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Re: Training a New Endurance Horse



>Carol Burgess wrote:
>> I'm trying to training him to work off his rear end...
>[...]
>> Any suggestions would help.
>
>Hi Carol,
>
>Dressage *Lessons*, dressage *Lessons*, dressage *Lessons*.
>
>Once you and your horse get the hang of what you are trying
>to learn, they are actually very fun.  Quite a bit like dog
>obedience training.  If your horse is a smart as he seems,
>he'll enjoy the challange.  As you observe him learning,
>you'll enjoy the ring a lot more than you think.
>

I'll second Kat's recommendation!  When Aarene brought Story (her then 11yo
Standardbred OTT) to our barn, she was muscled completely upside down from
pulling carts and didn't have one iota of knowledge on how to use her body
correctly under saddle.  It has taken us a long time (2-3 years) to get her
turned around and conditioned to use her butt and topline.  We have some
"before and after" pictures of her and you wouldn't believe it's the same
horse!  

The key here was steady consistent dressage lessons on Aarene's part and
lots of arena time learning to use her body correctly.  This is tough to
learn without someone on the ground to correct your position and teach you
how to teach the horse to bring her back legs under, lift her belly, and
lift her topline.  (And none of us would rather work in the arena than on
the trails, so you're not alone there...it's just one of those sometimes
necessary evils. <g>)  

Since Story's under neck muscles were well developed (!) it took quite a
while to get her topline strong enough to lift and carry herself using her
body correctly for more than just a couple of minutes at a time.  You have
to be tuned in to when the topline muscles start to tire during your
exercises and let her relax and stretch rather than have her switch to
using the underneck muscles (the stronger ones in the beginning) in order
to continue on.  Remember, tiring muscles will start to cramp if not
allowed to relax...and the horse will do what she can to get away from the
cramping.  If you don't allow frequent stretches, she will resort to using
the old, stronger musculature.  Gradually, with the exercises done
correctly, the predominant muscles will switch places and the topline will
be stronger than the underneck muscles.  When that happens, you will see
(what appears to be) a more rapid improvement after that.  Until then, make
the sessions short with gradually increasing times as she can handle
them...and allow frequent stretching and relaxing in between calisthenic
sessions.  Learning to bend is another area that requires quite a bit of work.

Aarene could probably tell you more in detail how we structured her
exercise program if you're interested.

Sue



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