Training

[Rikkiri]

I'm curious, how do you guys train? That is, what process and/or order do you train in? I've had success with a few different ways depending on the stats of the horses I even bother to try with, but I always train Stamina first and then work on Dressage stats (Str, Bal, Mov).

When the fatigue gets too high, I usually do a 5min Lunge and no more, to back off the fatigue a bit.

Do you guys use a certain training technique more often? (Lungeing, Poles, Arena and/or Trail, etc?)

[Aela]

I don't do a lot of competing, so I often only have a two horses in training if any at all.
I do Stamina first as well, then go for Endurance traits (Speed and Agility. Tempo is often quite high when Stamina has been trained)

This is how I train my horses after finishing Stamina:

Horse 1, day 1: Trail + Gallop + 30min Around Obstacles once, then Arena + Walk + 5min Lunge until energy is empty
Horse 2, day 1: Arena + Walk + 5min Lunge until energy is empty
Horse 1, day 2: Arena + Walk + 5min Lunge until energy is empty
Horse 2, day 2: Trail + Gallop + 30min Around Obstacles once, then Arena + Walk + 5min Lunge until energy is empty
And so forth (hope you get the idea)

In that way I get to train my horses and still earn a fair amount of money in local shows

[LM4ever2day]

Since I like to train and sell my horses I usually train in areas that are most important for the sport that my horse is competing in (since I do a lot of competing as well). Like if I have a racing horse I usually focus on speed or if I have a show jumper I focus on agility. I also make sure the location of my training will put more experience in that area. For example if I want to increase speed I train on the track and if I want to increase agility I train on the trail.

[Chelle]

well when I first begin training I usually start right when they are a newborn using the arena/walk/lunge on the flat for 5mins til they can handle 30min intervals. Once that happens I continue doing 30min arena/walk/ lunge on the flat intervals each day til their energy runs out-thankfully this doesnt cause much fatigue so they are able to work out at the same pace the next day. I continue this process til Stamina/Tempo/Balance are above 70% (if I start training at newborn then they are about 1yr old when this process is finished) then I begin focusing on improving other stats. Getting the Stamina stat up high before working on other stats is extremely beneficial i've learned. I usually start next with Arena/Walk/collection and impulsion for 30mins which helps improve the INT and Movement stats, when INT stops acquiring a lot of percentage increases then ill train collection and impulsion a few times a day then switch over to arena/walk/loose rain for 30mins which onlys movement to improve significantly. If I want to increase Strength/Speed together I do Track/Gallop/loose rain for 30mins which allows for a substantial increase in speed. Hills/Walk/30mins pulling a cart increases strrength substantially and speed if you have not already used the track/gallop once that day. And for agility improvements i use Trail/Walk/around obstacles for 30mins. I don't compete my horses til they have at least 95% in their major discipline stats. I also usually only compete my stallions and use my mares as broodmares to help improve breeder reports, though if they do have good reports i will train/compete them. When my horses are competition ready they are usually about 8-10yrs old.
Examples:
http://www.horseworldonline.net/horse/profile/142115
^ this horse I currently have in training. he is 1.4yrs old and you can see his Stamina/Tempo/Balance are all 70%+ and i've now started working on his other stats.

http://www.horseworldonline.net/horse/profile/133536
^ This horse I am currently competing in Show Jumping, Dressage, Cross Country (Eventing) and as you can see all of his stats are all 97%+.

http://www.horseworldonline.net/farm/pasture/9843
^ This pasture holds my retired competition stallions that I just use as studs now. They all competed in Dressage or Show Jumping and one is Hunter-I usually stick to just one specific discipline per horse because it allows me to compete more than one horse at a time in a different discipline which helps their competition records. Except for my current one that I'm experimenting on eventing with. If you want to take a look at their competition records, most of their win/number of competition ratios are very good using these training methods.

I hope this helps some! I'm interesting in hearing everyone elses training ideas

[BHR_Training]

My whole focus is breeding, but I think training is very important regardless of your goals because they give you a better look at the way the horse's bone and muscle look like. Plus they get all shiny and pretty. I usually like to have at least on horse that does level four local shows with consistent 1st place rankings so I at least earn a hundred more than I feed, to balance and maintain my funds. I focus a lot on lunging until they can handle thirty minutes at a trot before moving on to a mix of that and collection and impulsion and lunging over jumps

[Chelle]

I really wish training had a positive impact on breeder reports, i'm having the hardest time figuring out how to make my breeder reports more positive as well. Is there a listing anywhere that shows the positive remarks to negative remarks or advice on helping to improve them besides just trying to breed a horse with a good report to another with good report? I feel like it's kind of a guessing game

[Rapori]

I really wish training had a positive impact on breeder reports, i'm having the hardest time figuring out how to make my breeder reports more positive as well. Is there a listing anywhere that shows the positive remarks to negative remarks or advice on helping to improve them besides just trying to breed a horse with a good report to another with good report? I feel like it's kind of a guessing game

I've been having a lot of success on improving breeding reports. I evaluate my horses based on my own scale. I decide what I think is a "poor/fair/good/very good/excellent" description, and record this in their private notes. I only keep horses that meet my criteria and rehome/sell the rest.

I'm currently consistently breeding green intelligence and green tempo, and have just started getting average and good remarks in strength (from a lot of reds and poor remarks). It really just takes time, the right pairings and consistency. My program is fast paced and 100% focused on breeding.

My current challenge is balancing good breeding reports with good conformation and breed evaluations.

[Aela]

I really wish training had a positive impact on breeder reports, i'm having the hardest time figuring out how to make my breeder reports more positive as well. Is there a listing anywhere that shows the positive remarks to negative remarks or advice on helping to improve them besides just trying to breed a horse with a good report to another with good report? I feel like it's kind of a guessing game

I have created my own "evaluation chart" for my horses.
I rate them based on the amount of red/bad/average/good/green they posses. If they have 1 red or more than 2 bads = rehoming
Then I evaluate their conformation. My new standard is less than a total of -60 = rehoming
Then I rate them based on their stars within the breed. Less than 2 stars = rehoming

(Some of them get to pass even if they do not meet my criterias, because they are special in another way (colour, etc.))

[Argent II]

I feel like it's kind of a guessing game

Welcome to breeding.

[Questhaven]

I have created my own "evaluation chart" for my horses.
I rate them based on the amount of red/bad/average/good/green they posses. If they have 1 red or more than 2 bads = rehoming
Then I evaluate their conformation. My new standard is less than a total of -60 = rehoming
Then I rate them based on their stars within the breed. Less than 2 stars = rehoming

(Some of them get to pass even if they do not meet my criterias, because they are special in another way (colour, etc.))

How do you evaluate conformation? I would love to add that to my toolkit.
QHF