Do you want to improve your horse’s performance and reach your riding goals? Help your horse advance to another level by creating a schedule to track your progress.
Set a Goal
Setting a long term goal gives you something to get excited about and will give you inspiration when you are feeling down. Everything is possible. Competing in the Olympics, winning a national championship, or completing a 100 mile trail ride are all possible when you set the goal, stay positive, and work toward your dream.
Once you have decided on your ultimate goal, plan other goals that you can achieve each year. Moving up a level in dressage is a good example of having a yearly goal. When you accomplish this smaller goal in your training plan it will help you in progressing to your main focus. A lot of riders and trainers get discouraged when they set a massive goal without setting check point goals on the way to bigger one.
Plan Each Ride
When you have set your goal, the next task is to create a schedule for your horse. Analyze the horse’s age, training, and fitness levels first; from there you can begin to make realistic schedules for each horse. Have a schedule that sets out a particular training goal for each week.
For example, say I wanted to teach my horse to leg yield this week. On Monday I would introduce the lesson, then as the week progressed I would gradually challenge the horse more. On Tuesday I would ask for more steps at the leg yield. On Wednesday I would start teaching the leg yield at the trot. On Thursday I would ask for a few more steps at the trot. On Friday I would ask for longer amounts of time on the exercise. During these lessons keep in mind that you shouldn’t be drilling your horse over and over again. Each training session is set up with a warm up, supplying, strong work, and cool down periods.
During the warm up phase of your ride, let the horse walk, trot, and canter on a loose rein. Warm up for five to ten minutes depending on the level of fitness of your horse. The supplying part of the ride gives the horse a chance to loosen up and remind him of the previous day’s lesson. Bend your horse in both directions, making circles of all sizes at each gait. Also, do some lateral work and collect and extend the horse’s stride. Then remind him of the lesson before by reviewing it first before you begin your strong work. The strong work period of your ride is where you will be conditioning or teaching a new lesson, which in the example I would be schooling the leg yield. After your horse is doing well with the exercise, end on a good note and begin cooling him down. The cool down part of your ride is done at the walk and allows the horse to catch his breath and stretch. Remember each horse is different and will take varying amounts of time to teach. Some rides may only last 30 minutes others may be over an hour. Be sure to give your horse regular breaks to catch his breath on your longer rides.
Stick To The Schedule
A training plan is a guideline to help gauge you and your horse’s progress. That does not mean that you should stick to the schedule no matter what. Some horses learn faster than others and you may have to spend two weeks on something that you originally planned to only spend only one week on. Don’t move on to another exercise if the one you have been training isn’t solid yet. Skipping steps is never worth it. Take the time it takes to teach your horse properly. Adjusting the plan to fit your horse’s needs is ok as long as you don’t forget your overall goal.