|
|
 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
  
| Two questions, but both relate to working a horse.
After reading a few things today I wondered how long some people "pattern" their horses. I'm sure some of it depends on the horse and how much actual riding occurs, but what are your general rules? I pattern for a couple of months on a new horse and then ask them to perform. Of course there is still work at home all summer, so it's not like I just stop, but it's not several years of at home pattern work either.
Also, how long do you trot your horse before you lope them? Seeing some of the bucking posts lately, and seeing several people at shows just break into a lope right away makes me wonder. I usually trot for at least a good 5 minutes before I lope. It's almost always long trotting too, not a nice sittable pleasure trot. | |
| | |
  Independent Cuss
Posts: 3978
  
Location: Dearing, GA | Nateracer - 2014-02-13 1:30 PM
Two questions, but both relate to working a horse.
After reading a few things today I wondered how long some people "pattern" their horses. I'm sure some of it depends on the horse and how much actual riding occurs, but what are your general rules? I pattern for a couple of months on a new horse and then ask them to perform. Of course there is still work at home all summer, so it's not like I just stop, but it's not several years of at home pattern work either.
Also, how long do you trot your horse before you lope them? Seeing some of the bucking posts lately, and seeing several people at shows just break into a lope right away makes me wonder. I usually trot for at least a good 5 minutes before I lope. It's almost always long trotting too, not a nice sittable pleasure trot.
I'll give my response to the second part of your post. I always lunge my horse first, and I use most of that time for trotting. Typically five to ten minutes on the lunge line. Once I get on and have walked around, I do as much trotting as I can. I only move into a lope when I feel he is quiet, listening really well to my legs, seat and hands. I also do a lot of changing directions. Some days this is ten minutes into the ride, other days we trot for thirty minutes till he feels responsive. He's only 6 and is just now being put on the pattern, and is known to buck when we lope. | |
| | |
 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 422
Location: Fort Bragg North Carolina | Well of course it depends on the horse :) hard question to answer it can vary to a few months to a few years!! As far as warming up that also depends on the horse but I feel that walking longer than trotting and loping is important a lot of ppl go into a Trot and lope but don't spend the time walking their horse I've read you are suppose to walk for 10 min before asking for a trot. My older horses take a long time I lope them about 10 riders before my run so I spend more time walking and trotting. | |
| | |
 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| I agree it does depend on the horse. My current gelding went from very green to on the pattern in about 6 months. Got him in september and started on the pattern in February. He did have a pulled muscle from the pasture in that time as well. I actually taught him to lope around a barrel... not a pattern but a barrel because he lacked confidence and the barrel kinda gave him something to focus on I think. I want my horse to be well broke, moves off legs, breaks at the poll, side passes, counter bends, leg yields, etc before I start pattern work. He was running in the 4D by probably May/June?? I still tuned him at home and knew what we could work on but it wasnt patterns every ride.
As far as warming up, I usually trot about 10 minutes (also depending on how hes behaving) and then I lope. I also walk circles before I trot. Working on bending, getting him light (hes kinda lazy). My warm up routine is usually about 20 minutes depending on heat and stuff. | |
| | |
The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| For warming up, I walk first then trot, them lope.
For patterning, it all depends on the horse. I don't work my horses all the time on the pattern, so they probably have 45 days on the pattern before they get hauled.
I start with exhibition first then when they have a nice pattern and the sights aren't bothering them, then I start entering | |
| | |
 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | saddle up and walk quite a bit, i usually like to start with a few laps around our pastures(15 minutes-ish), trot 2 minutes in each direction, then do some large loopy figure 8s (usually 2 - 4 of them.) walk them until their breathing returns to normal, then lope each direction in 20 meter circles until they are loping nicely. | |
| | |
 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | I don't do as much pattern work as a lot of people, probably because I get bored quickly. I also find that if you have a fairly smart horse, they pick up the pattern quickly and usually I'll just do one-barrel drills at home instead of setting up the full pattern and working it. I don't have worked up ground at the house so if I want to do any work at a lope I have to haul in to town. Generally once a horse has 20 or 30 days on the pattern, I will stop hauling to the arena very often and just do walking and trotting stuff with one barrel at home or work on fundamentals away from the pattern. I want them moving off my legs and setting themself up for the turn with very little guidance, and I can generally get those things taught without barrels.
My big sorrel horse was loping the pattern on about his third day of barrel work. We definitely had ups & downs after a few months, and I went back to doing a lot of walking the pattern at home to build good habits in myself (I was not riding him well in the fall) and try to help him become more solid so he'd do his job even if I screwed up a little bit. That seems to be the change we needed because this year we've gotten things lined out and are really improving.
With my two older finished horses, I don't do any pattern work at home. If my rodeo horse and I are having an issue, I'll do a little bit of slow work at home or lope through the pattern at Matt's place (he has an 'arena' in his pasture) but that is very rare.
As far as how long I warm up before I lope, it varies with the horse, but I try to walk for at least 5 minutes before even trotting. Many times I won't even lope in my warm up......just a lot of long trotting and walking. My old gelding prefers to lope and he's rough as crap to trot, so I let him do more loping than the others. | |
| |
| |
Folks on-line