Trying fun/different things with your horse

[triple]

So, my horse and I have hit a little bit of a brick wall. He is a 6 year old warmblood cross, fabulous temperament, and a fantastic jump. Tries really hard at everything I ask him, but is natural quite anxious and of an upright, long backed build (think piebald hackney… :D) which makes it a little more difficult for him to engage and carry himself. He CAN, but if he’s off-form or I’m not really riding at my absolute best it can be very tough work.

Lately I have found that we are battling to achieve things that have in the past been easy; I feel that we will overcome this speedbump so I’m not looking for schooling tips. He has had back, tack and teeth checked and all is good on those fronts. He will also be going out to the field for a lovely time in the muck to ruin his rug (his favourite pastime) for a week or so in the coming month, and I plan on a few lessons as well over November/December.

So effectively the crux of this post is some ideas on how the two of us can have fun; I feel that I am getting overly wrapped up in him being perfect and he is getting stressed as a result. As he is young and has such a fun, curious personality, I would love to hear some suggestions of how people take a step back from just riding towards a goal and really just enjoy their horses. My yard has indoor/outdoor arenas and some access to hacking/trails via the roads. I intend to up the amount of hacking we do anyway as we both enjoy it.

He is primarily a showjumper, competing at affiliated height 1m and unaffiliated 1.10; we have done some dressage too and he excels cross country. I have my own transport so can take him out of the yard too.

Can you guys suggest any activities to break up the schooling monotony, whether ridden or on the ground, at home or away, that we can do to brighten up winter riding and bring a bit of joy back to it for both of us (particularly him)?

Suggestions so appreciated!

[SPF10]

Try obstacles, you can easily make a few things, like a “gate”, two posts, a couple buckets, a bag of quick concrete and a piece of rope. Walking over large piece of plywood (bridge), hanging something on your fence and just walking over to pick it up and lay it on the horse, like a rain coat or small tarp/vinyl table cloth. Make a “maze” with straw bales. go to ATCHA.us for more ideas. Some are pretty easy to make and are a lot of fun.

[triple]

Thanks SPF10! I like the maze one and the rain coat idea - especially since he is the spooky sort!

[RedmondDressage]

I recently brought my dressage horse home and I am now able to ride out whenever I want - we didn’t have trails where he was previously boarded… It has made such a huge difference for him, it’s really amazing. I ride 4 - 5 days a week and make sure to do at least one, if not 2 of those rides out on the trails. It has done wonders for his happiness in the ring and we’ve made more progress in the last 3 weeks than I can believe. He’s just happier all around. It’s amazing what a good gallop and a change of scenery can do Its certainly worth a try with your guy if it’s not something you’re already doing.

[Halt_Near_X]

Given your use of yard, I’m guessing you are in Europe or Australia/New Zealand, but still–see if you can find a working farm/ranch and go out and help with cattle work (to whatever extent possible). You’ll probably both enjoy it.

Or look for local fun shows that may not be in your disciplines–gymkhanas and such. There won’t be stress to be “perfect,” and the games will be something new and different to focus on.

It can also be really good to partner with another rider–not just ride at the same time, but play with some pas de deux patterns, or play follow the leader, or one person completes a pattern–with or without jumps–and the other tries to duplicate it. You’ll probably be working on different things than you would just on your own, so it can give you some new things to play with.

And I second the trail/obstacle stuff. You can get really inventive on the type of obstacles you want to create/how you decorate them to keep them new/interesting/fun.

[Beentheredonethat]

Added to above, teach him tricks–to smile, bow, say no, etc.

[SnicklefritzG]

I firmly believe in Carl Hester’s program. He schools his horses 4 days/week from what I’ve heard and has them on the trails at least twice, AND they get turned out!!

I’d get out on the trails as much as possible. Maybe do more of that than ring work for right now. You could always consider doing a bit of schooling on the trails, leg yield, shoulder-in, and stuff like that.

My horse knows quite a lot of tricks as well as fun things like how to differentiate between different treats based on verbal commands. I like doing that kind of thing because it keeps a smart horse’s mind engaged. I also taught my horse how to dribble a ball with his nose, so I’m working up to teaching him how to do soccer type exercises with someone on the ground.

[QUOTE=triple;7867540]
So, my horse and I have hit a little bit of a brick wall. He is a 6 year old warmblood cross, fabulous temperament, and a fantastic jump. Tries really hard at everything I ask him, but is natural quite anxious and of an upright, long backed build (think piebald hackney… :D) which makes it a little more difficult for him to engage and carry himself. He CAN, but if he’s off-form or I’m not really riding at my absolute best it can be very tough work.

Lately I have found that we are battling to achieve things that have in the past been easy; I feel that we will overcome this speedbump so I’m not looking for schooling tips. He has had back, tack and teeth checked and all is good on those fronts. He will also be going out to the field for a lovely time in the muck to ruin his rug (his favourite pastime) for a week or so in the coming month, and I plan on a few lessons as well over November/December.

So effectively the crux of this post is some ideas on how the two of us can have fun; I feel that I am getting overly wrapped up in him being perfect and he is getting stressed as a result. As he is young and has such a fun, curious personality, I would love to hear some suggestions of how people take a step back from just riding towards a goal and really just enjoy their horses. My yard has indoor/outdoor arenas and some access to hacking/trails via the roads. I intend to up the amount of hacking we do anyway as we both enjoy it.

He is primarily a showjumper, competing at affiliated height 1m and unaffiliated 1.10; we have done some dressage too and he excels cross country. I have my own transport so can take him out of the yard too.

Can you guys suggest any activities to break up the schooling monotony, whether ridden or on the ground, at home or away, that we can do to brighten up winter riding and bring a bit of joy back to it for both of us (particularly him)?

Suggestions so appreciated! :D[/QUOTE]

[Night_Flight]

My jumper loves it when we attempt some semblance of pole bending as a fun day. Also lots of hacking and riding in the largest areas possible rather than going around and around the same patterns in the same space.

[J-Lu]

I have a pretty hot 5-year old dressage horse who required an alternative approach because he could not handle pressure/stress very well. We ended up learning alot of Parelli-style groundwork (yes, i said it) and I fully believe it helped him (and me) to look at “working together” differently. He does not hack well and trail rides are not much of an option.

On the ground, he has learned to go over a horse see-saw, a bridge, play a “cone game”, pick up barrels and move them across the arena, roll them, walk on tarps, follow a tarp (I walk backwards and drag it) and he can stop it by stepping on it, etc. This has translated to undersaddle stuff where he does the seesaw, maybe puts only the front two feet on it. Maybe only the back two feet. Sometimes we stop in the middle and he likes to rock back and forth. We have dragged objects. Before our dressage work, I sometimes let him play with the barrels, pick them up, move them (he likes to turn them end over end over end) while I’m riding him. He has fun and I’m happy that he’s learning that things that make noise (a falling barrel) are not things to freak out at. He’s learning that he can CAUSE things to make noise, so not all noise is life-threatening. There’s a mailbox mounted on the arena rail and sometimes we open it (actually, he opens and closes the flap with his lips). There’s a plastic bottle filled with rocks in the mailbox and he has learned he can chew on it and toss it. Words can’t fully describe how absolutely freaked out about this he once was this. We walk over randomly scattered logs - it’s up to him to pick his way through. Sometimes we stand for about 5 minutes and do nothing but lazily pass time. There’s alot of other stuff we do. The result is that we get our dressage work in but I occasionally cut him slack and we have “barrel turning time” under saddle, or “cone tossing time”, etc. I massage him sometimes when I groom him. He was a basket case when I first got him and we didn’t get along too well (he didn’t get along well in most situations) but we now have an excellent relationship because we are doing “new” and “fun” stuff together. Recently, the barn owners hung a bunch of colored pool noodles from a wooden frame. You can imagine how that went over. But after about 10 minutes of me just poking and playing with them, my horse decided that he could poke and play with them, and then we played together with them. Now, he’s skeptical but he walks through them. it’s a new thing we figured out on the ground and then under saddle, and it totally breaks up the “boring” dressage.

PS. Maybe others can chime in about this but I think the groundwork is fun for the horse because they see you better than if you’re riding them? Or you are a the same eye level as them? I don’t know, but I know my horse is 10x more interactive with me now that I challenge him with groundwork (granted, I had to learn how to do this) than he ever was in the past.

[MustangSavvy]

. We are having a lot of fun with it and I have a more engaged/interested partner.

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/608

Smile:
[IMG]http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t647/bilbothemustang/1509093_10205243144587707_6076489803450017471_n_zps4de9b2d3.jpg)

Bow:
[IMG]http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t647/bilbothemustang/10486137_10205244198854063_3085235002429358097_n_zps13978c4a.jpg)

[triple]

“Given your use of yard, I’m guessing you are in Europe or Australia/New Zealand, but still–see if you can find a working farm/ranch and go out and help with cattle work (to whatever extent possible).”

Correct, I’m in Europe; sadly the above just wouldn’t be a goer I’m afraid!!

“It can also be really good to partner with another rider–not just ride at the same time, but play with some pas de deux patterns, or play follow the leader, or one person completes a pattern–with or without jumps–and the other tries to duplicate it. You’ll probably be working on different things than you would just on your own, so it can give you some new things to play with.”

This is a great idea - read an article in I think Horse and Hound on something similar recently; seems to be a great way to work in a crowded arena (post-work rush can be hectic!)

Definitely going to give the pole-bending a try too! Going to give a few of the suggestions a shot over the weekend and will report back!

[Simbalism]

Obstacles both sound and objects are good to work on. My Tb mare used to be a total spook when she was younger. I have tried everything from judged trail rides(obstacle rides), team penning(sorting cows out of a herd in an arena and putting them into a pen), barrel racing, pole bending, low level dressage including musical freestyle and quadrille, low level combined tests( dressage and stadium) parades, camping, hunter paces, fox hunting, and plenty of trail riding including riding on the beach and swimming. Play Simon Says on horse back with a group of friends.

[AllWeatherGal]

I even took up “stick and balling” (a la polo) for a few months when my first horse and I weren’t making progress.

More recently, I have had a BLAST with obstacles!