Giving her the winter off in the midst of training?

greygirls · 10-20-2009, 03:59 PM

As some of you may know from previous threads, my Standardbred mare Southie & I are working on her canter. For those of you who don't know, here's the skinny...

I've had her for about 3yrs now but the first year was lost due to fear/confidence issues on my part. I rode her, but didn't really "work" her.

The second year, my boss & I tried our darnedest to get her cantering but it was a no go. At this time, I gave up on the idea of ever getting her to canter. I didn't say, "oh she's not ready yet", I said "oh, she won't ever be able to canter". So last fall (when I had given up), I decided to focus on perfecting her walk & trot. We worked on collection & suppling exercises & wow what a difference! For a horse who's only decent gait was a pace, she now has a wonderful walk & trot!

Now for the third year (this year). Apparently all that walk/trot, collection/suppling work paid off in the form of a horse that can now canter...at least a little bit anyway

. Turns out I was wrong. It wasn't that she couldn't, it was that she wasn't ready. Anyway, this is where my predicament comes in, she didn't find her canter until late summer when I was free-running her (which doesn't leave me a lot of time before winter). Once I saw that, a spark of hope glimmered again & I asked my boss what she thought about trying for a canter again. She said she was ready now to start training for it. So, the plan is, when she can do three full circles of canter on the lunge, we'll try her under saddle again. Well, we're very close to a full circle now but there's no way we're going to be where we need to be to start under saddle before winter sets in. I do work my guys year round, however, her schedule will get interrupted between the time the ground freezes & the time there's a deep enough layer of snow that we can resume (frozen ground will be hard on her joints). My question is, will she loose it with this time off? I do not have access to an indoor & really don't have the money to board her out for the winter at a place that has an indoor.

I don't mind waiting till the spring to start her cantering under saddle but it's her progress on the lunge that I'm afraid of loosing. Do you think she'll loose it with a couple months off & a less strenuous training schedule the rest of the winter (ice dictates when they get worked after all

)?

pippy · 10-20-2009, 04:20 PM

I have found w/ my younger horses in training such as yours, that they do tend to get 'fresh' in the spring and need to pick up where they left off slowly and work back into it because they have adjusted to more or less not working hard over the cold winter months & maybe put on a few pounds but they don't actually 'forget' where they were but more likely because they are physically out of shape. I do try to walk/trot mine or haul to an indoor to ride, do stretches on the ground and not feed them TO much over the winter but it gets hard because it is so bitter cold here and icy for so long that it's not safe to even drive to an arena (icy), to cold to ride outside (-0 + windchill effect) and they need the extra hay to keep them warm...anyway..I digress..
I would not worry overly much of losing where she is now.

SeayBreezeFarm · 10-20-2009, 04:26 PM

Was Southie ever raced? My reason for asking this is that I used to show for a man who had a nice Standardbred gelding. "Dang" had been raced and was a pacer. He could jump the moon, but after you made your circle and approached the first jump in the ring at a canter he completed that jump and landed pacing. Then, he couldn't jump number two from a pace. This was something we never could work him out of. He was much too hot to show hunter or western and whenever stressed he paced. Sometimes the breeding and past history are a bit much to overcome.

Anyway, good luck in your endeavor. Maybe with patience you can overcome Southie's cantering problem.

greygirls · 10-21-2009, 09:13 AM

Thanks Pippy. I'm not worried about her loosing condition over the winter, we go through that every winter with all the horses

. It was the 'forgetting' part that you mentioned that I was worried about. I did break my pony from scratch myself but winter always seemed to fit itself in nicely with her training schedule so it wasn't such a worry. That, & she was much easier to train than Southie has been so I wasn't quite as concerned about "loosing ground" with her the way I am with Southie.

SeayBreezeFarm,

She's a trail horse, not a show mount so I'm not too overly concerned with perfection here. If she throws a pace in here or there, it's not going to matter. I know what you mean regarding pacing when stressed & pacing upon landing from a jump. However, since training, this girl is more likely to do an extended trot when she is stressed & she now sometimes lands at a trot or even a couple strides of canter when jumping.

Whether or not I get her cantering under saddle, she's a forever horse. This is the closest we've ever been though & she's progressing so quickly & so well, I have to have hope that a canter across an open field is in the cards for us in the future. Lots of people write Standies off as being useless off the track but many go on to be wonderful mounts & with or without a canter, this girl is already one of em...a canter will just be a bonus

. We're just so close, I don't want to loose it!

EquineAlberta · 10-21-2009, 11:28 AM

I doubt she will loose the memory/training, but I think that she will loose the muscle which may matter more than you think. Still, now that she knows more, it should take less time to build the required top line muscle to get her back ready to canter in the spring.

Karen

Aspen3 · 10-28-2009, 05:39 AM

I started breaking my 3 year old gelding last summer (2008), and he was doing well. I didn't work with him from Dec-March due to cold weather, which I hate. When I started working with him again in the spring, surprisingly, he picked right up where I had left off, with no problems at all. I'm trail riding him now and he is a wonderful horse! But, I do have one mare (already trained), who has to be semi-re-started every spring. So it is different with every horse.
Good luck!
Janet

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10-20-2009, 03:59 PM
greygirls Coming two Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ontario Posts: 1,852	Giving her the winter off in the midst of training? As some of you may know from previous threads, my Standardbred mare Southie & I are working on her canter. For those of you who don't know, here's the skinny... I've had her for about 3yrs now but the first year was lost due to fear/confidence issues on my part. I rode her, but didn't really "work" her. The second year, my boss & I tried our darnedest to get her cantering but it was a no go. At this time, I gave up on the idea of ever getting her to canter. I didn't say, "oh she's not ready yet", I said "oh, she won't ever be able to canter". So last fall (when I had given up), I decided to focus on perfecting her walk & trot. We worked on collection & suppling exercises & wow what a difference! For a horse who's only decent gait was a pace, she now has a wonderful walk & trot! Now for the third year (this year). Apparently all that walk/trot, collection/suppling work paid off in the form of a horse that can now canter...at least a little bit anyway . Turns out I was wrong. It wasn't that she couldn't, it was that she wasn't ready. Anyway, this is where my predicament comes in, she didn't find her canter until late summer when I was free-running her (which doesn't leave me a lot of time before winter). Once I saw that, a spark of hope glimmered again & I asked my boss what she thought about trying for a canter again. She said she was ready now to start training for it. So, the plan is, when she can do three full circles of canter on the lunge, we'll try her under saddle again. Well, we're very close to a full circle now but there's no way we're going to be where we need to be to start under saddle before winter sets in. I do work my guys year round, however, her schedule will get interrupted between the time the ground freezes & the time there's a deep enough layer of snow that we can resume (frozen ground will be hard on her joints). My question is, will she loose it with this time off? I do not have access to an indoor & really don't have the money to board her out for the winter at a place that has an indoor. I don't mind waiting till the spring to start her cantering under saddle but it's her progress on the lunge that I'm afraid of loosing. Do you think she'll loose it with a couple months off & a less strenuous training schedule the rest of the winter (ice dictates when they get worked after all)? __________________ I cannot avoid compassion for all that is called life. That is the beginning & foundation of morality. -Albert Schweitzer

10-20-2009, 04:20 PM
pippy Started Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: minnesota Posts: 2,300	I have found w/ my younger horses in training such as yours, that they do tend to get 'fresh' in the spring and need to pick up where they left off slowly and work back into it because they have adjusted to more or less not working hard over the cold winter months & maybe put on a few pounds but they don't actually 'forget' where they were but more likely because they are physically out of shape. I do try to walk/trot mine or haul to an indoor to ride, do stretches on the ground and not feed them TO much over the winter but it gets hard because it is so bitter cold here and icy for so long that it's not safe to even drive to an arena (icy), to cold to ride outside (-0 + windchill effect) and they need the extra hay to keep them warm...anyway..I digress.. I would not worry overly much of losing where she is now. __________________ "It's never to late to live happily ever after."

10-20-2009, 04:26 PM
SeayBreezeFarm Newborn Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Virginia Posts: 23	Was Southie ever raced? My reason for asking this is that I used to show for a man who had a nice Standardbred gelding. "Dang" had been raced and was a pacer. He could jump the moon, but after you made your circle and approached the first jump in the ring at a canter he completed that jump and landed pacing. Then, he couldn't jump number two from a pace. This was something we never could work him out of. He was much too hot to show hunter or western and whenever stressed he paced. Sometimes the breeding and past history are a bit much to overcome. Anyway, good luck in your endeavor. Maybe with patience you can overcome Southie's cantering problem. __________________ Home of happy Arabians & Border Collies and one Quarter Horse

10-21-2009, 09:13 AM
greygirls Coming two Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ontario Posts: 1,852	Thanks Pippy. I'm not worried about her loosing condition over the winter, we go through that every winter with all the horses. It was the 'forgetting' part that you mentioned that I was worried about. I did break my pony from scratch myself but winter always seemed to fit itself in nicely with her training schedule so it wasn't such a worry. That, & she was much easier to train than Southie has been so I wasn't quite as concerned about "loosing ground" with her the way I am with Southie. SeayBreezeFarm, She's a trail horse, not a show mount so I'm not too overly concerned with perfection here. If she throws a pace in here or there, it's not going to matter. I know what you mean regarding pacing when stressed & pacing upon landing from a jump. However, since training, this girl is more likely to do an extended trot when she is stressed & she now sometimes lands at a trot or even a couple strides of canter when jumping. Whether or not I get her cantering under saddle, she's a forever horse. This is the closest we've ever been though & she's progressing so quickly & so well, I have to have hope that a canter across an open field is in the cards for us in the future. Lots of people write Standies off as being useless off the track but many go on to be wonderful mounts & with or without a canter, this girl is already one of em...a canter will just be a bonus . We're just so close, I don't want to loose it! __________________ I cannot avoid compassion for all that is called life. That is the beginning & foundation of morality. -Albert Schweitzer

10-21-2009, 11:28 AM
EquineAlberta Kid Safe Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 6,015	I doubt she will loose the memory/training, but I think that she will loose the muscle which may matter more than you think. Still, now that she knows more, it should take less time to build the required top line muscle to get her back ready to canter in the spring. Karen __________________ New Hillside Website The Art of Praise

10-28-2009, 05:39 AM
Aspen3 Halter broke Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: NOrth Carolina Posts: 125	I started breaking my 3 year old gelding last summer (2008), and he was doing well. I didn't work with him from Dec-March due to cold weather, which I hate. When I started working with him again in the spring, surprisingly, he picked right up where I had left off, with no problems at all. I'm trail riding him now and he is a wonderful horse! But, I do have one mare (already trained), who has to be semi-re-started every spring. So it is different with every horse. Good luck! Janet