# What Is He Suited For?



## Oliveren15 (Apr 28, 2013)

Hey all. I've been thinking, that by the spring I want to be 'in' a certain discipline. I feel like my riding is metaphorically 'all over the place' and I'd like to focus on one thing. But I don't know what my horse is suited for. Hers some background for those who haven't heard me drone on about him: Oliver is 5 years old, Thoroughbred, Pretty fit physically though could use a tad more weight, is barefoot, and right now is in light-moderate work. Feel free to move this thread if it isn't in the correct place, but here's a few pictures although they aren't great. I'll get more tomorrow. I ride both English/Western, too. Thanks!


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I look at him and I see eventing written all over him.

His long cannons will mean you would have to condition him VERY carefully and that upright shoulder and straight stifle combined with slightly sickled hocks may limit his scope a little but otherwise he is a very nice potential eventing horse.

He reminds me of my old boy actually. Monty's 18 now and mostly retired but he was a very good event horse in his day and pretty decent jumper up until fairly recently:








Apologies for quality, it's a video still, and was taken with my old phone which took bad quality video. He did knock the front pole that time but had cleared it the time before, I just put him in a bad spot.

They're built similarly but your boy is more compact and has a better back end.


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## Oliveren15 (Apr 28, 2013)

Thanks for the reply! I wanted to do eventing for awhile but I didn't know if he would be built for it or not. It seems like a lot of fun! From what I can see, your boy has pretty good form


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

He'd make a nice English horse, hunter/jumper type.


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## SaddleStrings (May 15, 2012)

You could even try some barrel racing with him too. And perhaps jumping?


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## Oliveren15 (Apr 28, 2013)

I wanna do a bit of jumping, though he's gonna need some serious schooling. He goes a little crazy when he sees a pole on the ground. Heck, why not throw a bit of recreational barrel racing lol


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Oliveren15 said:


> Thanks for the reply! I wanted to do eventing for awhile but I didn't know if he would be built for it or not. It seems like a lot of fun! From what I can see, your boy has pretty good form


Eventing is _amazing_! It takes a lot of guts but equally it's a ton of fun. And, you HAVE to cross-train, because you need jumping, dressage, and galloping. So it suits people [and horses] who like to have a lot of variety.

Thank you  I didn't train my old fella, you'd hope though that he would have nice form given that that jump is pretty huge. The front standard is about a 5'6" standard, the back is 4' [the actual jump is around 3'3" to 3'4"], and it's 4'8" wide.

I shared the photo because if my boy can jump like that with a VERY long back and poor hind end [and similar front half, neck set and overall balance] then your boy can physically do the same or better with the right training and attitude.


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## Oliveren15 (Apr 28, 2013)

Old thread but---Since I cant afford to send him off for training, no jumping. IDK WHAT I WANNA DO D: Agggghhhh


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Why not work on his erratic ground pole behavior? Then at least in time you can raise them so he can trot big over them as you work on a way to save up for a trainer 

?


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## Oliveren15 (Apr 28, 2013)

I don't have the experience to bring him along in jumping. Hes fine with poles now but I caant bring him past that.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I see Western gaming. I bet he's quick. Like , could you try reining?


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## Oliveren15 (Apr 28, 2013)

She said theres no way he could do gaming. He's too long and cumbersome


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## Tryst (Feb 8, 2012)

If you can't afford a trainer then I think the question becomes what do you have the experience to train him to do yourself? There are lots of resources online and DVDs which can help you learn how to train him yourself to jump, or do dressage, or barrels, etc. as always working with a trainer is helpful, even if just once in a while to help you improve your form.


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## Oliveren15 (Apr 28, 2013)

My experience in training is Basic saddle breaking, drive training, and stuff like this. I trained a horse to jump last year with my friend that I no longer speak with, but he was different. And Idk what I want to do anymore riding wise.


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## angelbkm212 (Aug 27, 2013)

he looks like he would be a great dressage horse, as well as jumping and cross country. He probably wouldnt be very good at barrels and other rodeo events but then again i havnt seen him move. My mum has an OTTB who is better at barrels and cutting than my QH mare who has been bred and trained for it. So my advice would be to try everything you might be interested in, and pick the one that your horse performs best in.


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## SketchyHorse (May 14, 2012)

There's a book called 101 Jumping Exercises, it is an _excellent _book to help start along a horse with jumping. It has exercises that start from the very beginning (ground poles) to the very "end" (actual jumps). Each exercise focuses on something different. Distances, bending, widths, etc. Even if you never get the ground pole stage at least you'll have different exercises to work him on. And it's _very _in-depth. It will tell you how you should ride a certain exercise or how your horse should go with illustrations.


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## barrelbeginner (Jan 31, 2012)

hey!.. I think you should go for whatever one YOU want. Ive been told Sunny and Poncho can't do certain things.. you wont know til you try.. He could blow us all out of the water. and be amazing at whatever you chose... Try watching videos and stuff like that good lucky girl


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## Oliveren15 (Apr 28, 2013)

Thanks you guys, I'll be sure to check out that book Sketchy!


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I have the book Sketchy suggested and it is AWESOME.


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