bored when schooling..

[welsh_mountain]

when i school my pony,( which i do 2 times a week) i do it for 1/2 hour to 1 hour but shes just getting bored!!!

have you got any good tips for keeping her from not getting bored when schooling!!!???

[maverick927]

Don't school for two long. I find that four 20 minute schooling sessions a week are better than 2 1 hour sessions a week. I always follw my schooling sessions with a hack to bring the exercise time up to one hour.

[cvb]

do you do the same stuff every time ? do you know before you start what your aim is for that session ?

for example, I might plan to do a session working on half halts, or on canter transitions, or.... But I always have a plan before I get on.

sometimes I have to adjust it based on my mare's reaction when we do our warm up. If she is tense then I am more careful about canter work, as she gets soooo worried about it.

You can do ground work that will help with jumping. Like put two poles on the ground that would be about 6 of your horses canter strides apart. Ride them and aim to get exactly 6. Then try and shorten the stride and get 7, or lengthen it and get 5.

[welsh_mountain]

i go hacking after school but Blue is scared on the road by herself!

[cvb]

make a box (or diamond) shape by turning a turn on the forehand at every corner of the 'box'.

Its more of a diamond if you start at A with a little turn, then head across the school but before you reach the wall, prepare, stop, and do the next 90 degree turn. Same at the centre line, again at the wall, and you should be back at A.

Then change direction.

If you can do turn on haunches, you can do the same pattern with the forehand moving around at the corners.

Make a box out of poles. Walk the horse into the box, then make a full turn using turn on forehand and haunches, without going outside the poles (thats a western one, but who's counting ! :D )

[welsh_mountain]

No i don't do the smae stuff every lessson
Yes most of the time i know what our aim is

We have tried to lshorten her strids adn lenghen them but she gets bored after a bit dn gets clumsy!

[galadriel]

Hmm, could it be she is getting tired? Most of the time when the horses I ride start to get a little "clumsy" it is because they are tired, not bored. (so we end the riding session after making sure it's on a good note :) )

[welsh_mountain]

yes,she could be getting tired! good idea!