06/21/2024
Hot weather lesson plans:
Two truths exist simultaneously - horse welfare is of upmost importance and we don’t want to overwork horses in the heat, AND lesson barns can’t afford to just quit teaching because of inclement weather.
I honestly don’t see this as a problem, but rather a reason to get creative!! And honestly every time I get creative, my students benefit from it.
This week I’ve really been focusing on teaching my young students all about how we TRAIN horses. I have a young walk/trot student that worked on getting one of our ponies to be more patient during the switch cup obstacle. (You just lift a cup up off of one pole that is on one side of your horse, and set it on another pole that is located on the other side of your horse.) We talked a lot about how horses don’t come out of the womb knowing what humans want them to do and how we are constantly training. I had her do a whole lot of halting and then reaching down to her right toe, and then reaching down to her left toe, petting the horse, and then walking off again.
I’ve had a lot of students working with the garrocha pole at a walk. Hot days are great for introducing obstacles like sidepass, and opening and closing a gate while mounted. I just worked a Young Horse, and did lots of yielding the hind quarters and yielding the forehand.  I had one student walk a figure 8, and had her count steps on each side of the figure 8 and try to get them to match. When it’s this hot, I still have students trot and sometimes canter but it’s short and brisk! We will do frequent quick trot stretches to wake the horse up and get them in front of the leg, but we just don’t maintain it for a long.
It’s a great time to get really picky about mounting- do your students know how to correct a Horse that wants to swing the hip? Do they mount elegantly or do they leap up there and cling like a tree frog? Sometimes little habits creep in fast and this is a great time to fix them.
I’m also not above hosing a horse off before I work them.
I wouldn’t even mind telling kids they can show up in shorts, and we can do a ba****ck ride, and even let them take off their boots and socks, and put them on the fence while riding ba****ck. (I have done this and I then hold the horse while they go put their shoes back on before handling a Horse at all.) Heck- have them ride through a sprinkler!
Give your adults silly leadline Lessons!!! as long as you have quiet lesson horses, have them sit backwards while you lead them around- do all the silly exercises you would do with a four-year-old child. (honestly, the adults need it more!)
You don’t have to cancel lessons- but you sure shouldn’t be having horses and riders jump 3 foot courses on repeat when it’s 95°F.
Find some shade and work on simple flexions and yields. Teach your horses a trick… better yet, teach your students how to teach tricks to the ponies! There is plenty that you can still do!!
