ive found an indoor arena to ride in with my horse once a week. Do any of you have any ideas what l could do with him. He is very green and spooky. Ive only just got him used to going over poles and cantering in circles on a lunge. Im now going to go off the lunge and start doing more. Any ideas what l can do? if anyone finds some videos of someone doing it or good explanations and pictures l would be grateful.
Any type of answer would be fine.
i ride him about 4 times a week but only have acsess to an arena 1 time a week because l have to pay to take him somewhere else becuase where l keep him doesnt have one.
he is a cob and gets tired. what tips can l have on that.
i get the arena for about 2hours
i love him to bits
he has quite a fast trott but he will slow it down if l want him to

Are u only riding ur horse once a week? Or is the indoor just some different scenery for him? How long do u get the arena for?

If it is only once a week, l would suggest starting off nearly every ride with a 30-40 minute longe session (though this may not be possible if u only get the arena for an hour), & then ride him. Work on poles, transitions, cavalletti, & voice commands while longeing. Work on poles, transitions, legs yields (or just moving away from pressure, as he is green), & being forward. Ride him on his forehand by sitting back & keeping u legs beneath you. Do lots of circles, serpentines, things to keep his mind occupied.

EDIT::: As far as him getting tired, u just need to build up his endurance. Canter for stretches (for respiration) & trot a lot (for muscle - a young horse needs a lot of this..especially for when u will ask him to do something like collect!)

It is good that u can ride him more a week, that will make ur job easier & his training more consistent. How far along in training is he? What can he do & what can not he do undersaddle?

If he can walk, trot, & canter, then u have a good base to start simple leg yields or 20m circles or other supple-ing exercises.even if u r not going to do dressage, it is the best base.

Are his gaits consistent? Meaning of u r trotting him, will he slow down or speed up of his own accord? If he does, then u should work on keeping him at one pace before moving onto more advanced things.

that pet of yours is way to annoying to keep how do you cope with him

some things you can do to reduce the spooking:

tie plastic bags everywhere: on their feed bin--etc. Horses really do not like them so if they can get used to that not much will spook them.
We've also tied bags full of paper or something light on the saddle horn and let it hang down so it rubs against them while their lunged. This helps them get used to brushing up on things or sudden movements

The only way to deal with his tiredness is to get him fitter, ensure he is having the right amount & type of feed.

Introduce him to as many diverse things as possible to help with the spookiness, try walking him over plastic, get him used to umbrellas that sort of thing. Lots of groundwork, make it fun to keep his interest.As well as lunging u could introduce long reining ( get someone with u the first time u do it )
If he is green then he is likely to be unbalanced, help him stay supple carrot stretches & such like.

In terms of ridden work, lots of transitions, maybe get a simple dressage test & practise that in the arena. Book an instructor & have some lessons at the same time.

There r many wonderful opportunities in an enclosed school. The only limit is imagination.

If the school has mirrors, check ur position as u face them or go past.

Practise turns & circles & changes of rein in as many ways as possible. In walk u could go from a twenty metre circle (half the arena) down to a ten metre one just by leg yielding using ur legs - pushing him in with ur outside leg but having ur inside leg ready to prevent him ''falling in''. Then go back out again.

Practise changes of pace keeping all paces active & half halts to keep the horse attentive.

Practise slowing & quickening the pace using ur seat only. As u swing ur seat with ur horse is movement try slowing it down & u will find ur horse will have to follow.

Correct riding will deal with the spookiest.

Do some stretching exercises on his back to try & find ur seat bones & lengthen ur legs & back etc. Will do wonders for ur balance.

Remember to warm up - five mins walk, five - 10 mins trot & warm down again to prevent muscle injuries & over heating.

Are u sure he is tired? Or is he unfit or lazy. If he is young u just need to do lots of fittening work - & that is not galloping all around the country side but building it up slowly. Walking up & down steep hills is an excellent way to build muscles & wind. He might need a bit more seat work on ur part - hence the changes of pace & half halt in all paces. Until he is a bit fitter limit the canter to about 10 mins in all & slowly build that up.

2 hours is rather a long time to spend on schooling for a green horse or one that is not fit. Can u not limit that to one hour. Horses need little & often, not an intensive crash course in one fell swoop!

Most riding school horses only do an hour at a time in the school because it is so intensive.

BHS Books - Training the Young Horse has a lot of illustrations of riding patterns. You might need to order it either from BHS direct or a book shop, like W. H. Smiths.

ground work, ground work and more ground work..email me for ideas victoriaisabellthompson.co.uk

l would suggest trying natural horsemanship
He will stop being spooky & trust you!
Within a few months u could be riding him bareback anywhere u like!
Its a very different style of riding however :P
If u r interested read up about Parelli
Although it looks very expensive, u can buy a lot of the stuff off ebay!
for MUCH less :) & it would be worth it
You dont really need a trainer for the program if u buy the dvds,
But it never hurts to get a bit of guidance if u have an instructor in ur area
If u dont want to do this, even a little help from parelli could make ur horse less spooky
Look up the 7 games on youtube or something!
It teaches ur horse trust & respect :)

Goodluck!