What does your dressage horse do for fun?

[DressageChic2]

without doubt i think you can get a WB that can do both-ive had 2 that would have fit the bill (both jump bred incidentally but moved nicely,were sane, thinkers who went on beach rides, long rides with jumps, out in big groups etc).

however it will take a lot of time and trials i reckon-my youngster hacks out nicely enough, will trot and canter in company, go up and down small inclines and ditches and pop a tiny jump but he doesnt have the right brain to do the real off road tough terrain stuff and i dont think he COULD be trusted to think before he reacted in a tricky situation (he’s only 4 and a stallion so lots more experience to gain BUT i just dont think he would be particularly suited even in another 4/5 years).

so research bloodlines and chose wisely.

all WB can hack, but not all can properly trail ride IMO.

[Obsidian_Fire]

[QUOTE=KyrieNZ;8822974]
Mine hack out (road riding), go to the forest, go to the beach, jump. Hell, for shits and giggles once, friend and I jousted with pool noodles :lol:[/QUOTE]

OMG! :lol::lol::lol: That is too funny!! Thanks for the idea, that sounds great!!

[Obsidian_Fire]

[QUOTE=Dutchmare433;8823028]
All of my dressage horses hack, trail ride, hunter pace, and jump for fun. My first mare in particular was very versatile…did all the third level and some 4th/PSG, and trail rode like a boss. We could go anywhere, mostly on the buckle, and I could trust her to deal with her balance, snow, ice, rocks, hills, whatever. Self preservation, and rider preservation were her jam. I took her on a 25 mile charity ride with real trail people and she held her own. (I looked like an idiot in a dressage saddle and breeches, but whatever.) Whether she could have handled really difficult terrain, I doubt, but she was 17h and long backed…I would think you average serious trail horse is quite a bit smaller and more maneuverable than that.

But they do exist! I intend for my 3 year old to behave similarly out and about.[/QUOT

You sound like me - LOL - this past weekend’s ride I was thinking I needed some chinks over my breeches!! They are not designed for broken branches and blackberry brambles!

I wish I could respond to everyone; you have all really made my day!

Thank You!!

[theresak]

My schooling GP horse trail rides, jumps, does conditioning/hill work in hay fields.

He’s not the cleverest with his feet so I wouldn’t trust him on advanced trails.

Right now I plan one long trail ride a week and at least one more shorter one after we’ve schooled. We also normally do cavaletti or jumps once a week.

Usually in October or November I give him a month of no dressage schooling and we’ll putter around on the trails, jump lots more, and do some trail obstacle training. We had planned to put him on cows for fun one fall but it got rained out. I’ve had friends take him over some cross country jumps and we’ll play with the water complex and banks.

In fact, I have hacked him over the ridge 30 minutes to a neighboring barn a few times to clinic with a 5* dressage judge. A brisk walk on the way over, hop off for a few minutes to put on polos and clean my boots, and into the ring for our lesson.

I will admit that now we’re schooling GP, I do think a lot more about potential for injury when I’m considering our activities, but I try not to bubble wrap him too much.

[Foxtrot_s]

The only thing I can say is the workload - you just could not do it all, but my belief is you get a better horse, mentally and physically, with some variety, and hills are the very best for building the strength required for the more collected dressage work.

I don’t have a ‘dressage’ horse - but she would be doing 4th if she hadn’t had an injury that took 2 months out of our summer - but she events and trail rides and would do a lot more, but we like to keep the flat work program as the priority.

She is such a sweet, willing, hardworking but steady mare.

Last summer, she seemed to not want to work so well so the first thing we did was go for some trail riding - then happy to go back to dressage. We try to make sure that she loves her flatwork and when something is not working, we change tactic, and then go back to it with success 99% of the time.

I’d look for a talented moving horse, but with the brain and boldness. Going on trails gives them a bigger step, freedom, and a lot of schooling can get done out there with adjustability and lateral work, etc.

[Bogie]

My trainer had one that competed at Prix St. Georges and foxhunted for fun. The didn’t jump, but she said the galloping was really good for him.

[jdobbs64]

My horse is an insanely good trail horse, very sure footed and trail wise, and I throw a tiny western bit on him with a touch of leverage and he knows that’s his trail gear, and we go down the road. He’s also a pretty solid 2nd level horse (not very impressive to some, but hey, it’s where we are). the trick is a horse that’s never known trail-time, may not care for it- some are really undone by trail riding and open spaces or narrow stuff; and others take to it like ducks to water. You just can’t know unless they come with that skill set.

[Obsidian_Fire]

[QUOTE=jdobbs64;8824571]
My horse is an insanely good trail horse, very sure footed and trail wise, and I throw a tiny western bit on him with a touch of leverage and he knows that’s his trail gear, and we go down the road. He’s also a pretty solid 2nd level horse (not very impressive to some, but hey, it’s where we are). the trick is a horse that’s never known trail-time, may not care for it- some are really undone by trail riding and open spaces or narrow stuff; and others take to it like ducks to water. You just can’t know unless they come with that skill set.[/QUOTE]

Yes that’s true; I had one like that once. She wasn’t spooky, she just flat wanted nothing to do with trail riding. I got rid of her…

[Daisyesq]

When I was shopping for a dressage school master, I made it a priority to find one that can safely take an amateur out of the ring, onto normal trails. I think a lot of amateurs want this. They are out there!

(Especially you can find this, if you horse shop near an area that has many bridle trails, such as Aiken SC).

I found my unicorn, so you can too! We show 4th level and just debuted at PSG, and he is a very steady guy out in the woods, happy alone or with others. Love it!

Good luck.

[J-Lu]

My last two dressage horses HATED trails. Really preferred the comfort of the arena. My current horse is quite opinonated/fearful and you have to be able to deal with this is you want to “trail ride”. It’s not fun or relaxing for either of us. You can’t force a horse to like trails because you like trails or because you think trails should be “relaxing”. For many horses, they aren’t. My only point here is to remind people that trails aren’t relaxing for all horses. You have to create a “fun” regime for what your horse considers to be “fun”, in reality, whether or not that’s “fun” for the owner/rider.

[SharonA]

The whole point of dressage is to make a better trail horse. :lol: Better responsiveness, better ability to keep themselves together while turning around switchbacks or weaving through trees, adjusting balance and pace while negotiating hills, listening to the rider when encountering terrifying clumps of dirt along the trail, etc. And, for the rider, better seat, better connection with the horse’s body throughout your leg and seat, strength with looseness, soft clear quick cues from the seat so the horse immediately knows what to do in surprise situations, quiet hands to make for an easier ride so the horse can be comfortable over uncertain terrain. Am I right in thinking that dressage was not originally intended to be a ring-only sport, because dressage was training for riding a horse into battle?

However, in terms of what is fun for the horse, my senior retired herself from dressage and will only go out on trails now.

[Sandy_M]

My present horse is the first horse I’ve owned that doesn’t enjoy trail riding. I’ve tried everything and he still gets wound up and tense. I think it would be good for him, but it seems to make him miserable.

He is quite good at entertaining himself, however. His paddock is next to the covered arena and he will match strides with horses being schooled, then stand and watch as if he’s “judging.” We also had to put up a stall guard on the top of his stall door, since he was amusing himself (at random times of day AND NIGHT) by turning the arena lights on and off. The BOs did NOT appreciate the lightts going on at 3 am!!

[Pocket_Pony]

Thinking about this thread yesterday after I came in from a ride on the pony. First we did a little warm up inside working on corners at the walk. Whenever we are indoors she wants to stop at the gate that goes out back.

After our warm up we did go to the outdoor arena, but then she wanted to bulge out at the entrance to the arena.

After our school in the arena we headed out to the trails out back. On one trail I had set up a small jump (she’s only jumped twice at this point). She had her choice of five directions to go in. She was on a loose rein, so it was her choice. She chose the trail with the jump…so we had to jump it!

[starsandsun]

My lovely youngster is learning dressage and in the process is being exposed to all sorts of other riding activities, including hacking out on a loose rein on every ride around the farm which exposes him to deer jumping out of the woods, herons taking off from the pond edge, etc. The terrain is varied so he gets a good workout that doesn’t seem so much like work, and sometimes we use the fields for training. I have trailered him to friends’ farms for exposure to indoors. He is learning to bounce over some jump courses. He is ridden in every (safe) weather condition and is turned out as much as is possible. I think the more you can expose a horse to different riding conditions and distractions, in a way that desensitizes them rather than make them fearful, helps them develop into better riding horses, and better all around citizens. And yes, dressage will help in any other riding you may want to do, including trail riding, jumping, etc. There is a way to include dressage every time you are on your horse.

[Obsidian_Fire]

[QUOTE=J-Lu;8824976]
My last two dressage horses HATED trails. Really preferred the comfort of the arena. My current horse is quite opinonated/fearful and you have to be able to deal with this is you want to “trail ride”. It’s not fun or relaxing for either of us. You can’t force a horse to like trails because you like trails or because you think trails should be “relaxing”. For many horses, they aren’t. My only point here is to remind people that trails aren’t relaxing for all horses. You have to create a “fun” regime for what your horse considers to be “fun”, in reality, whether or not that’s “fun” for the owner/rider.[/QUOTE]

FWIW, nobody said anything about forcing a horse to do something it hates. And, at least in my mind, your statement is a “well duh”.

[Obsidian_Fire]

[QUOTE=SharonA;8825004]
The whole point of dressage is to make a better trail horse. :lol: Better responsiveness, better ability to keep themselves together while turning around switchbacks or weaving through trees, adjusting balance and pace while negotiating hills, listening to the rider when encountering terrifying clumps of dirt along the trail, etc. And, for the rider, better seat, better connection with the horse’s body throughout your leg and seat, strength with looseness, soft clear quick cues from the seat so the horse immediately knows what to do in surprise situations, quiet hands to make for an easier ride so the horse can be comfortable over uncertain terrain. Am I right in thinking that dressage was not originally intended to be a ring-only sport, because dressage was training for riding a horse into battle?

However, in terms of what is fun for the horse, my senior retired herself from dressage and will only go out on trails now.[/QUOTE]

Amen.
One thing we struggle with is straightness, he is especially hollow to the left, try going down a steep hill on a horse who is crooked. Your saddle slips, you slip… it sucks.

So all this getting out of the arena has made me hyper aware of this, and we spend many strides straightening out on the trail.

I also think in some ways it makes it easier as you are generally walking out smartly, which I find helps him straighten himself out, and you are either switch-backing which means you change bend constantly, or you’re going straight.

To me it just seems easier to notice the crookedness and fix it on the trails; I tend to lose grasp in the arena as I focus on one thing and forget something else…

[Magicboy]

I usually hack out after schooling since that’s the chance for some hill work. I’m not up to serious challenging trail riding because of age and health issues but all the show horses live out 24/7 and get to hack around.

For me, the arena is more interesting than walking down the road

[equiscape]

Maybe not a serious response…my horse likes to play tag with me being “it”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdSt_GKLL6w&feature=em-share_video_user

[colorfan]

My idea is my horse may not excel at everything but no reason why she can’t try…I take her for trail rides, certainly she is responsible for managing the footing, I don’t have a jump saddle but still take the occasional low jump or pop over a log on the trail. I use her to pony and have used my western saddle on her and taught a particularly naughty yearling to lead!

[Lord_Helpus]

Goober lives outside in all weather unless it is very hot or cold. He also trail rides 3x/week, But for part of each trail ride he works. He does regular and extended trot, transitions, lateral work and hill work.

Trail riding and dressage work do not have to be mutually exclusive.