Spring training
Like many horse owners, you may have trimmed last year’s budget as carefully as you trimmed your holiday tree. As your reward, you plan to invest your hard-earned savings in professional training for your horse. Smart investment! Whatever your riding style—showing, starting young stock, or general riding—help from a qualified pro is “money in the bank” for you and your horse’s future. A well-trained horse increases both your current enjoyment, and, if resale is on your calendar, your horse’s future value.
Protect your precious training dollar with these tips on what you can do to be sure your horse shows up fit and ready for spring training!
Leg ’em up!
Don’t waste your training dollar—and your pro’s time—by bringing an unfit horse to training camp. Start now to improve your horse’s overall fitness. Gradually increase daily exercise (longeing, ponying, riding), at the trot and canter, until Spot is up to a 45-minute workout.
Slick ’em out!
Bringing a winter-furred player to the training table is a no-no: winter hair traps heat, increases sweating, and delays a proper cool-down. If possible, put your horse under light exposure for 16 hours a day. Keep him outfitted in a heavy winter blanket and hood. A thorough daily currying will stimulate the shedding process and improve coat quality.
Tie ’em up
Start introducing your horse to a daily discipline he’ll likely encounter in training. A daily period of “time out” where your horse is tied securely to a wall or post (always at a comfortable level and near water) develops his patience and self-control. Those are two qualities he’ll need to be a success, no matter what he does for a living after training camp!
Savvy savings
Every year, the World Show features the best Appaloosas and their exhibitors in our industry. It also features some of the best costume eye-candy of the year! The fashions worn by the World Show exhibitors set the stage for styles headed to a show near you. Lucky for us, many trainers and exhibitors purchase a new designer must-have once they’ve worn an outfit. That means their high-end high styles show up on web resale sites and discussion forums. Two web sites that reliably feature one-of-a-kind finds at a fraction of designer prices: Show Me Again (www.showmeagain.com), and Pleasure Horse Journal Online Forum. Go to www.delphiforums.com, enter Pleasure Horsfollow links to sale items.
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