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 Veteran
Posts: 242
 
| Is it best to have short confident building rides or longer rides? When a horse is fresh what do you do? I do ground work in the round pen asking the horse to lope, turn directions a lot and whoa. Until they are respecting me completely I don't get on. Yesterday, I felt my filly was still fresh after a lot of ground work, so I got off and did more ground work then got back on. Is this wrong? Also, when is it safe to ride out of the round pen?
Thanks in advance for any advice! |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
 
| What is your definition of fresh? How any rides has the horse had?
On a young horse for me it depends on how broke the horse is, if it has 30 days then I may pony the horse for a few miles before I get on, or just lunge them for a few min, it all depends on the history of the horse.
If the horse has 60 rides on I will just jump on and go.
I personally like short rides as I don't want to overwhelm them and shake their confidence. I generally have one goal that I want to accomplish, once they have completed the goal I am done.
Generally I am riding my horses for 30-45 min per time, as I warm my horses up first walk trot lope work on stoping backing up. Then I work on the goal, so if it is reverse arcing I will work on this till the horse gives me the reverse arc in both directions |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | For me it really varies on where you are with the horse. Just saying it's a young horse isn't enough info. For example if this is a 2-3 yo that has less than 10 rides on it, I like to keep the rides extremely short. Like around 15 minutes. But I still spend about an hour with them, so the rest of that time is ground work. Some lunging, lots of desensitizing. Just physically and mentally preparing them for the ride. The further along the horse is in its training and the more rides it has, the longer the rides will be and the less ground work I'll do. |
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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Regardless of how old or how many rides they've had I try not to get on unless their mind is on me --- is their inside ear on me, the inside eye without any white, their neck relaxed, etc. Lungeing isn't so much about getting the edge off but to get them focused on you and not everythiing else around them. They can be full of energy but still have their mind on you. The key is the work you do to get them to that point.
I'm not a spring chicken so I'm a lot smarter about how I work young horses than I used to be. I try to do the ground work so that they're focusing on me and then when we ride, I try to set them up to succeed. I try not to put them into situations that are too much mentally for them to handle and that will get us both in trouble.
One thing that I do in preparation for riding out in the open is lungeing out in the pasture. You get a completely different horse out there and they learn they have to work out in the open, not just in the pen. It gives you a chance to deal with all that from a safe place.
Another thing is that I do a lot ponying out in the open too. That seems to help quite a bit.
As far as long rides or short rides, I think it depends on the situation. If you're having a tough day and you're riding by the seat of your pants, make it a short ride. You want to set it up so they succeed and make the right decisions to build that confidence. If you keep riding on a day like that, they will eventually get in situation where you both are going to get frustrated & someone may get hurt -- it's not worth it. So ask for a few things and quit on a good note and then quit while you're ahead -- it's just not worth risking it, IMO. You can always ride another day.
If we're having a lot of trouble on something, I'll make it a short ride. I'll ask for that one thing and then quit as their reward. It's amazing how much an impact quitting can have.
My blog talks a lot about short rides and goals when you ride --
http://qheventer.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/setting-goals/
Edited by Fairweather 2014-03-02 5:19 PM
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Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| Put em back in the round pen and work their butts off. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
| I have a routine with my guys. I free lunge for about 10 minutes first. I like to see how they're moving and feeling. I have them then flex side to side, I have them turn on their forehand, hindquarters, side pass, back all still on the ground. I then start my warm up etc. If they are feeling fresh it depends... If I feel like they just need to get a little more spunk out I'll lunge them some more. I don't think its a bad thing. I still ride after. I would rather let them get their jitter bugs out so I can have a productive ride. Just don't make it a habit. If its a nervous feeling your getting then just relax, do bending from he saddle, do simple maneuvers and have their attention with lots of positive enforcement. As far as riding outside the round pen they are all different. Do it when YOU feel comfortable. You will have a better idea then anyone. |
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 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | As long as you end on a good note, do what ever you feel comfortable with, short rides to begin with will get you further along with your horse. Pony outside the round pen to get you horse comfortable with your surroundings with the saddle on. Take baby steps. |
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Queen Bean of Ponyland
Posts: 24954
Location: WYOMING | Short rides. Repitition.
Some days young ones are just quirky no matter what you do. Mine is typically dead calm but one day this week she woke up with a burr in her butt and it was game on. But I knew this and made it short and sweet. They are not machines and they do react to "life". |
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