Article Spotlight
Round Pen Training
Most round pens are fifty
to sixty feet to allow the horse to bend and achieve proper bend and balance at
the walk, trot, and canter. The round pen can be used for simply exercising the
horse, as a temporary paddock, a place to confine your horse while you work with
it without having it tied up, and many other ideas. You should concentrate on driving
the horse around the round pen at all the gaits. While you're driving your horse,
you should start to notice him consider looking toward you - when this happens you
should move, while backing - increasing the distance between you and the horse.
This is called drawing. If he doesn't pick up on this, move back behind him
and make him travel onward. Think of pulling him off the fence with an invisible
rope, and to pull you must back up...try approaching and petting him. If he won't
stand still, just start over and draw him in again.
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Quote of the Day:
"I've
spent most of my life riding horses. The rest I've just wasted."
~Anonymous
Training Tips:
Some horses buck when
they're young and unbalanced, especially at a canter. They simply haven't
learned to carry themselves, and a rider at the same time. When you start
jumping your horse, it gets even worse! Imagine running around a ring by yourself
- you're fine, and it's easy to jump things too! But then try carrying a
child piggyback around the ring doing the same things. It gets a lot harder, doesn't
it? If your horse gets into the habit of bucking or kicking out while cantering
or after he jumps, check several things. Make sure his teeth haven't grown too
long, or that his back isn't sore. Check to be sure that you're not causing
the horse pain or discomfort by pulling in his mouth or sitting too heavily on his
back. If you've checked everything possible, and your horse is still having
problems, consider another approach. again, many your horses are simply unbalanced.
I have a mare, though, that it's merely an attitude problem! She learned that
by bucking, she would get out of working at a canter (my own fault, I know). Once
the horse has learned this, it's hard to work them out of it, but it IS possible.
Your best choice is to put a western saddle on your horse, for your own balance
and safety. When your horse bucks, or kicks out, push him through it HARD - get
him over the idea that misbehaving gets him out of work. Every time he misbehaves,
he has to work harder! This is the easiest and quickest way to train your horse
out of a bucking problem.
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Horses in History:
1845: The Great Sectional Match, the North versus the South,
was run at Union Course in New York. Fashion, representing the North, raced against
the South's Peytona in a match race won by Peytona. Three years earlier, Fashion
had defeated Boston, who represented the South, in another North-South rivalry.
1891: Kingman, the only African American-owned horse to win
the Derby, did so with jockey Isaac Murphy in the irons. Kingman was owned and trained
by African American Dudley Allen. The win gave jockey Isaac Murphy back-to-back
Derby victories and made him the first jockey to win three Derbies.
1939: Louis
Schaefer became the first person to have ridden and trained a Preakness Stakes winner
after he saddled Challedon to victory. Schaefer won the 1929 Preakness as a jockey,
riding Dr. Freeland. In doing so he managed to solidify himself as one of the best all
time jockeys. Schaefer's double was replicated by jockey-turned-trainer John
Longden, who rode Count Fleet in the 1943 Preakness and trained Majestic Prince
to win the race in 1969.
1973: Secretariat worked
five furlongs in :57 2/5 at Pimlico Racecourse in preparation for the May 19 Preakness
Stakes. He was eased after completing his workout distance, but still ran six furlongs
in 1:10.
Not many people are aware of the rich history of horse racing.
Whilst horse racing as a sport first appeared in Roman as a spectacle of entertainment,
it was the opening of Newmarket Palace in England in 1606 which instigated the birth
of thoroughbred racing. The sport has gone from strength to strength globally since
then.
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