Tips on retraining OTTB for western pleasure & eventing?

Question

What are some good tips on retraining a OTTB for western trail pleasure and eventing? On a related note (for a friend) about how long a person should wait before riding a horse that miscarried?

Answer 1

On the miscarriage .. if your mare was healthy before and after aborting there is no reason she can not go back into conditioning about a week after.  As long as she has been cleared by the vet as free of infection and she is not being bred back, riding her would be great for her.

As long as you go into retraining an OTTB acknowledging his differences from a "from scratch" project,  things usually go smoothly.  He has been sacked out, has carried a rider, is probably as solid as they come on the ground.  He has not been taught to use his hind end, smooth transitions, to be mounted from a standstill or to bend and flex in the way you are accustomed to.  Basically he needs polish.  

After you have had him home awhile .. i generally give track hot equines a 6 month leave to "come down" .. start slowly and build on things he knows and is confident in.  When you have him riding well enough,  work a ton on yielding and bending, transitions, and using his hind end to stop.  You want him to stay comfortable in his gaits and teach him to use that rear end.  

When he is bending and flexing well, you are confident in his stopping ability,  you can execute a walk, trot and lope with smooth transitions and he works well off the bridle for you then teach him a vocation .. not before.

One thing to keep in your mind the first few rides on a tracker is that your natural fear reactions .. pulling on his mouth and inadvertent nervous leg cues tell him to GO!   Ive seen several of the very best riders left in the dirt trying to keep a racehorse from bolting.  If you have a runaway .. go with it.  It will be much harder for you to stop him in action than it will to ride it out.   Push him until the legs are gone underneath him.  You will only have to do this once.  Be sure you have the skill it takes to keep him under control at a gallop.  If you can manage it .. that will cure him for good.

I prefer OT Appendix AQHAs for my personal mounts but ive worked on enough TBs to know their quirks.  And trust me .. those darned TBs all have a quirk!

Good luck with him .. i hope you have years of fun with your Thoro.

Answer 2

Western pleasure and eventing are SO different.  I think you'd have a hard time getting a horse to do both successfully, even if you were a talented trainer.  I'm all about a well rounded horse, but some disciplines aren't particularly compatible.

Answer 3

I'm not sure how to answer since eventing is an english riding sport.  Do you mean you want to trail ride in a western saddle?  All that requires is getting your horse used to the saddle.  The training you do for eventing is not anything like western pleasure horse training for the showring.

EDIT...response to your added info....I've seen horses successfully do both stadium jumping and western pleasure,and even gaming as well...every one of those was a successful western pleasure horse before they were introduced to jumping and gaming...I just don't think it will be possible to do it in the order you want to do it in.  Western gaming...maybe...but not pleasure.  The myth that if you can ride english, you can ride western is at it's height of contest in this....you have to have the discipline of western pleasure firmly intact before attempting the others.  I'm not saying you can't turn a jumper into a western pleasure horse...but it won't come easy, and almost never will happen if you continue to jump in the meantime.

Answer 4

I have to agree with Juliane. It would be near impossible to train the same horse to do both at the same time. Eventers are taught to move with a very long, forward stride that is also very animated and bouncy. They must be brave, have initiative, but still be obedient. Western pleasure horses move in a very low, slow, almost shuffling gait that is practically the opposite of what an eventer would do. I really don't think the horse could understand the difference. And even if he could, the muscles could not be developed for both at the same time.

Answer 5

I agree with the other comments.  Your best bet is to just train him/her eventing and trail ride in an english saddle.

Regarding riding a horse that miscarried... ASK THE VET! 150%!