I’m in a very similar situation - board at a small, private farm with fortunately a small, lighted ring, but no on-site trainer. I have to haul out for training or lessons, but it’s worked out pretty well. He can be a little bit of a difficult loader and we recently had a setback. But the key is to make chances to haul out for fun, easy rides and not just work work work (I neglected that part, hence the setback). Sometimes I wish I was in a big show barn that made it “easy” to do all the work, but at the end of the day it’s absolutely worth it to me to putter around my nice quiet barn and relax with my horses. So worth it, in fact, that we’re buying five acres from the farm and building next door so the horses will move home!
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@fivestrideline on the trailering front - can you borrow a stock trailer? mine is a heavy steel lump with a center gate so it’s two box stalls, may be a way to test out the traveling backwards theory safely
We have one on the farm - but too short. He’s not tall but goes giraffe mode. If I knew someone with an XL stock I’d try it.
That said, this horse actually fits his entire body in the space between my chest and butt bars in my straight load - I can easily take out the divider and hang plywood from the chest bar to create a “box”. No real weight distribution difference than having the divider swung over. I just haven’t done it yet.
The work
The result
Just hauled out a couple days ago to an indoor with the red beast, and drug a 3yo along with me. She did great. Getting her broke to hauling out so we can continue to make progress over the winter.
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I’m doing it now. I have my own place and we moved to a great new farm about 2 years ago, but this one doesn’t have an all-weather lovely sand-footing ring. Instead, I’m riding in a lumpy uneven bit of fenced off grass at one end of the biggest pasture. At some point I’ll get it lights, and then maybe in the future do actual footing. I need to win Powerball…
Frankly, the unevenness used to bother me a lot more. I started as a true Hunter Princess. I trail rode, but I had limited experience or comfort level with dealing with terrain or choppy grass footing. Then I started foxhunting and hanging out more with the eventing crowd, and my whole perspective has changed. The eventers often are schooling on the side of a hill, and yet they can go show and put in a respectable dressage test and stadium course. Foxhunting has taught me that the horses need to take more responsibility for where their feet are and for keeping their own balance, and that I can be secure and safe even jumping off bigger strides, going downhill, or when on uneven footing.
I think those skills have actually helped both my riding and my horses’ performances. Now jumping around at a horse show, it’s easier to keep the same rhythm because the ring is level and the footing consistent. The horses have learned to be scrappy and take care of themselves somewhat, so if I miss a distance, instead of holding a grudge, they carry on. I will say, however, that schooling a lot in a choppy grass ring is NOT going to encourage good hunter movement. The daisy cutters are more likely to trip in the uneven footing, in my experience, as are the lazy, not-paying-attention-types.
I’m still a hunter princess at heart. But my riding has branched out, and bottom line: I think the new skills and less-perfect schooling environment have advantages to help counter their disadvantages.
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Very nice!!!
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