Horse that has not been ridden for years

[jennyrose]

i have two horses on loan called charla and enka.

enka has not been ridden for years and years and they are stabled at the bottom of a womans garden she has a huge yard and paddock for them which i have to school in.

enka is an arab and 14.1 hands i thought she would have been very naughty with not being ridden for ages but she has been fantastic and i have some picture of my riding her to show you all.

xxxjennyrose.piczo.com/?g=1&preview=y&cr=5

unfourtunatly she does not have a saddle atm but i am looking for one

if you have any schooling tips or advice please could you help me out

xxx Jenny xxx

[Blonde Donkey]

just take things slow she isn't going to be very fit after a lot of time off
do basic stuff like figures of eight large serpentines and circles to get her listening and try to make the schooling fun for both of you
have fun and good luck!

[zara]

She's a lovely mare, how old is she? To start with just take everything very slowly, just ask for simple transitions and ask her to move off and stop when asked. As she gets fitter I would certainly consider some lessons with a good instructo to ensure you are going in the right direction. Good luck Zx

[ceej]

Hi Jennyrose

yeah just slowly slowly - maybe a bit of lunging to get the old muscles moving. be aware that like a youngster, her back muscles will not be used to having weight on them (particularly if you are bareback so the weight wont be spread) so little and often to build them up.

She is really pretty - looks just like an arab mare I had many moons ago. Shelly..she was an angel.

[fleabitten]

Agree with all the above and zara made a good point about getting some lessons later on from an instructor helps to keep everything ticking right! lol

I would begin with plenty of walk and trot work, to get them back in the swing of things. Large 20m+ sized circles and easy changes of rein. Make sure to work evenly on both reins. Dont worry too much about getting them bending for a while, work on getting a nice steady and active walk and trot rythym on straight lines and turns. Also work on transitions halt-walk-trot-walk-halt. You could practice getting them to stand squarely and calmly for as long a time as possible.

Other things to do would be hacking, although you should probably wait until you get a saddle before venturing out in the open bareback.
Mounted games would be good - get buckets and bend in and out of them - go wild with ideas!
Make an obstacle course with a slalom to work through - get some ideas from Le Trec events.

Also some walk and trot pole work if you have proper poles to encourage them to lift their feet and work properly - it also encouages rythym.

15-20 min schooling sessions would be plenty to start with, after a few weeks you should increase the time to half an hour;
you could go for longer by beginning each schooling excercise you know in walk and then doing it in trot - for example a half circle. You could begin walking on the right rein and do a half circle from B to E and then walk a lap and do a half circle from E to B, then change rein and do the same on the opposite rein. Then start the whole exercise again at trot.

You can also do this excercise at canter but I would wait a while, at least 2 weeks of regular riding (3/4 times a week) more than 2 wks if riding less, before you start to canter.

An excellent schooling tip is to never ride more than one lap of the schooling area without doing an excercise i.e. a circle, change of rein, transition. This helps to keep the horse interested and you awake!

try not to leave more than 1 day in between each time you ride (unless they are turned out) otherwise they will get stiff.

More fun things to do would be to loose school. send the pony round the edge of the area and use your voice and body language (possibly a lungeing or schooling whip too) to send them on. You can even jump them using this way of exercising. Again if you plan on loose schooling you should only do flatwork for a while.

Lungeing is also good. You need a lunge line and a lunge whip ( a headcollar will do to attach the lunge line to but most people would say to use a lungeing cavesson) brushing boots or over reach boots are a good idea too but not absolutely necessary. You should only really lunge if your pony is fit enough as it is hard work going on a small circle - i would say you could lunge when you are about to start cantering. Stick to walk and trot.

have fun and sorry for the essay!!

[jennyrose]

wow thanx for all your help people ;D so far i have been re teaching her to halt and have being practising working on a long and short reing like giving and re taking the reins and things like that.

i just hope that i can get a saddle as soon as because then the proper schooling can start.

fleabitten thanx for the essay lol even though it was long there was loadsa good info im gonna use some of your ideas they sound brill!

and zara she is 12

[flash7]

She is lovely and very sweet looking Well done for bringing her back into work.

[gnuton]

I can't help falling in love with your new girl, not only is she lovely but she reminds me of Jazz, my Arab gelding. He has the most wonderful disposition and personality.



You have received some excellent suggestions from everyone and there isn't one thing I could add to it except to spend time on the ground with her. Take her for walks, cuddle her, brush her and play with her mane and tail, stroke her forehead and scratch behind her ears. Blow your breath gently into her left nostril and breath in deeply from her. This is how horses exchange information about each other, left nostril to left nostril.
The time you spend with her on the ground, getting to know her, letting her know you will pay off 100%. Once she falls in love with you, she will love you forever.

[jennyrose]

thanx gnuton i cant help fallin in love with her too haha.

i never new about the left nostril thing so im gnna try that out

also i never used to like arabs that much as people say alot of bad things about them and how there so spooky and so on. but actually they are lovley horses and have so much to give even if something small gives them a big fright, wouldnt they be boring if they were perfect? and we all get scared sometimes anyway ;D

so i have been converted to an arab lover

[aimee]

Yeah Gnuton I'm gonna try the left nostril thing with Fern, sounds good!

And I have to agree that you have a gorgeous mare there! And well done for bringing her back into work!

Cant really think of anything to add with the schoolin tips, just like everyone else says keep it varied and fairly easy until she builds some muscle up. But it looks like you are doing a good job already!