Sending a horse for reschooling

raggydoll

raggydoll

Hattie & Bimble
May 16, 2005
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North Lincolnshire
Having had the lovely poohsmate look at Hattie again today and confirm that she is not in any pain and is indeed being a spoilt brat:rolleyes: we had a brief chat about the possibility of sending her away for a couple of weeks to be reschooled so that i can get on with enjoying her and working her to get that weight shifted. I have given this alot of thought today and it seems very sensible. Just wondered whether anyone else here had done this and whether you would mind sharing your experience, how you felt it went, how involved you were, cost, time and the final result as well as the longer term result.
Thanks :)
 
I have only seen it from the other side as we take in the occasional horse for schooling for clients.

Provided there are no fundemental problems (sorry I haven't read about your horse) then it can be very successful. Generally we ask the owner for at least two weeks, the first we ride the horse in all circumstances and improve its schooling, the second we ask the rider to come every day if possible for a lesson to get the pair working together. We then like to follow this up with the owner bring the horse to us at least once a month for lessons to keep on track.

Where the problems are bigger we will work with the horse and then use it for students and ask the owner to ride our schoolmasters so we can assess them as well as the horse. Sadly often the best we can suggest is a change of horse.

Costs are about £150 a week including livery and lessons.
 
Haven't done it personally (never had the need to) so not able to offer first hand experience, but I know several people who have done it when they've "got stuck in a rut" and didn't feel like they were getting anywhere with their horse. I think it is fairly expensive to do, £100+ per week on schooling livery is about normal around here. Depends on your part of the country. But if you find a reputable yard that you know produces good results, I think it's well worth the money.
 
From what you've said, the problem isn't Hattie's schooling (she's ok in the school?) but with her relationship with you - she has little respect for you. Sending her away from schooling will improve her technical knowlegde in the school but probably won't do much for your relationship, esp as it starts from the ground.

She'll come back nicely schooled but probably spent three days being good then revert staright back to as she was, since the main problem hasn't been solved.

I think you'd be much better spending the money on getting a good instructor out to help you work with her on the ground.
 
Sorr yshould have said in the post Hattie's problem is that she simply doesnt want to work and has a stinking attitude. She came from a RS and i wrongly thought that letting her chill out a bit when i got her would be helpful and show her that this home would be more fun and less 'hard' work. I was wrong, it gave her a taste for doing bugger all and now im expecting her to work to shift her weight and she says forget it!! She is generally bad mannered and bad tempered. Nothing 'dangerous' or anything like that but she barges and drags on the ground, is stroppy to be tacked up and if she can avoid doing any work ridden she will. I think a change of scenery and a reintroduction to being worked properly will do her the world of good as well as getting me some lessons on how to deal with her behaviour. I'd be more inclined to deal with this at home if it wasnt for the fact that i really need to be able to work her enough to deal with her weight issue.
 
I agree with PL it wont be cheap, also it wont help your relationship either. better getting a RI out to help you both;)
 
Sorry PL i cross posted and missed your reply. Now you put it like that, you may be right. Hmmm, just dont want to be risking her health any more than i need to really while i get my act together and deal with her behaviour. In the school she is 'ok' but is very hard work to get har to move and actually put some effort in, so she's really not getting enough exercise to tackle her flab and despite minimal rations shes holding it and if poohsmate is right actually putting it on :eek:
 
She's no fatter than the majority of cobs in this country and winters coming, so I would't worry too much about her weight. As long as she's not gaining fast, she'll survive 6 months of being fat.

Have you looked into getting straw for her? She can have half and half with hay, so she feels full but little calories.
 
I may know of someone who does behavioural and horse & rider training work who could come to you and work with you both. She's not wildly expensive and is very experienced. She's had some excellent results with a variety of problems and doesn't follow a specific method but tailors the work/training to suite the horse.

If you're interested pm me and I'll give you her details.
 
I didn't send my girl away as such, I went to someone nearby who could work with her and help me to work with her in same way. It was the best thing for us as my horse had real respect issues and I had confidence issues, (that is just a nice way of saying i was terrified of her lol). We had a great result in the end.
 
I sent Jack for reschooling - big improvement quickly.

He got ridden 6 days a week, for about an hour. Also hacked for longer. Schooled, jumped, went to different yards.

The yard he was on had 2 or 3 schools, a treadmill, a solarium, fab big stables, and access to olympic trainers.

The guy who schooled him recently broke in a 12hh pony so would be small and light enough for a haffie! He's worked with problem horses and stuff so doesnt take nonsense!

Cost £150 a week. (*eek*)

xxx
 
Thanks for your replies.
Nic - yes Garry Bosworth is top of my list of people to call to come and let me know what he thinks of us both and hopefully give us both some groundwork lessons.
Bay Mare - Pm'ed you :)
 
Started reply earlier and spilt coffee over my laptop:rolleyes: l sent my youngster away to Micheal Peace for 5 weeks consolidation training,best thing I ever did.He also specialises in behavioural problems,Fox grew up loads and was very happy there.He doesn't just sort your horse out,he teaches the owner how to work with the horse and changes( I'm not sure how) your mindset, giving you confidence and a postive attitude.
 
raggydoll said:
Sorry PL i cross posted and missed your reply. Now you put it like that, you may be right. Hmmm, just dont want to be risking her health any more than i need to really while i get my act together and deal with her behaviour. In the school she is 'ok' but is very hard work to get har to move and actually put some effort in, so she's really not getting enough exercise to tackle her flab and despite minimal rations shes holding it and if poohsmate is right actually putting it on :eek:
Click to expand...

sound exactly like my pony :rolleyes: not much help i know
 
IMO its all very well sending the horse away to have said problems dealt with, however they then come back to the owner, and unless the owner is taught along with the horse, the problem will then come back. Thats not being disrespectful to you Raggydoll just the way it is. I had a very experienced rider who could do all sorts with a TB Mare I owned, however, when I got on I really did not have the knowledge or mindset to ride her through the problems as I was more concerned with staying on her:D

Get someone to come to you and work with both of you, starting as PL said with the groundwork, that way you both benefit, it may take longer, as my RI said to me once, 'I have to teach you before you can teach the horse', makes sense, however he also added 'It seems to me the horse is a quicker learner':D:D:D
 
I don't have any experience of it myself but Casper's previous owner had him reschooled shortly after buying him.

The yard he moved to really encourages owners to get heavily involved in their training and schooling and his owner ended up moving to that yard permanently to keep up his training.

I don't know what he was like before reschooling but I find him an absolute dream to ride and in terms of handling etc he has no real vices.

I have heard stories of people spending lots of money to reschool/retrain and not keeping up the training and just expecting the horse to have changed forever when they return from the trainer.

I think it's money well spent if you are willing to follow through with everything they do and keep up the training.
 
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