Give Me A Break!

The Importance Of Taking Time Out In Training

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Giving your horse breaks in training is not something many of us spend too much time thinking about. We tend to focus on the goals of our session for that day, and unconsciously ‘fall into’ breaks while we think about what to do next. Sadly, this leads to us often reinforcing behaviours we do not want, and leads to riders drilling exercises day after day with little to no improvement, as the horse simply doesn’t understand what the rider is looking for. On top of this, we end up with physically exhausted horses, who are stiff and sore the day after training, and fail to enjoy their work. It is for these reasons that we need to spend a bit more time getting to grips with breaks, and the correct way to approach them.

The most important reason to give your horse a break is fundamentally to relax and recover. However, it is also a great learning tool for horses, and a well-timed break can teach far more than the next four repetitions of the same exercise. But, what kind of breaks should your horse be taking? Should we keep him moving, or should we allow him to stand and think?

HOW TO GIVE BREAKS

In natural horsemanship circles, people tend to give their horse a break by allowing him to stand still and experience ‘dwell time’. In equestrian sport, on the other hand, people tend to give their horse a break by walking. But, which of these two options is best?

As with most things with horses, it really depends. Here we explore the different kinds of breaks and the reasons to use each one.