When I first got Leo, I worked him almost every day. He got 6 days on, 1 day off, for probably a month before he entered partial training with Trainer K. When he was in training with her, he had 3 days with her and then 2 days of ground work with me, and that worked pretty well. Then, when he graduated from training, we tried to go back to the 6:1 system that we had used before.
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Side note: this was originally going to be a confo shot//progress post, but
~someone~ wasn't cooperating, so you guys get to see some bloopers. |
Since then, it's been a struggle to work him 6 days a week - over the winter months I was juggling a full-time overnight job and a
close-to-full-time schedule working at the barn, and trying to make time for my boyfriend and my dog and my sanity. Then, Leo's
eye issues led to him getting several weeks off. And it was during that time off that I made a pretty important discovery about my horse.
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| my very, very cute horse. |
Leo actually does best when he has time off. I've been testing this theory out since he's come back to full work - not going out to the barn on weekends, letting him chill for a day or two during the week - and the more that I experiment, the closer I come to understanding what, exactly, works for my horse.
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| when he stands ~almost~ square and you fuck up the angle |
If Leo has a day or two off in between rides/groundwork sessions, he starts off at a level that is almost calm. If he's being worked daily, each day from his last day off gets progressively more tense and frustrating. Having time off to just be a horse seems to be a really key piece to the puzzle that is the brain of the repurposed saddlebred.
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| the last warm day. |
For example, last weekend -> this week. Leo got Saturday and Sunday off. I rode him in my
no-stirrups lesson, and yes he was very, very fast - but he was also with me the entire time, jumped everything on the first try, and as we progressed started to come back more and more quickly; the biggest issue was my tension from the lack of stirrups communicating nervous energy to him, which led to running. He then got Tuesday off, and on Wednesday I rode him (again without stirrups), and it was incredible. He legitimately walked on the buckle for the first 15 minutes, then walked with contact for another 10, before we started in on trot/canter work - which went really well. On Thursday, I didn't ride but did hang out with him some and tried to get those pesky progress pictures. He got today off as well, and I'm planning to ride tomorrow.
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| Not. Square. |
It really seems to me that working him every other day, with occasional 2-days in a row off, is really helping with his brain. And I'm really okay with taking a more relaxed approach to his training; it was also stressing me out to try and fit daily work with him into my schedule.
What works best for you and your horse?
Cinna has never been in what I consider "regular" work -- in a good month, she might get worked twice in the same week? Haha. Seems to be working out well so far! 😉
ReplyDeleteLol hey, whatever works!
DeleteI've learned that Nilla does really well with time off, but Levi does not. He really needs to be ridden daily.
ReplyDeleteMan, at least they aren't both in the 'ridden daily' category - I could see that getting old fast.
DeleteFiguring out which schedule works best for each horse can be so hard - but so worth it! I try to shoot for schedules that are more around "x days on, y days off" rather than a specifically weekly schedule bc I feel the 7 day system hasn't recalled lended itself to something workable for the horses.
ReplyDeleteMy guy now is used to having a job from his race days, and honestly needs a lot of work learning the new job. It doesn't have to be hard work tho - just consistent. Two days on, one off, works for him. As does more days in a row (provided he's not getting sore or sour from the intensity).
See, Leo was used to having a biweekly/monthly job before he came to me - maybe that is part of why he does better when he has time off.
DeleteBooger is like this too. With her personality, you would think more work would be what she needs, but she consistently does best after some time off :) I figure I wouldn't want to work six days a week every week, so it makes sense she doesn't either!
ReplyDeleteI seriously just assumed, based on Leo's personality/level of hotness, that he needed daily work or he'd turn into an unrideable monster! I'm pretty happy to have learned that I was wrong!
DeleteFiction is the same. I used to work him daily + training rides and he was just miserable and sore and hated life. I started giving him time off (I now rarely ride two days in a row unless preparing for a show) and he is much happier. I'm a bit anxious bc he's going back into training 6 days a week for 2 months and I hope it doesn't sour him.
ReplyDeleteAw man, I hope that it works out for him!!!
DeleteApollo does not do well with time off, he gets hard to catch even. Henry and Mystic seem to do well with a bit of time off though, helps them digest things.
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting how different they can be!
DeleteDee doesn't seem to care if she has time off or not. What she does care about is being the first horse worked. My rides are always better if I ride her first. It's always a constant exploration to figure out what works best for each horse.
ReplyDeleteNow that is really interesting. Any idea why?
DeleteMy horses do best in consistent work -- but I usually try to give them 2 days off a week, and if things are going well, our flat rides are short.
ReplyDelete