  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
      Location: NE Texas | Thanks, canchasr1. Those are two pretty neat mares for sure.
OP, it just depends on the horse, age, how much handle, mindset, etc. Younger horses that are not quite as mature, but have a nice handle will take a little bit longer simply because they are immature and not as focused. The two mares canchasr1 owns both came with a nice handle and both were mature and ready to go on with and they were both ready to cruise through at a strong lope after 30 days at an exhibition. That being said, I have a 4 YO that was cruising through handily after about days at home and took him to two exhibitions and now having to back up a little bit. I have a 3 YO that is a big filly and she has probably about 60 inconsistent rides on her....meaning over the last 8 months....and she can lope through, but she doesn't have enough buttons for me to really get serious about patterning her and exhibitioning her just yet.
Each horse is different, but if your mare has a nice handle, I think in 30 - 45 days you should have a horse that you can lope through at home at the very least. I don't rush them, but I don't spend 3 days trotting either. I challenge them to see if they're ready to step up and if they meet the challenge, then I stay at that level, if they don't I stay where i'm at and continue building to the next step. |