On Tue, Jan 15, 2008 at 12:43:23PM -0800, Nancy Sturm wrote: > As far as training the hot horse at home before taking him to a field trial > or endurance race, I have to agree in theory with Vicka, but have found in > actual practice that it isn't really possible to set up a field trial > environment or a ridecamp at home. The only way we have been able to get > train for the the experience has been to actually do it. I finally > dedicated several competitions year before last to schooling Hunter.
actually i think that's a very good way to do it -- expose the horse to the environment, but don't expect to participate. keep your horse away from others, stay "nearby" but not "in" groups, &c. my old barn used to bring young horses to shows and not enter them in classes, just walk aorund a bit on a lead, then walk under saddle with a calm buddy from home. baby steps, the goal being to avoid freakout levels along the way. (i do think some horses are always going to be too "hot" for some situations -- our barn does parades, and some horses always require a ground crew, and some horses will simply never be safe there. i think that's ok, but i do think there has to be a limit to "training" out where it presents a hazard to bystanders.) --vicka
