Training Horse Profile: Lyra

 

Training Goals:

• Improve ground manners
• Tune-up under saddle
• Trail miles

Lyra is a 3-year-old Quarter Horse mare. Her owner purchased her last year and was unable to work with her regularly over the winter, so she brought Lyra for some consistent training to get a head start on the summer. 

Week 1

For the first few days, Lyra was quite upset about being on her own.  She kept things interesting for me as she would run up and down the fence neighing when I was working with another horse in the round pen (just 30 yards away!).  When it was her turn to work, she was pretty distracted and pushy.   She was nippy when I was in close contact with her and was CONVINCED I had treats to give her.  We worked on standing for saddling, yielding the forehand and hindquarters, standing for mounting and, towards the end of the week, standing patiently with a rider.  On Friday, the vet was out to do routine work for several horses.  Lyra stood perfectly for her vaccinations and coggins test.

Week 2

She is improving in her ground manners-- more responsive and less pushy and nippy.  Under saddle, she behaves nicely--just needs a little refining.  We worked on moving off leg, side passing, pivots.  She struggles most with getting impatient while saddling. Side passing took a little while for her to figure out and she wanted to push back against the pressure instead of moving away from it, especially when moving off the left leg.

Week 3

She stood for saddling much better this week and was very respectful on the ground.  She still struggled with side passing on one side, but otherwise is a very pleasant ride.  Now that she is moving off leg well and very responsive to the bit, it is time to put some miles on the trails.  At the beginning of the week, I led her over the bridge so she could check it out first.  She was pleasantly calm on the trail with very little spooking.  Since she was so calm, I tried to ride her into the creek, but she was not in favor of that.  The footing is a little tricky, so I didn't want to push her too much from the saddle.  I decided I would try again later on foot. Towards the end of the week, her owner visited, so we headed down to the creek to see if we could get her into the water.  She followed be right in, no extra encouragement needed!  She enjoyed splashing in the cool water.  Next trail ride, she rode right into the water.

The deer flies swarmed her terribly, so 
this helped keep her more comfortable!

Week 4

She had an off day at the beginning of the week where she was not respectful of my space and kept trying to run my leg into the fence while riding.  On the trails, she did not want to go through the puddles, even though she loves the creek 😂  The rest of the week she was fabulous!

Practicing patience while I work other horses.

Over the 30 days, Lyra improved immensely in her ground manners as well as her responsiveness under saddle.  By the end of the month, she was truly a pleasure to ride, both in the ring and out on the trails.

"She is wonderful working with horses and very patient with them. She trained my young horse for 30 days and did an excellent job. I highly recommend her." -Sara P. (Owner)