Your Definition of "Work" *long*

[divinemisselle]

It's always interesting to see everyone's opinions and "takes" on training horses. I love taking all the input and processing it to see if I can add anything complementary to what I'm already doing. You all are great teachers!

But it gets me thinking (dangerous, I know )....there are so many definitions of "working" a horse. Here's a bit of why it gets my inquisitive juices flowing:

For example, you all know I have a neuroticly jealous stud colt by Gandalf, Shaman. He's now 16 months old.

I "work" him either 4 or 5 days a weeks, sometimes 6.

Some days I "work" him for as little as 30 minutes.

Some days for as much as 5 hours!

Now, I know that many of you have read that and gone . I am also sure that there are some very interesting phrases being uttered at computer screens across North America, most of them ending in "Divine! What a *bleep* *bleep* IDIOT, you are!" But you all are too nice to say so to my face. And for that I thank you. I think.

But what I fail to specify is what "work" means to me, and to Shaman.

In forming my "work schedule", I really let him tell me how much/how far/ how much more. He is only a baby, but a physically mature one, for 16 months old. He also has a mind that never stops! He learns and retains like no horse I've ever seen. He begs for more.

So, on a 5 hour day, he will stand tied, most often ground tied, for a thorough grooming. This can take up to an hour, as I go over every hair on him from head to toe. I pat, curry, rub, scratch, spray, comb all of him. He loves this. And it sets the tone for our sessions. He is relaxed, I am relaxed. He is spotless. I am disgusting.

Then we work in hand. Flexing, leading, backing, moving off pressure, etc. I'm working with him on moving away and to with only a movement of my hand, but no contact to his body. Much as you would train a dog to hand signals.

Then we desensitize. Now, not much bothers this little horse, but I still introduce him to something new. Goats, tarps, saddles, blankets, ropes, bags, balls, kids, tractors, whatever is around to get his attention.

We walk in hand. Down the drive, around the farm, we check out other horses (DON'T TALK TO HER!!! ), dogs, kids, hoses, trees, trucks, the road, passing vehicles, etc. We walk forward, backward, sideways both ways, from both sides.

We work in the corral. He was recently dressed in a surcingle and then introduced to side reins. Like he cares. And yes, I do longe him. For a total of about 5 minutes. Okay, maybe 7 if it's cool out.

And then we back track our session, walking, desensitizing, in hand work and finally grooming again.

He is never stressed out. I work at his pace, with plenty of breathers and easy stuff for him to do in between the hard stuff. I never push beyond what he is ready for or asking for.

And while I've created my jealous monster, by all the time I spend with him, I know that I am also building a strong lifetime foundation of relationship with him. I also know that by the time he is ready to be backed, we'll just ride off into the sunset together. We may never be seen again!

Now that I think about it, for me, "working" and "starting" a young horse is one in the same.

I have Gandalf under the same program right now, so I have two jealous boys! I need an apprentice!

What other definitions of "work" are there out there?

[heckyes17]

I work for a saddleseat trainer 3 days a week and it's been a great learning experiance as far as how to properly work and train a horse without stressing them out to the max.
Each of these horses are at different levels but they're all on the same routine pretty much.
They all start out with a pretty lengthy grooming session, curry,brush,spray,towel, all the works. Never in the stall always in the cross ties or tied.
Then their tacked up or dressed in the surcingle and usually are asked to stand there for a bit. Then bridled and off they go. No matter how broke the horse is they're always working on giving to the bit, turning, circling, ect. Depending on how old the horse in all three gaits...or five...depending on the breed
Then they're walked back and cooled out, sponged down with warm water, and hand walked while working on a little desensitizing.
Then back to the stall, Sometimes the younger ones come out for some more handwalking as we're at a 24/7 stalling facility.

[chappel16]

I set a small goal for my "workout", and if the horse reaches that goal, we end. Whether it took 2 minutes, or 3 hrs. Now my goals are VERY reachable to achieve in one ride, whether it be improving something they learned last ride, or just starting to catch on something new I am teaching them. I also will not end unless they are in the "right brain" and totally focused to me. My horses usually work about 3 days a week, and are very relaxed when I am around.

[SunnyKS]

Well now that you mention it...to me the word "work" implies movement. So if you said you work a colt for 5 hours I would be scratching my head.

But to me learning to tie and being groomed or desenseitzing activites is "playing"....Gosh thats wierd isn't it?

[Littonian]

I think that's a wonderful schedule for a young horse, plenty of postive fun attention, but enough frimness and rules to keep him learning and polite. I follow much the same type of plan with my yearling, though not quite as extensive due to time constraints.

On top of a full time job and going to school part-time, I run a 13 horse barn. It's a mix of foxhunters, sale horses, boarders, ones in for training, and my event horses. Some of them are not my responsibility to ride and school, but 5 of them are on my work schedule. This means that when I get home from work, I need to have a plan, and an idea of who's doing what for how long, to enable me to make it for dinner at 6:30, having already fed everybody.

So for my guys, it usually something like this: the baby does a mix of groundwork, i.e. leading, standing square, backing, turning, some light lunging with a surcingle, grooming, sacking out, etc.

I have a training horse in, and possibly another on the way. She does a mix of flatwork (dressage oriented), jumping, hacking out, and de-spookefying. She can be difficult though, so sometime we get our teeth into something and can't leave it until we're done.

The foxhunters usually do conditioning to get/keep them fit. Depending on the time of year, they trot anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, usually around the farm, in a working frame at a good strong trot. I can sometimes ride one and pony one, but that means the ponied horse doesn't have to work in a frame, which isn't quite as good a workout.

The event horses and sale horses also do a mix of dressage, jumping, and conditioning. Often I'll double up, i.e. do some flatwork for 45 min. or so, then go trot for 30 minutes. It very much depends on the level that particular horse is competing at. It's not unheard of for me to ride Arin for over 2 hours (hour and a bit on the flat, test run throughs, 35-40 min. trot, then a good walk in). He's competing at Prelim, so he has to be pretty fit.

So basically, by the time I feed everybody, drag my patootie into the house, eat dinner, work on classwork for 2+ hours, I'm more than ready to hit the sack, then I have to get up at 4AM to do it all over again.

Needless to say, there's a reason I've been a bit scarce around here recently!

And I forgot to add in about riding client's horses (ship-ins), driving with Maria, talking to boarders when they come out, cleaning tack, etc.

Keeps me off the streets and out of trouble.

I'm off to go foxhunting tomorrow!