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This year, my horses both got the first few months of the year off... and now it’s getting time to bring them both back into work. I don’t want to just rush them back into riding, though. I’m totally ok with them on a lunge-line for a month or two before I step back into the saddle... But I need a little help creating a schedule for them and me to follow while I’m getting them back into shape. They’re both at a decent weight, but seriously lack muscle. They’ve both been dewormed recently and they’re getting one pound of an Alfalfa/Oats mixture daily since they have 24/7 access to pasture-grass, hay, a mineral/vitamin lick, and a salt lick.
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My mare turned 16 years old today. She weighs between 950 and 1000 pounds. She’s 15.1 hands. She’s a Tennessee Walker, but she has a stockier build. I got her when she was six/seven-ish and did most all her training, though she’d been professionally started as a two year old. Undersaddle, she knows how to walk, trot, canter, hand-gallop, gallop, and she’ll sometimes side-pass, back-up, and rack. She knows the voice commands for walk and whoa, and she has a basic understanding of seat and leg cues. She neck reins and direct reins. She’s just a back-country trail horse. She rides western only.
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My gelding turned four years old last month on the twenty-third. He weighs between 950 and 1000 pounds, like my mare. He’s 15.2 hands even and is also a Tennessee Walker, though he’s got a slimmer build than my mare. He was born here and I raised him and trained him myself as a two year old. Undersaddle, he knows how to walk, trot, canter, hand-gallop, gallop, flex, disengage the hindquarters, and he’ll sometimes back-up (we’re still working on that undersaddle) and rack. He knows the voice commands for walk, trot, whoa, back, and stand, and he understands the seat and leg cues for walk, trot, whoa, and back-up. He direct reins mainly, but is learning to neck rein. He, like my mare, is just a back-country trail horse. He rides mainly english, but occasionally goes western.
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I don’t have a round-pen or an arena... but both my horses lunge on a lunge-line. I do have an open, flat area where I can lunge.
I’m planning on working with them on alternating days... Dakota on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays... Gypsie on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays... with Sundays off.
I’m thinking about working them for an hour each day... between 4 and 5 pm, that way it’s cooling down a little.
With Dakota, I was thinking about w/t/c on the lunge (5 laps each way at a walk to warm up, 5 laps each way at a trot, and 3 laps each way at a canter, 2 laps each way at a trot, and then 4 laps each way at a walk to cool down), doing a little in-hand backing, flexing, maybe some ground-driving, and end it with a mile or two walk/trot in-hand.
With Gypsie, I was planning on doing w/t on the lunge, as she doesn’t canter on the lunge... (5 laps each way at a walk to warm up, 7 laps each way at a trot, 2 laps each way at a walk, 3 laps each way at a trot, and then 3 laps each way at a walk to cool down), doing a little in-hand backing, work on refining her flexing, a little ground-driving, and end it with a mile or two walk/trot in-hand.
Is there anythin I’m forgetting? Or anything I need to edit or fix?
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My mare turned 16 years old today. She weighs between 950 and 1000 pounds. She’s 15.1 hands. She’s a Tennessee Walker, but she has a stockier build. I got her when she was six/seven-ish and did most all her training, though she’d been professionally started as a two year old. Undersaddle, she knows how to walk, trot, canter, hand-gallop, gallop, and she’ll sometimes side-pass, back-up, and rack. She knows the voice commands for walk and whoa, and she has a basic understanding of seat and leg cues. She neck reins and direct reins. She’s just a back-country trail horse. She rides western only.
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My gelding turned four years old last month on the twenty-third. He weighs between 950 and 1000 pounds, like my mare. He’s 15.2 hands even and is also a Tennessee Walker, though he’s got a slimmer build than my mare. He was born here and I raised him and trained him myself as a two year old. Undersaddle, he knows how to walk, trot, canter, hand-gallop, gallop, flex, disengage the hindquarters, and he’ll sometimes back-up (we’re still working on that undersaddle) and rack. He knows the voice commands for walk, trot, whoa, back, and stand, and he understands the seat and leg cues for walk, trot, whoa, and back-up. He direct reins mainly, but is learning to neck rein. He, like my mare, is just a back-country trail horse. He rides mainly english, but occasionally goes western.
.
.
.
I don’t have a round-pen or an arena... but both my horses lunge on a lunge-line. I do have an open, flat area where I can lunge.
I’m planning on working with them on alternating days... Dakota on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays... Gypsie on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays... with Sundays off.
I’m thinking about working them for an hour each day... between 4 and 5 pm, that way it’s cooling down a little.
With Dakota, I was thinking about w/t/c on the lunge (5 laps each way at a walk to warm up, 5 laps each way at a trot, and 3 laps each way at a canter, 2 laps each way at a trot, and then 4 laps each way at a walk to cool down), doing a little in-hand backing, flexing, maybe some ground-driving, and end it with a mile or two walk/trot in-hand.
With Gypsie, I was planning on doing w/t on the lunge, as she doesn’t canter on the lunge... (5 laps each way at a walk to warm up, 7 laps each way at a trot, 2 laps each way at a walk, 3 laps each way at a trot, and then 3 laps each way at a walk to cool down), doing a little in-hand backing, work on refining her flexing, a little ground-driving, and end it with a mile or two walk/trot in-hand.
Is there anythin I’m forgetting? Or anything I need to edit or fix?
