Saturday, March 23, 2013

Training Method - Western Horses

This is the training method that I find works best for Western Horses. There are lots of other methods and approaches out there - some people like to vary the method depending on the breed. However, this is a good place to start if you're looking for something simple to follow that works on all horses.


Once a horse has finished foal games follows this schedule to get your Western Horses blupped and bolded.

Remember to always do a lesson every day as well.

Training schedule:
  • Short Trot rides
  • Speed training
  • Dressage training
  • Cutting competitions
  • Once you're not gaining anything from the Cutting comps complete the Stamina training
  • Western Pleasure competitions
  • Reining competitions
  • Once you're not gaining anything from the Western Pleasure / Reining comps complete the Gallop and Trot training
  • Jump training
  • Trail competitions
  • Long Steep Slope rides and Long Gallop rides to finish bolding
Following this I usually get my horses bolded and blupped by the age of 10 years. The horse should pick up their 20 wins quite easily along the way. I then do Beach Rides if required.

Lucy

Looking to train a Classical Horse? See our post on Training Methods for Classical Horses.

9 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for posting! By short trots, do you mean short trot rides until you don't gain anything? Or do you do them for a certain amount of months?

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  2. I do short trot rides until the horse is old enough to start training. Then I complete the Dressage and Speed training. I usually then start the Cutting competitions at the same time as finishing off the short trot rides - but see what works best for you.

    Lucy

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  3. Thanks this raelly helps i have classical and westren horses to train this helps alot if only u were my friend on Howrse!(LOL)

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  4. i don't see any barrel races are they not done?

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  5. How long should you train for?

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  6. Does this work on all breeds?

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  7. The Barrel races aren't necessary to complete the training. I find they use too much energy. However, they can be used if you want to - this is just my method.

    Train for as long as you can fit in - this will depend on if you have carrots, turnips, mashes, boxes with showers etc.

    And yes, it works on all breeds as a basic method. Again though, if you specialise in one breed you might tweak the programme slightly to what works best for you.

    Lucy

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  8. Is there a specific reason we should only do short trot rides or would long trot rides work just as well? Also...I'm well aware I'm late to the game b/c this hasn't been posted on since like 2013 but hopefully you still see this...thanks for the help :)

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  9. abby_hays, I realize you posed that back in june, but if you are still wondering it is important to do short trot rides to gain speed, long rides gain stamina

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