Training of Elja- 7 year old Icelandic mare COMPLETED
Elja is used as a leisure horse for the entire family. She can be tense and nervous at times but is usually calm, obedient and fun to ride.
For the past months however her owner Alice Grey had noticed her tölt becoming increasingly more pacey. The mare was constantly falling into pace, no matter what gait was asked for. Her back became stiff, she bit down on the bit and raced forward, not reacting well to any aids. Alice tried to do some Dressage work with the mare with little success. Her owner was unsure what to do with the mare and asked us for help.
We agreed to let our trainee Scarlet take over, under guidance of Aaron. In her test ride she noticed the mare's walk was unsteady and wobbly. On the right hand she tilted her head to the left trying to keep balance, which Scarlet allowed, not forcing the mare to go on the bit. The mare was not ready for proper collection. The right hand was easier for the mare, she did however fall on her inner shoulder making the circle consistently smaller. When asked for a trot she fell into a piggy pace a few steps in. That the mare found her trot - even for a few steps - was however a good sign and something Scarlet could work with. Tölt was out of the question and canter was equally difficult.
Scarlet then proceeded to eliminate other causes such as badly fitting tack, shoes or physical pain. Everything seemed to be in order. The mare did have slight back pains, that could however easily come from the mare constantly tensing up while being ridden.
Elja would have to learn to walk properly again and gradually be reintroduced to her other gaits.
For the past months however her owner Alice Grey had noticed her tölt becoming increasingly more pacey. The mare was constantly falling into pace, no matter what gait was asked for. Her back became stiff, she bit down on the bit and raced forward, not reacting well to any aids. Alice tried to do some Dressage work with the mare with little success. Her owner was unsure what to do with the mare and asked us for help.
We agreed to let our trainee Scarlet take over, under guidance of Aaron. In her test ride she noticed the mare's walk was unsteady and wobbly. On the right hand she tilted her head to the left trying to keep balance, which Scarlet allowed, not forcing the mare to go on the bit. The mare was not ready for proper collection. The right hand was easier for the mare, she did however fall on her inner shoulder making the circle consistently smaller. When asked for a trot she fell into a piggy pace a few steps in. That the mare found her trot - even for a few steps - was however a good sign and something Scarlet could work with. Tölt was out of the question and canter was equally difficult.
Scarlet then proceeded to eliminate other causes such as badly fitting tack, shoes or physical pain. Everything seemed to be in order. The mare did have slight back pains, that could however easily come from the mare constantly tensing up while being ridden.
Elja would have to learn to walk properly again and gradually be reintroduced to her other gaits.
The first lessons were all about bending, riding circles, voltes, and loops, riding all with generous curves and a loose inner rein - which looked less impressive, but helped the mare. Scarlet wanted to start by loosening the muscles and gaining control over each individual leg, that way Scarlet would be able to train her how to walk properly again.
Once she became more supple towards aids Scarlet continued her work with transitions, asking her to trot and immediately walk again. One day, when Elja was feeling particularly lively she started to canter instead of trot, which Scarlet allowed and encouraged, but also stopped after a few steps before the horse automatically fell into pace again. The canter however also helped loosen her up, which was a great success.
The days went on and Scarlet started to fine tune the circles a bit and framing the mare. Leg yield was the next larger step incorporated into her training, teaching the mare to lift her back and carry the rider. Also here the aids had to be 'cheated' to help the mare. The inner rein was left looser and she had to give the mare impulses from the outside leg to keep the mare moving evenly.
Once she became more supple towards aids Scarlet continued her work with transitions, asking her to trot and immediately walk again. One day, when Elja was feeling particularly lively she started to canter instead of trot, which Scarlet allowed and encouraged, but also stopped after a few steps before the horse automatically fell into pace again. The canter however also helped loosen her up, which was a great success.
The days went on and Scarlet started to fine tune the circles a bit and framing the mare. Leg yield was the next larger step incorporated into her training, teaching the mare to lift her back and carry the rider. Also here the aids had to be 'cheated' to help the mare. The inner rein was left looser and she had to give the mare impulses from the outside leg to keep the mare moving evenly.
As expected once the mare was able to walk evenly again it didn't take long for her to trot and gallop. To keep it interesting for the mare a lot of her training now took place on open terrain while hacking out. The slopes of the hills and high grass of the fields provided new challenges. It was in those hills that Elja found her tölt again. It was easier for the mare to tölt downhill than it was on an even path.
After three months her training was intensified, combining all elements of what Elja had learned. In a 'tölt-dressage' she was asked to gait in circles, voltes and even leg-yields while keeping the same pace. Canter with speed changes were practiced and to test the stability of her trot the reins were dropped and picked up to see if the mare could stay in trot and not fall apart.
Towards the end Scarlet sat down with the owner to talk.
Taking into consideration that the mare was used by many family members (with different riding styles) and mostly ridden 'just for fun' and not really worked with Scarlet expressed the importance of (at least) occasional dressage work. Elja is a 5 gaited mare and will most likely always have the tendency to get pacy. Dressage will help loosen her up and enable her to sort her gaits properly. Alice agreed, but also honestly admitted that she spends her entire week training horses, which was why she bought Elja with the intention to have one leisure horse to just hack out with.
Scarlet empathetically told her how the mare can be trained while hacking out in a fun way, using hills to canter up or tölt down, ride serpentines along the path, riding speed changes letting other riders pass then speeding up to the front and especially leg yields in all gaits.
However Scarlet also felt responsible to at least mention the possibility of selling Elja and getting a different horse more suited to their needs. Alice thought that was out of the question since her daughters love the horse but she would still keep it in mind.
With a lot of gratitude and much to think about she loaded up Elja and drove off.