Training a New Horse

[LJC]

Hi,

I am a relatively novice rider and I just bought a 16.2 TB gelding. He has some dressage training and can do basic equitation and some hunter jumping, but how do I determine what he needs and go about training him? My instructor isn't very organized and I am not getting much input from her.

Thanks,
LJ

[westley_jacobs]

hi
how long have you been riding?
is the new horse broken in?

*** i need to know the answers to the first two before i can continue to help out!***

please reply soon"

[westley_jacobs]

sorry
i just re-read and i noticed you'd put what hes done, dur!!
well every horse needs basic excersise most days, apart from being in the field
schooloing is a good way to excerise him, but when you hav'nt got time or the weathers bad, etc
you should realy lunge him, for excersise purposes, if you have never done this then im sure someone else will know how, its relatively easy once you get the hang of it!!

and once you two have got to know each other, maybe after a while you can start going to working hunter classes, or dreassage comps.
well whatever you do, keep us posted and if you evr need help please feel free to PM me, i check messages at least 5 x a day
westley x x;)

[LJC]

I rode a bit when I was a child and I have just now gotten back into riding - consistently and seriously - for about six months. I have a good seat - improving quite quickly - and can do all the basic moves pretty well. I still cannot ride my horse without stirrups yet as he is very forward and springy at the trot. My TB is 14 years old and used to race - not sure how much or for how long but he is trained in basic dressage and hunter. I believe he has shown in the three foot jump division.

[galadriel]

What I would do with training a new horse is run him through everything a horse needs to know. That way, you can find & fix any holes in his training, and you'll know how he responds to the aids you're giving.

I'd start with lunging and voice commands; make sure he knows whoa, walk, trot, canter, back. I have a couple of articles on these if you'd like to look them over:
http://lorienstable.com/articles/handling/300-lunging/
http://lorienstable.com/articles/handling/200-voice_commands/

From there I would duplicate the above, from in the saddle: check to make sure that the horse knows and responds to the aids to whoa, walk, trot, canter, and back (including transitions DOWN as well as up). You should also work out the aids with which the horse half-halts; this can vary from horse to horse. For these I use more seat and leg than rein aids; I'd like the horse to respond to seat, leg, and voice.

Then I would investigate how the horse responds to lateral leg aids: does the horse flex well, can he keep a consistent curve (do your circles look like circles, or like eggs...or like a child's drawing), does he know how to spiral in/spiral out; if he can do all of the above, can he shoulder in/shoulder out, halfpass?

When you start looking at the above you may come to a trouble spot; often a horse is stronger on one side, and can work more consistently on that side. Trying to make sure that you use the correct amount of aids and that you build strength in the weaker side can help.

If the horse is pretty well schooled in lateral movements, you can then look at transitions within the gaits: lengthenings and collections in walk, trot, canter.

Things to work on for basic dressage:
Consistency, rhythm, forward movement, subtlety of aids--
You'll want to be able to ask the horse to do [whatever] and not have to use any large gestures or noticeable leg movements. If you ask the horse to change what he is doing (go from a working walk to a free walk, go from a trot to a canter, etc) he should maintain the same rhythm in his gait (same number of steps in the same amount of time).

Obviously, this is the list for the horse :) The list for the rider would be knowing how to properly ASK for all of the above. Which takes much more than a single post can encompass ;)

There's also jumping; I usually want horse and rider to be working well & consistently in flatwork before beginning to jump. I do have a couple of articles on training a horse to jump, and on riding jumps:
http://lorienstable.com/articles/jumping/

In addition to all of the horse's training for riding, he should also have good manners on the ground. He should respect his human, lead well, and stay out of her space. He should accept handling; grooming, picking feet, whatever you use in your day-to-day handling. He should trust his human enough to follow into or over scary things (loading into a trailer, for example). He should be easy to catch. The relationship on the ground should lead to confidence in the rider. Discussions of manners could also be much, much longer than just one post.