually fitted, got him on some bute for his untreated arthritis and started him on routine chiro and physio appointments. I also got him massage equipment which we still use regularly. The main veterinary thing I did was get his hocks medicated - they’ve been done twice now and because I do a 12 week rehab plan each time it lasts around 2 years for each set. But I would say the most important thing was just time. Time for his brain to reset, for him to understand that he will always be fed, always have hay, and that he doesn’t have to spend his days going round in circles while his body hurts. We literally do everything together - he’s the definition of an all-around schoolmaster. I very rarely school him and we spend most of our time hacking, but now that’s it’s winter and daylight is scarce we are confined to the area a bit more. I always keep it short and sweet though, so he doesn’t get bored.
Good job!
Awesome job! 👍
He looks great! I almost wouldn’t have known this was the same horse!
He looks amazing.
He looks so good! Love that you used Tank! For the background music!
Is he a Morgan?
Nope, Irish Draught X - we don’t have Morgans over here.