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won’t necessarily be on
the same path.Get Past a
SetbackWe all have good days,
and we all have bad days.
Your horse is the same
way. Even with simplifying
your day-to-day riding
objectives, you’re going
to run into setbacks.
When you face a set-
back, it’s important that
you keep it from turning
into multiple problems.
Take a step back and see
what happened to get to
that point. Did you pull
your horse out of his stall
after a couple of days of
not being ridden and start
training on him right away?
To avoid turning that
into a larger problem,
include a quick round-pen
or longe-line session to
your riding objective to
help him get any play out
before you get on.
Or maybe you tried
going to the next step
of your riding plan, and
he’s just not ready for it.
If that’s the case, you may
need to reevaluate your
game plan and slow back
down, so he fully under-
stands what you’re asking
of him. You want to make
sure your horse is mentally
ready to learn something.
Whatever your setbackis, try to end the training
session on a good note
to ensure your horse con-
tinues to be happy and
willing to learn.Horse Show Plan
If you do compete with
your horse, you want to
adjust your game plan
and riding objectives to fit
your show schedule. An
issue I see riders run into
is trying to keep a per-
formance horse at a high
level of competition all
the time. It creates mental
fatigue for your horse,
making horse shows less
fun for everyone.
You can’t expect your
horse to be at the top of
his game every day, which
is why you need to work
on peaking your horse
at the right time as you
get ready to show. To do
this, tailor your program
so your horse has some
downtime and doesn’t
have to be as mentally
sharp as he would need
to be when you get closer
to competition time.
Let your horse stay
around 60 or 70 percent
ready. As you get closer
to a competition, build
on that percentage to
peak him as you get to
a show so you can get
the most out of him
when it counts. If your horse hasn’t been ridden in a couple of days, include a quick
longeing session into your game plan so he’s ready to work when you
get in the saddle.It’s hard for a show horse to be at the top of his game every day. If
you plan your riding sessions around when your next show is, you’ll
TO be able to help him peak at the right time.
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