Welcome Dressage Enthusiasts, especially those who are in the process of training a young horse.
This is the first entry of my blog which will detail the trials and tribulations of training my 4 year old, "just backed" Westphalian gelding which I think has the talent to become a Grand Prix competition horse.
Before you start thinking....oh yeah, another broad who thinks their baby is special when really it should be pulling a cart...I do have some credentials, have trained lots of youngsters, a few to Grand Prix and taught lots of young horse/rider combinations.
So I think I have a shot at teaching my boy some GP tricks and I will be teaching them through the Classical German Training method which I have learnt from Grand Master Conrad Schumacher (trained with him for over 10 years) and Olympic rider Emile Faurie -almost 15 years my trainer. Oh yeah, and I made a Dressage DVD with Conrad Schumacher, Preparing to Win, Volume 1. .. so I am not just talking "cobblers" as they say in the UK (actually they would really say bollocks but that is a bit rude for these early entries). Please join me on this, my last Dressage Voyage from Basic 1 or Preliminary to Grand Prix.
Each week I will recount my experiences with you from setting out from the stables on foot with my young charge (r) -(LOOSE HORSE!) to the arena, lunging (whoah there silver!) to Mounting Block episodes (ie can we get near one) to basic work under saddle. I will try to inject some much needed humor into my monologues because we all know that dressage, as beautiful a sport as it is....can be deadly boring and take itself just a little bit too seriously.
Along the way I will meander through my history which is unusual and a bit quirky - I started my passion for riding as a Cowgirl on Douglas Lake Ranch in British Columbia, Canada - and try to use such tales to amuse but more importantly, enlighten. I have trained under some incredible horsemen from Cowboys to Olympic coaches so I have a unique perspective on working with young horses.
I want to share my knowledge with others who are treading down this sometimes perilous path of
training a young horse - its a lonely trail with few welcoming campfires along the way (corny analogy but strangely fitting, n'est pas?) Except for your trainer and a few loyal friends, you are pretty much on your own at the end of a lunge line!
OK so here is my first diary entry:
DAY 1 - Furst Love arrived in Savannah, Georgia where my husband and I now live after emmigrating from the UK. It was a 6 day plane/lorry/trailer journey from Germany where he has been living for the past 4 years. He was exhausted so we let him rest for 4 days.
TRAINING SESSION 1: I always believe that lunging is the safest (for you) and friendliest way to start your sessions with a young horse. They get a chance to see you on the ground, hear your voice, read your body language and observe you at the centre of their universe. This is important positioning for the herd mentality. YOU ARE THE BOSS! Furst Love, who has been trained beautifully at a Stallion Grading yard in Northern Germany, was a prince and responded beautifully to all my voice commands on the lunge.
I opted for no whip in our first session to get him more tuned into my voice but that doesn't work for everyone. More on that later....
THE ROUTINE: It is important to ensure that day one sets the tone for your daily training routine so I am careful to time all my working sections and break them up into quadrants of 10 minutes. The Lunge Session then is 10 minutes, 5 minutes on each side, more if he is bucking out of his skin and not attentive. I try not to do exceed that time because the small circles for too long can damage tendons and suspensory ligaments. On a positive note, working in a smaller circle strengthens their inside hind legs and gets their body bending and more supple. I ALWAYS PUT SIDE REINS ON to create a contact, long at first but so their is an outline and he is not galloping about with "windmill head" which unbalances him and does not help develop those important back and neck muscles.
The next quadrants are ring work. With help from the wonderful Lazarus, Head Groom where I keep my horse (more on this amazing horseman later) I got on Furst Love at the end of a lunge line. We circled round several times until I felt him settle.
Then off came the lunge line and we were flying SOLO! He was a good boy, green and surging forward or stopping for no reason but sometimes listening to my leg... I made a note to wear spurs next time as he was a bit dead off the aids. I walked , trotted and cantered just to feel the paces for 10 minutes then finish in walk with some serpentine exercises and a hack round the ring for 10 minutes.
Final section is hacking round the property so he can get used to trucks, other horses, scary fences, etc.
He is tired so no protest from him so a good time to do this. Install Bravery traits as early as possible so that riding at shows, entering rings, etc don't become too problematic later on. No roads yet - he is too green but I am planning that for the fall.
So those are my 4 Quadrants - I will expand on those and change their contents throughout the next few months but that is my base and structure and that routine will help Furst Love learn things more quickly and happily and strengthen in the correct way on his way to becoming a superstar.
NOTE:
My primary concern over the next 6 years will be working my horse in the correct frame and way in order to keep him strong and sound. Lameness can often come from overworking young horses, stressing their joints and tendons. THIS I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE and I am determined to
try to avoid the pitfalls of overzealous work routines and pushing a horse beyond its physical limits.
Speak to you next week!
Rhegan
No comments:
Post a Comment