3/3/2023 1 Comment Week 2: Endurance TrainingOver the past few days, we have been working on endurance training for both me and Marty. Endurance is very important because you have to keep a forward pace throughout a jumping course, and because we have been working on jumping bigger jumps this is very important. It is also very important so that way we can get around a jumping course. Just like people who play other sports, horses and their riders how to stay in shape to complete a course.
To help Marty build up his endurance we did longer rides and instead of jumping we worked or trotting and cantering over pole gymnastics. Gymnastics are poles or jumps placed in a certain pattern to make the horse have to use all of its muscles properly. We also came up with a time pattern for trotting and cantering to help Marty be able to keep going for longer periods, we would trot for three minutes the canter for 5. After that, we would walk for 3 minutes and repeat! This process helps build up muscle and stamina but still allows the horse and rider to have a break. This is so important to make sure to give your horse a break because just like any other athlete they need to catch their breath and rest. It's okay to push your horse to a certain extent, but you also have to be careful and listen to them when they have had enough. I have also been very careful when asking Marty to pick up his canter leads so he gets the right one. While training horses it is easier to work on one small thing instead of trying to fix everything all at once. That is why over the past week we have really been working on building up Marty's endurance. Our goal for the next local show is to keep him going through three 2 foot classes, so he needs to be able to keep going through all of them. At the next show we are also going to work on having a more forward pace and be more careful about getting the correct leads.
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2/23/2023 0 Comments Week 1: Introduction and GoalsDuring this project I intend to teach my five year old horse how to jump a 2 foot course over 12 weeks, and to get him ready for the 4H district show (4H State qualification show). My biggest goal is to have a safe course and to place. I have had my horse, Marty, for 2 years and have been training him with my trainer Hailey. Because Marty is a younger horse he has very little jumping experience, so it is my job to teach him over the next 12 weeks. But Marty knows how to jump and is super smart, so he will figure some stuff out on his own!
Last weekend we went to a small local show, so we could get a starting point and know what we needed to work on. We went in one 2 foot class and ended up getting 2nd place out of three riders, but we still have a lot to work on. We need to work on getting flying lead changes and work on keeping a forward consistent pace (he’s very lazy). Once we get both skills down not only will we place better, but we will also have a much safer jumping course. We also got 1st place out of 12 in a walk-trot-canter class. Over the past two years we have been training Marty basic skills (walk, trot, canter, and listening to other basic commands), and in the past year we have been teaching him how to jump and how to change his canter leads (simple lead change). Recently we have been working on jumping bigger jumps and doing flying changes. By the end of the 12 week project my goal is to have us jumping around a 2 foot course with flying changes. |