This is Angel> http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/Nyhorsegal05/Coco%20and%20Angel%20pictures/angelnewblanketNov302007.jpg   Shes 2 years old.    I am training her and i feel that our training has fallen behind.  What are some things a 2 year old horse can do?   All im doing is taking her to the round pen and letting her get the bucks and rearing out of her system.. then i work with her on changes of direction in the round pen.     Then when i take her into the arena and hand walk around...while im doing that..i walk her over ground poles and small cross rails. 

I haven't had a saddle on her yet because right now she has mud thats stuck under her..right where the girth goes. Its hard for me to get the mud off. Angel doesn't stand still on cross ties for long anyways. Soo once i get the mud off then i will tack her up with the saddle. *I don't want the girth to rub on her with the mud being there*

Theres a horse at my barn who is like 5 or 6 and hes already been to 2 horse shows.  It is so unfair..that this horse has more training then angel does.   

What are some things that i can do with this young horse?

Thanks.

~Laura~

Try not to get discouraged,and take your time you will have a better horse because you put in the time and energy.Have fun If you have cones those work well to go in between.

Sounds like she needs some lessons in standing quietly when tied, so that's something you can work on :)

Jessi

You can teach her to stand up the proper way for her breed, and to walk and trot beside you on a loose lead.  Get some showmanship patterns and teach her the movements needed to perform them.  Using ground rails, make step overs and back ups. 

Spotted Pony

Sounds like what you're doing so far is pretty good. As a 2 year old you don't want to do too much physically. I would suggest tons of ground work that will lead up to eventually being a good all around horse. You could do a lot of desensitizing with her. Get her used to plastic bags, tarps, etc. Plus general skills she will need to know like trailer loading, clipping, eventually bathing, etc. I think they are perfectly capable of learning good ground manners (standing still, tying, letting you do things with their feet, etc). Sounds like she could use some standing still lessons!

 You don't want to start comparing her to other horses! Especially one that's 5 or 6. There's a huge jump in those couple of years and they are much more physically and mentally capable of handling more at that age. Your horse is already getting a headstart so just take it nice and slow and be excited about the progress she makes!

First off, she's quite a cutie! And sounds like she has some really good basics so far.

 Yep, if you can tie her up somewhere, just let her fuss it out, and trust me, eventually they will just hang out and take a nap. Last year I left Nova for 30+ minutes tied up and after a bit of bored fussing, would give up and stand. (This was easier because I could go in the house and watch him, and he couldn't see me.)

In the roundpen (and yeah, like QHAA said, go easy there because of her baby joints) have you worked on getting her to whoa, walk, trot, (sometimes) canter on cue? Nova was only lunged about 5 times last year, but he learned the basics - and this year I will be expanding on those and expecting quicker/more precise responses.

When you're leading her around the arena, don't be afraid to ask her to stop, back up, turn towards you and away from you. And you can start working on having her do turns on the forehand and haunches, just remember to start small and only ask for a step or two at a time. Since you have access to ground poles, have fun with them. Set them up in a big L shape and have her walk then back through it. Put a tarp on the ground, then the poles to hold it in place, and have her walk across that. Do all sorts of obstacles - like you would in an in-hand trail class. Also by doing all this, maybe you can haul her to a show or two this summer - those are really good experiences for the young ones. Do halter, showmanship, or in-hand trail if the show has it.

If you have someone knowledgeable about ground-driving (long-lining) who can help you get her started and going on that, go for it. Perhaps start with a halter or sidepull, then maybe graduate to a bridle if she's going fantastic. This way you can work on her steering but without lots of stress on her joints. Doing this would also be a HUGE step for her undersaddle career - I wish I'd done this with Nova last year.

Later this year, if things are going well, put the saddle on, and lunge her for a bit, let things flop around and hang off of it, so she gets used to all that. If she's mature enough and doing well with the saddle, maybe you can get on her. If you have help, of course! Last year I sat on Nova probably 3 times, just getting up, letting him get used to me, and having my helper lead me around for a minute or two, and then dismounting. He did really well, and was unconcerned, and I think this year when I really start him he won't be concerned about that part. (Now I just have to get him to understand the rest of riding, and I might be okay!)

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.   This will help me out alot.   I just got a vhs on round pen training..so once that comes i will watch it and take some notes. 

You know how they make crash dummies to test out new cars in a crash test?...Why can't they make them for us horse people?.. If your afraid to ride  your new horse ...just put the rider dummy on the horse.  The dummy would have to be weighted of course..and some how tied on to the saddle..      Someone should make one of those and sell them online..

Thanks.

Laura 

Lassie01:

You know how they make crash dummies to test out new cars in a crash test?...Why can't they make them for us horse people?.. If your afraid to ride  your new horse ...just put the rider dummy on the horse.  

 There are! they're called trainers.....

 Just kidding! But I do have to say, some days I do feel like I'm getting paid to be a crash test dummy!