I don't have an arena
either - never have - but once a week I take my 4 year old for a lesson with a
trainer. 2-3 other days of the week we're doing trail work. I find
the arena work very important. It gives me a very well rounded horse with
a good base of skills to fall back on. There's a public stable down the
road and I ride with quite a lot of people who only ride on trails. When
everything is calm, they have no problem, but throw something in the mix and
you'll see a lot of people struggling to control a horse who's too caught up in
whatever's going on to pay attention to the rider.
Rae
Tall C Arabians - Central Region
-----Original Message----- From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Carol
Stiles Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2003 10:54 PM To:
ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] training a young
horse
Maybe I was not specific enough. I never had the
'luxury' of training in an arena, because I didn't have one, therefore my
horses had to learn on the the trail. I don't care if the trail is one foot
wide ,they will learn to back or stand still or sidepass up a hill in that
space if I ask. A horse will learn in 'any' environment as long as you are
patient and take the time to teach them. My horse will stand still with a
tractor, bike, or dog coming straight at him. That's what you want on the
trail.
