Making schooling fun for the horse

[captainkodak]

I've put this in Training of the Horse, but could just have easily put it in Training of the Rider as when I school, half the time I'm working on me rather than him.

My problem is that he absolutely hates it. The minute he realises that we're going into the school he completely switches off, the ears goes back and he just turns into a complete Kevin!

I've just got back from the yard and this is how it went. Tacked him up - happy horse, led him to mounting block - still happy horse, rode him out of the yard and round to the track - very happy horse, got to the point where the track forks (right to go out hacking, left to the outdoor school) - when he realised that we're going to the school the ears went back and he just sulked like mad.

When we do hack (which is most of the time) I make sure that he's carrying himself, I won't let him just slop along, and we do yielding across the track, practise halting, few strides of trot then walk then trot - all the things I would like to do in the school - and he is perfectly happy about it.

I know I could just hack all the time and school him as I go, but sometimes, like today when the heavens have been opening without warning, I'd like to go in the school. I also need to go in the school to get circles the right size and all that accuracy stuff.

So - after all that rambling semi-rant :o - how can I make schooling fun for him? Do any of you have any games or tricks up your sleeve that might help?

[Crazyhorse]

It sounds like you are doing the right thing by doing plenty of hacking to give him variety and using hacking out to school is great. Do you do any pole work in the school, cones, or a few little jumps, which may keep his interest up a bit?

[captainkodak]

Don't do jumping - far too scary :eek: and he is recovering from a ligament injury so we can't do anything too strenuous (well that's my excuse anyway!)

Will give pole work a try though and see if we can dig up some cones - there are millions of tyres lying about, maybe I could use those instead.

thanks

[Crazyhorse]

The tyres sound like a good idea. I think just making sure you try and do something a little different each time may switch your horse on. Do you have anyone else you could ride with in the school? If so, maybe you could try a bit of pairs riding/dressage which make things a little more exciting. Good luck :D

[Cheeky]

Lol ... deffanty sounds lyk ** horse is realli bored with plodding about.

Try circles - yeah, they are ya usual stuff ... but mix them. Do a large circle, then figure of 8, then cross the diagonal, practise leg yeils in trot as well as walk. A really 'switcher' is going from halt to canter ... takes time, but tis so fun for horse and rider.

Add a pole ... it will help with healing the injury lol. And trust us, its not that scary. You can learn together ... jst add a few poles, walk over them, around them, inbetween them ...

Ooh tarp! Tarp is fun!! :) Walk over it (use poles to weigh down), walk around it, pin it up and walk next to it ... and hey! Walk under it! :) It is really fun, honest! Try wrapping the pole with the tarp and making him walk over it, or jump it ...

Hehe there are sooo many fun things u can do ... :) enjoy

[Miriam]

I'll have to pinch some of these ideas for Rhi who much prefers to play around and nap. Thought she might have been better in the school yesterday now her back is done. But no she hates the school too

[cvb]

Don't do jumping - far too scary :eek: and he is recovering from a ligament injury so we can't do anything too strenuous (well that's my excuse anyway!)

Will give pole work a try though and see if we can dig up some cones - there are millions of tyres lying about, maybe I could use those instead.

thanks

just scattering objects about our arena seems to help our Fell. and with a bit of planning in placing them, you can use them for exercises as well. e.g. use them to mark out circles (one small inside, one bigger outside - work on both, change rein through the middle etc), or a serpentine, etc etc.

[shirley]

Why not just school out on hacks for the time being? Must admit my cob loved it when we leg yeilded from clover patch to clover patch!!! (yum yum!!) and he did it so much more willingly on our perimeter ride than he has ever done in the school, all I had to do was touch his side and not kick as normal!!! You can mark circles out whilst hacking as well, shoulder in etc along a line of trees of bushes!! The list is endless. Give him a break for several weeks and then see how he feels about going in the school then. Even if you do not want him to circumguess which fork you will take, take him into the school, walk around and then go out again - that will keep him guessing!!!
Good luck.

[Mary Poppins]

I know exactly how you feel. My shire is the same. She really strides out hacking but the moment we set foot in the school she just turns off and doesn't want to do anything. I have put this down to her being used for beginners in the riding school for many years, and she associates it with being bored silly and going round and round the track. I mainly use her for hacking out which she loves, but do the odd schooling session where I aim to keep it very short and focused - no more than 20 minutes and full of circles and shapes, transitions - anything to try and get her thinking and out of the mentality of just walking round the outside track without thinking. She is so much happier hacking though and I do feel guilty sometimes making her work in the school when I know she is not enjoying herself.

[amandal]

Mine's the same so sometimes we go straight out hacking, sometimes we school and then hack, sometimes we hack then school and sometimes we just school, keeps her guessing, she doesn't know whether we'll stay in the school or not. Lots of transitions in the school, lots of different shapes help too. Transitional work helps me think that i'll have some control out hacking too !

[hackedoff]

My boy will happily go in school if there are POLES in it, cos trotting over poles makes him go all puffed up and proud for some deranged reason. Ditto cavaletti and bending cones. Try this one - make a big open- sided ' box' with 2 poles on the track somewhere and every time you enter it ask for something different (transition, turn, halt, rein back, anything) IMHO you are spot on, your horse needs to realise that schooling can be as fun as hacking!!! Let us know what fun stuff you come up with!