[heyycutter]

well, project horse.
his name is midnight and hes about 14.3h registered QH. 10 years old. almost no training under saddle, but great ground manners. was bought originally for a child as a first horse, but bucked her off and now shes afraid of him and her parents know nothing about horses, so he sat in a pasture for 2 years, and now i have him for about 6 months or as long as it takes until hes trained enough to be sold.

right now im working on his stopping, and trotting at a decently slow pace.

he stears pretty well, but cant bend yet. he does respond to the " Whoaa" pretty well, but he gets fast and excited at the trot and sometimes doesnt listen.
i have cantered him just a couple strides in each direction and i want to work him up to a full 20 meter circle in the next few weeks.

i have started many young horses and re trained many older ones, so im not new at this, but i thought id ask for alittle advice on excerses to stop him. i want to train him to know very basic dressage
i ride him in a double jointed happy mouth bit and i use a standing martingale.

any tips?
thanks!

 

[heyycutter]

i will be taking pictures today, i had a really hard time finding batteries for my camera haha

 

[Plains Drifter]

I'm definately interested in reading updates on his training progress. Can't wait to see pictures!

 

[heyycutter]

yesterday i decided to try him in a simply full cheek snaffle bit, and i think it helped with his stearing. I dont want anyone to think i stear with only reins, bc i dont lol. Midnight surprisingly moves off my leg well for what little training he has. anyway, i was so proud of him, he was able to trot in a complete 20 meter circle without speeding up to an uncontrollable speed or falling into the circle. he listened to my half halts more then he has earlier this week.
Im not worrying much about the canter at the moment, when i ride him (which i do about 4 times a week) i focus on stopping, and trotting at a controlled speed. Midnights a speed demon lol. We work on half halts as well, to keep him steady. his walk is very nice though and hes pretty much bomb proof.
i dont have any pics of me riding him but this is what he looks like:

 

[eventerdrew]

He's cute!!

If you are working on steering, you might want to avoid the standing martingale. Sometimes green horses can be confused when their face is being pulled down as well as to either side.

 

[heyycutter]

Thanks for your advice Eventerdrew, ill try without it tommaorw

 

[Plains Drifter]

He's very handsome! Sounds like he's doing well.

 

[kmdstar]

Great news, sounds like he's doing well! He is very beautiful.

 

[heyycutter]

i have someone intrested in him as a low level dressage horse (not for showing, this person just wants to have a horse to school and ride on her own) if i can get him to do basic collection at the walk and trot and have a decent canter. so, thats the plan for the next 6ish months

 

[maura]

Sorry to be a pain and quibble about terms, but low level dressage usually means intro, training and 1st level, which do *not* require collection. Collection requires that the horse already be supple, obedient, moving off their hind end, accepting the bit, bending correctly and have started lateral work. It also requires that the horse have sufficient fitness and musclature to carry itself in a collected frame. Acheiving collection after 6 months under saddle is not a realistic goal.

Getting the horse to move in correctly in a training level frame with a little vertical flexion is a little more realistic.

BTW, he is very cute and attractive and probably a terrific project horse.

 

[heyycutter]

Thank you. your right, i should have said, working on bending and forwardness and obedience

 

[Kashmere]

What a beautiful horse.. I love the coat!
Good luck on the training!

 

[heyycutter]

thank you! hes improved alot, he now listens pretty well to half halts, which is a first for him