what parts of PSG/4th Level are "hardest" on the horse?

[the_sandiest_shoes]

I part lease a 1999 GP schoolmaster and would like to get my silver on him in the next 8-12 months. Earlier this year he helped another rider get her silver (with 67% at PSG so it’s still in him). He had some soundness issues this year (for his feet) but vet/farrier/coach think he has another good 1-2 years in him at about this level of work.

Coach is on board with the plan. I want to know how I can train the movements while preserving his mileage. I try to only ride him in the very best footing. I think of things like extensions in trot as harder on him? Sometimes we practice piaffe steps in lessons - though I think this has got to be harder on him too, along with canter pirouettes? I suppose this is horse-specific, but what in general is harder for an older horse about these semi-upper level movements?

He generally enjoys his work but I don’t want to be a selfish jerk about this. I ride him between 2-3 x/week, and he is otherwise part-leased by people training easier stuff. As soon as I get the scores, I won’t show him again. Any advice on how to proceed and go as easy on him as possible? It’s clearly within his ability - he’s in great condition - but he’s 20, so.

[Obsidian_Fire]

Having had an older upper level SM, I think fitness is paramount. Where are your weak points and can you practice them on another horse? When you ride him make sure you are as precise and deliberate as you know how to be. Break the movements down - what muscle groups does it require to do X movement? How can you work him to target those muscles without drilling the actual movement? He is capable of the work; he’s already demonstrated that, it’s you who needs the drilling, can you find a way to practice when you aren’t on his back?
I also think hacking out, especially hills, are your friend. As is a keen eye towards any soundness issues. Get ahead of them, don’t be chasing them.

[the_sandiest_shoes]

Thanks! I also own a young horse that I ride 3-4 x/week (in lessons and she’s otherwise in training). I have position foibles that I work on with both horses, and work on with both of them to get them super sharp off my leg, no nagging (that Laura Graves philosophy). That’s good advice about thinking on the muscle groups and breaking things down. There’s not much overlap on what my baby horse can do vs. the SM, but working on my own riding for both in general.

Unfortunately SM is a real psycho about trails and I need to stay off them so he doesn’t go bat shit and hurt himself.

[alibi_18]

What are essential are a perfect warmup and a good cool down.

Lots of good active walk.
Ice boots - massage - regular farrier work.

Prepare your different movements, so you won’t have to drill them.

Half steps and piaffe are good for back and core muscling, which is good.

Lengthening is, to my belief, where most accident, (suspensory/check ligament) happen.

Don’t ride in too deep footing.

[Scribbler]

Honestly you don’t need to train this horse in anything.

You need to learn to ride his moves, you need to keep him fit and happy and sound.

Trail ride at a matching walk. Walk lateral work. School him in the arena a couple days a week and run through his repertoire but don’t drill anything.

[J-Lu]

4th level/PSG doesn’t include passage/piaffe for a reason - it is very taxing on the hind legs and their joints if done correctly. These movements are easy for some horses, not others. Don’t do them to increase fitness unless your trainer and the owner tell you it’s OK for that horse.

Don’t drill any movements.

Be very aware of what his limitations are as a campaigned 20 year old.

Every horse is different depending on their build. I rode a late teens GP schoolmaster (with GP level trainer) whom I had to be careful with in the canter pirouettes. He could give very correct collected and medium gaits, was not happy about giving true extensions. Too much work, he thought. I rode a late teens GP schoolmaster (with GP level trainer) who specifically taught me what a canter pirouette felt like and could do them ALL day. He could also do extended gaits very well. Transitions between and within gaits at the trot? No. I didn’t ask like his former rider and he wan’t going to give them to me. He was difficult for me to do correct shoulder-in on. But could do correct canter pirouettes on a dime for me. Full pirouettes and towards two pirouettes easily.

I think you just have to see what this horse does easily/likes to do, and what is difficult for this particular horse. Your coach and feedback from the owner or previous rider will help you understand this horse. Congratulations! He sounds like a great lease opportunity!

[lorilu]

While I do not have an older upper level horse, my 14 yo PSG horse really enjoys his PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic frequency) treatments. It’s not the Beemer system-more powerful. And not magnets.

[MysticOakRanch]

It really depends on the horse - are his soundness issues front or back legs? How is his back? In general, I’d say collection is harder on the hind end, and extensions are harder on the front. Small figures and lateral work are harder on the inside leg. OTOH, fitness is often the best thing for an older horse. So you are going to have to just watch this specific horse and see where he struggles.

Possibly (again, depending on the horse) the best program would be to focus on basics - keep him fit, but not too much of the higher level work. But if you don’t know how to ride the higher level work, then that defeats YOUR purpose. This sounds like a situation where you need to coordinate your program with a vet, farrier, and a body-works person as well as your trainer - what will help his body? Hock injections? Chiropractic? Special shoeing? Turnout? Supplements? There are so many options out there, some more effective then others.

[2tempe]

The question that comes to my mind is what movements do YOU need to get comfortable with? Because if you haven’t ridden at this level previously and no want to do so on a “new to you” horse, that has its own challenges. Coach

Strategically speaking, I’d think about which of the first two 4th level tests would work best for you/horse. Coach can help here. Dont spend time on 4th 3 - many say it is harder in some ways than PSG.
Spend the time getting comfortable with horse’s lateral work. That’s the bulk of 4th level - and make sure you have clean sharp walk pirouettes. (this will help with the canter 1/2 pirouette work).

Work on transitions within the trot and canter - from collected to medium-ish for just a few strides - so you can feel the correct ask and response. Then when you show, the bigger parts will be there. - and remember that transitions in and out of the extended trots/canters are part of the score.

Agree with others, dont mess with piaffe/passage type stuff, keep the focus on the stuff you need for those tests. Are you comfortable riding multiple lead changes? Can you count 4’s and 3’s? I think in 4th 1 or 2 you dont have to have exact counts . If the PSG tempes are a challenge for you, make a plan with trainer as to how you can practice them w/out drilling over and over - ie dont try for 5 changes on day 1.

[the_sandiest_shoes]

Thank you for all of these responses! To clarify, I’ve been riding this horse almost a year now, so he’s not super new to me. The first few months I mostly spent getting back into riding shape after having not ridden in five years, and having not ridden consistently in much longer than that. We showed Third this summer successfully and I’ve trained 4th/PSG before, but that was about 15 years ago so it’s been a lot of shaking off the dust and getting my position and feel back. These last few months it’s come together much better, which is why I’m considering going for the silver. We plan on just doing Fourth Test 1 twice and then the PSG twice - like I said, I don’t want to show the hell out of him, just plan on getting the scores and being confident enough that we’ll get the 60+ when we try. We can do a Fourth Test 1 now, but I want to get smoother.

Thinking about all of this, and after carefully thinking through my rides this weekend, I’ve realized all I really need to do is really focus on basics and getting through with my half-halts/suppling him. He can be really strong and run through the reins. I’ve decided I want to just keep riding him in the snaffle anyway, since I want my hands to be super independent and soft. It’s more challenging this way, but when I DO get my half-halts really through and get him off my hands, off my legs, onto my seat, then all of the movements seem fine. He does canter pirouettes and changes really well, luckily. For a while it was a challenge to NOT have him to tempis - if I’m not super careful about my weight distribution and legs he’ll just do changes all over the place. Schoolmasters are the best.

So today I just basically worked on serpentines, trot-halts, trot-walks, some shoulder-in, just really focusing on getting him even feeling on both reins, being able to bring him back and forward but staying light. At the very end when he was feeling much more with me, I did a couple single changes that felt really nice and expressive, then tried a line a of threes - and it was the first time I’ve done a perfect line of three tempis. I was so happy and it proved my theory - that if I’m really “with” him, then the actual movements are not hard. As you’ve all mentioned, this is about me figuring out how to ride him, not him needing to drill the moves.

Edited to add - we only do piaffe steps occasionally with my coach - it helps me get the feeling of getting him really working off the back end and lifting himself, instead of hollowing and rushing through transitions. He also gets very fancy farrier work - his feet are his only real issue these days (but I appreciate all this advice on preserving his mileage as best I can). We do long warm-ups and cool downs and use ice boots a lot.

[2tempe]

OP - Ah, with background, I think you on the right track, and it certainly helps that you’ve had past experience riding at this level. Oh so much easier even if lots of dust to shake off than it is learning it the first time around.
Edited to add - I have one of those who can run thru the reins, especially if he’s tired or uncomfortable somewhere in his body.

[the_sandiest_shoes]

Yeah, I was training for Young Riders in my early 20s but got an injury before I could show - which was a real bummer because it was the best riding of my life. So, chasing that feeling.

Gelding I’m riding now is a big, strong type of horse - he braces and hollows/runs as an evasion and apparently that’s always been his thing (my coach has history with him, which helps, and is amazed at the rider who managed to ride him GP years ago, since he’s so strong). He’s a good teacher because if you aren’t precise or try to get muscley with him, he muscles right back and shows you what a losing game that is. This is really helpful for me, since I can tend to be strong and over-ride/ride too much with my arms tight.