Training recommendations requested

[wingnut]

I attended our 2nd show of our club's season with three of my horses and my young friend who is showing with me. We improved over our first outing a month ago in a couple of classes. Still, we have a lot to do to get better. I will admit that I'm not putting the time in to training the way we should be and I want to dig in between now and our next show on the 16th.

Two specific areas I want to focus on in the next 13 days are these:

1. Getting my halter horse to stand properly, stretch her neck a bit and stay standing properly for as long as necessary. I've read lots of things and watched some videos but I'd like to hear what the experts on this board would do in my place. As this is our third year of showing together, it's about time I get this figured out! Especially as we've had an influx of "new blood" coming to our shows with some really nice horses. My horse's fidgeting and improper stance is certainly not going to stand up to some of these horses.

2. Getting the two horses we are running in hunter to stay more toward the middle of the jump and not pushing us around as we go through the course. We've been working on that by having two leads on a horse with the two of us running with the horse together around our home course. This has worked really well and we saw improvement yesterday but thought I'd asked what else we could add.

Finally, I know the #1 thing that will improve these two issues as well as others is T.I.M.E. I need to put the time in with them out there. Too many excuses! Time to put up or shut up...LOL! So when you're training for showing, what kind of time do you put in during a given week? Do you prefer to work in the a.m. or p.m.? I have the flexibility that I can do either and sometimes both.

Thanks in advance to any and all who take time to respond.

 

[targetsmom]

Practice, practice and more practice.... If I were you, I would work the horses very briefly both morning and evening until the next show. For the halter horse, work on standing STILL first before you worry about the ears or neck. Set her up, and use "whoa" or whatever cue to get her to stay put while you move farther and farther away for longer times. You also want her to focus on you while doing this. If she moves, back her up quickly, put her back in place and try again. Once she stays put for what you think is a good amount of time for that session, quit. (This also teaches her to ground tie if you do obstacle).

For the hunter (where I admit I have more experience than with halter) a few things to try: Cross rails should help the horse to learn to jump in the middle of the jump because that is easiest. Also, aim him/her toward the middle and you move around the jump standard right at the last second. When I train for a show (like all summer) I have jumps set up in the back yard and jump a round or two ( no more!) of 4 jumps EVERY DAY that the weather permits. You could do twice a day with no harm. Also, we do a lot of trotting around the jumps (or anywhere) to get them used to moving with us, and turning - especially to the right - when we do. Trotting around cones is good for this, or over ground poles. When we quit we let them have a few bites of the grass, which is their reward. Our minis line up at the fence for the chance to come out in the yard and do this!!!

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

Agreed w cross rails.

With the moving away - practice less lines, more courses. Save your patterns and run them at home. A lot seem to get repeated. Practice trotting circles with your horse moving away from you. Trot serpentines. To practice running a course but to not work your horse so hard, put down just a pole where the jump would be.

For the halter horse, instead of just walking her forward to get her out f stance, assign a cue. Its OK to use verbal cues in halter! Moms world champ happy knew to freeze when she ran her hand down his neck, but when she would kiss he could move. Practice with distractions. Set her up, have your young friend walk a horse around her, set a plastic bag free to blow in the wind, sing a song, do something obnoxious, whatever!

 

[wingnut]

Thanks for these great suggestions. I'll let you know how it goes