Having some school your horse for you...

chickflick1066

chickflick1066

Active Member
May 7, 2004
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Does anyone get their horse/pony schooled by another individual, if so, why and what improvements have you seen?

Are you a schooler for someone's horse? What do you do for the horse?

I'm just curious..I've enlisted in the help of a good friend of mine (couple of years younger) who is about 10x a better a rider then me just simply because she is sympathetic and is pushing all the right buttons to get Stumpy to lighten her forehand, use her bottom and soften/accept the bit.

Some might see it as cheating, but if my schooler can guide me on how to ride her, then surely it will be better for all involved, specially Stumpy. Right now, she's learning how to be consistent in the contact without a more inexperienced rider 'i.e me' effing it up for her, and ultimately confusing her?

Appreciate responses :)
 
Our Yard Owner schools Cilla for me, but shes now to much for me so she compets her as well. She schools Nokie occasionally as well if hes being difficult about something, and several other liveries horses as well.

I finfd it benifical as she straightens out my bad habits.

Libbyo :)
 
I have a really nice person whose been riding for a helluva lot longer than me, has always had a horse and gets regular lesson with the best instructors schooling curly.

She came to watch my friend ride and asked if she could 'hop on' and within minutes had curly looking amazing...so i invited her back :D I arm curly up, she rides her properly and then i get on and she shows me what she did.

Its great as its good for curly, i get shown how, its good to have someone on the ground and the girl does it first so i KNOW curly can do it - and i push more rather than giving up.
 
Only if its really necessary - i.e. lack of confidence.

Im one of those people who likes to do things themselves - it is so much more rewarding, but in some cases you just have to cheat - if you're really gonna get anywhere, but to be honest, i dont think 'cheating' is the right word - more like 'extra help'.

If you're not that experienced its always useful to have someone to give you guidance, whether its to sit on your horse for 10 mins or school them twice a week. Just make sure you trust that individual with your horse.
 
I school Pink for her owner (well that was the orginal arrangement - I now school her for myself;))

It works brilliantly - you just have to be willing to let others ride your horse, which some people arent:rolleyes:

I school to a specification - what the owner wants out of a horse. For Pink, orginonally, it was for her to canter quietly without charging off and bucking and calming go into the pace told and stay there. Oh, and to stop snatching the reins.:rolleyes: Now it's much more and her lateral work is excellent and she's working well in a good and classically correct outline.

It can be great, other ironing out problems you can't do yourself, or just can't be bothered with (I would LOVE someone to come and teach his lordship to canter and jump;)) but you need to agree with the way they school. If you are into classical dresssage you don't want someone sawing their head into a false outline. Or turning them into a sharp jumping machine when you want a slow plod.

My philosiphy of schooling is that the outline comes last - first is correct bend and balance and then carrying and pushing from behind. And I like them to be very sharp and snesitve to aids. Pink is perfect for me - goes sideways at a brush and automatically drops into a perfect outline when you get correct bend and working from behind. I'd glad her owner NEVER schools her- she'd find her too sensitive;)

Make sure their riding philosophy matchs your and it could work really well.
 
Friends, no, trainers or clinicians, yes :)

I find that I can take horses to a certain level without help (usually around 1st level dressage equivalent), and then I get stuck sometimes and its easier on me and the horse to have a trainer pop on and correct or teach the horse then me struggling through it (although now my own levels are improving)

I think its always good to have SOMEONE get on your horse occasionally. You can learn so much by watching others ride and seeing how your own horse travels under saddle and seeing what you need to work on.

I do school other people's horses, and as Pink say's it depends what the actual goals are for the horse. For example, right now, I'm with an OTTB. She does NOT bend to the right (since they are always worked on the left, where the racetrack goes). So right now, it's lots of suppling exercises that'll improve her flexibility. It differs with each horse.
 
jenren!! said:
Only if its really necessary - i.e. lack of confidence.


If you're not that experienced its always useful to have someone to give you guidance, whether its to sit on your horse for 10 mins or school them twice a week. Just make sure you trust that individual with your horse.
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Yup. Im lacking in confidence, and YUP i definatly trust her. No questions there.

I would agree thou. The trust is vital.

Libbyo :)
 
I find that I can take horses to a certain level without help (usually around 1st level dressage equivalent), and then I get stuck sometimes and its easier on me and the horse to have a trainer pop on and correct or teach the horse then me struggling through it (although now my own levels are improving)
Click to expand...

Very good point. There is no point in getting someone else to school then if you ride better than they do (unless you can't be bothered doing it yourself (as is the case with Brodie and his cantering/jumping). Which for more expereinced riders narrows the field of people to choose from. Of course there are always though who either think they are fabulous riders or are just difficult about letting others on their horse.:rolleyes:
 
With my own horse i tend ot have issues. With tahoe being MY horse and knowing anything good he has is because of me and any bad habbits is because of me made me timid and nervous almost. I dont ride him like i ride other horses. I get on other peoples horses and school them but when it comes to MY horse i get stuck a lot because im so worried about screwing up. I have had people get on for me that know more in certain areas and tahoe has really improved because of it. A friend of mine who is Big into dressage worked on his flat and WOW, another showjumper friend of mine who does the BIG showjumping stuff schooled him over fences (3'3!) made him WOW.

those are things i was to scared to push for with him, yet i will school other peoples horses 3'3, even bigger sometimes haha.
 
I would say it's a good thing absolutely. As long as the trainer is getting results. I had hit a stumbling block with CW and he had also thrown me a few times. My RI (a fellow livery who schools all of us) basically took away the problems by riding him differenly and also giving me insight as to how to deal with him. During the summer when he is lazy there is no problem, but for about 3 years, I asked her to school him in the winter to remind him of manners so the problems didn't escalate because of latent energy.

I must say that he is now a complete gent. When his problems arise, the old Kate doesn't arise and I can laugh at his exhuberance (happened tonight on the lunge... made me smile despite him whipping off around the school). I and he are different people because of it.

I highly recommend it if you get the right person. Make sure she tells you what she is doing and how she is getting results. It's the best way of learning. I also watch the lessons.
 
CF - I know you remember Rose schooling Cherry for me earlier this year and I found it useful as Rose is a FAAAAR better rider than me and could give clear aids and direction to what she wanted from Cherry and therefore it was useful for me to know Chez's capabilities. This way, having watched Rose and seen, I could then try to replicate to get the same response from my girlie once I knew she COULD do it. Otherwise it would have been the blind-leading the blind :eek: Sometimes it was frustrating knowing that a "stranger" could get better work out of my girl but then I know that is down to my lack of skills. I used to think that it was Cherry "fighting" me as she knows my riding style and didn't like the enforced new work regime but lately I have been reading a lot of NH books and I really do have to admit it was me giving her confusing signals... :(

I LOVE watching people ride Cherry - it's almost as enjoyable as riding her myself as I never realised how "showy" she is now that her feathers are all grown back - she knows when to turn on the charm that one! :D

I did have some ridden guidance from Rose and a couple of lessons but then the money ran out and then Cherry was lame and now I've moved yards so I guess it's back to happy hacking again.... ho hum :rolleyes:
 
I have someone school my horse because, although I could probably make a reasonable job of it myself, she's only 4 and I want her to have the best possible start. However I won't allow anyone else to handle her and am always present at schooling time.
 
I am very selective about who rides my horse as she is really quite complicated (but rewarding!)

I used to have a fab trainer who rebroke her for me and basically started her schooling from scratch - we then had weekly lessons and she would go up there for a week or two while I was away on courses to be 'topped up'. The improvement was amazing and I could never had achieved what we have now without her help.

Trouble is trainers like her are few and far between. There are a lot of people who offer schooling and competition livery but very few who really work the horse intensively and make a real difference. I have had part time jobs in yards offering such services and seen horses that have been sent away for schooling, only to be ridden for up to 20 mins and maybe only 3 times a week (horse walker used on other days instead!).

That said, if you find a yard you think is suitable and you get on well with the owner, there are a couple of things I woul suggest:

1) Don't be afraid to visit daily to begin with
2) A good trainer will have no problem with you watching (a great way to pick up tips)
3) Be sure to keep up regular lessons after
4) Make sure you know who it is who will be doing all or most of the riding (many trainers get booked up months in advance and when busy competing themselves may use grooms for exercising liveries)
5) Check out how many horses the trainer has in on schooling livery at once and how many competition horses they have of their own as this will determine how much time they can spend with your horse!!!!
 
My ri schools drummer every other week for me and teaches me the weeks inbetween. this works really well
1 drummer benefits
2 my ri can feel how drummer rides and use it when teaching me (he does not ride how he looks
3 me and drummer can most of the time do great turns on the forehand courtesy of RI :D
 
I used to have mine schooled for me, for several reasons. I didn't have time to ride often enough, the schooler was a much better rider than me, and she then gave me lessons, so both the horse and I benefitted.

I see this as using available help, rather than cheating :)

Ross
 
I school Benslieblue's young Clydesdale Ben for her. Another livery at the farm gives me lessons on him once or twice a week & we work on the same things as his owner does. His owner is interested in starting le trec and doing ridden Clydesdale classes when Ben is a bit more mature & I help by keeping his schooling going along when she is at work or can't make it up to the farm. :)
 
I school my friends welsh D mare...and I show her as well...basically, cos her owner is busy with her little boy, and working...I do it, as I have nothing else to do!
 
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