In the last article we talked about our program for three-year-old horses. That included five 15- to 20-minute sessions a week that involved a varied routine of flatwork, pole work, and an introduction to jumping with a rider over small, simple obstacles. We also take our young horses off-property to school or to a show, where we hack them around to get them used to the atmosphere, but don’t compete.

At four and five, we build from that foundation. Over the winter, we’ll have started making grids a little bigger and oxers wider, and cater the exercise to the horse. If the horse needs to lengthen its stride, we’ll move the fences out a bit. For one that can’t compress, we’ll do a lot of bounces and placing poles after jumps.

Building confidence

Our biggest goal is building confidence in our horses. We don’t want them to ever say “no.” Our zero-tolerance policy applies to any age of horse; we don’t tolerate a negative response or behaviour, whether it’s on the ground or under saddle. Every minute you spend with your horse is a training session, whether you realize it or not. If you are allowing him to misbehave, you are training him to do so.

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