brianne141675
New Member
What are some good/fun round pen exercises? I have a 6 year old OTTB that i've been working with and I don't want to bore him by running in circles the whole time :b
Round pen Exercises.
- Thread starter brianne141675
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PaintedDreams
New Member
Hey! The thing about a roundpen is... there isn't a lot you can do, but go in circles.... unfortunately.
The boring stuff is often the most important stuff anyway. Make sure you have completed the inital stages of roundpenning first before changing it up. Consistency is how a horse learns, and variation is what keeps it interesting; but you have to have enough consistency for the horse to learn before adding variation.
Once you have your horse going well, then you could change it up by moving outside the roundpen and working your horse over logs, ditches, on the side of a hill, etc., somewhere your horse has to concentrate on where he is putting his feet. Give him a purpose for the groundwork.
Roundpens shut horses down mentally because of their size. So, you want to stay in there long enough to get done what needs to be done, but then get out of there so you can free up the horse's feet and mind.
The boring stuff is often the most important stuff anyway. Make sure you have completed the inital stages of roundpenning first before changing it up. Consistency is how a horse learns, and variation is what keeps it interesting; but you have to have enough consistency for the horse to learn before adding variation.
Once you have your horse going well, then you could change it up by moving outside the roundpen and working your horse over logs, ditches, on the side of a hill, etc., somewhere your horse has to concentrate on where he is putting his feet. Give him a purpose for the groundwork.
Roundpens shut horses down mentally because of their size. So, you want to stay in there long enough to get done what needs to be done, but then get out of there so you can free up the horse's feet and mind.
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brianne141675
New Member
Right, I understand. Sadly, the round pen is the only closed off area we have to ride & I don't think he's mentally ready to be ridden in wide open areas. I've worked him in part of one of the pastures & he's just so easily distracted, so I've been working him in the round pen so I have his full attention.
