Page 42 midwest horse digest April 09
Common
Trail Riding
Problems: Solutions to
Refusals, Rushing Home
and Other Undesirable
Behaviors: Part 1
con-
but
trol, pull
it’s just
around or
too hard to con-
stop. When we
trol him!”
hear comments like these, we
tell people that, however cute they may be, all
“I can’t stop my
horses have prey animal instincts, herd men-
horse on the trail.
talities, and perhaps most importantly, are very
We stop pretty well
fast and strong. They must be taught the skills
in the arena, and I
that we want them to have.
don’t know what to
Now you may know that, in some
do. I like to go fast
countries, there may be only a few natural
out there, but it
predators (other than man!), but we’re in
America, the land of cougars, bears, coyotes,
by Bob Jeffreys & Suzanne Sheppard
doesn’t feel safe!”
Do any of the above sound familiar?
etc, and your horses are smart enough to fear
If so, please know that you’re not alone. The
predators even if they’ve not seen them
“Help! My horse is fine on the trail until we
problems cited above are some of the most
before. Just think about it; if we humans came
canter, lope or gallop; then he’s wired and hard
common issues that people have with their
across a tiger in the woods, it would scare us
to control for the rest of the ride.”
horses. And although some horses can be
even if we’ve never see one before. Maybe
unusually brave, many horse owners experi-
especially because we’d never seen it before.
“My horse won’t cross
ence these challenges and want to resolve
We’re going to address one very
streams/gulleys/bridges/logs/etc; how do I get
them. They believe that their horses have the
important problem mentioned above, and the
him to go where I ask?”
potential to behave better, become braver
balance in the next two issue. So, let’s begin
and be the trusted friend that they dreamed
with crossing streams. As some of you know,
“ My horse starts to jig as soon as I get on and
about when they bought them. And they are
many horses who are very confident may balk
fights me for the whole ride! What can I do?”
right, but how?
In this three part series we’ll
at crossing unfamiliar footing. Why? Because
“My horse doesn’t want to leave the barn area
address why these problems occur, and
they know that crossing only safe, secure foot-
at all!”
show you effective techniques and - exercises
ing is a key to survival. Crossing streams can
to resolve them. The “fixes” that follow work
be a huge problem with horses because they
“My horse spooks at almost everything we see
on all breeds of horses.
do not have the depth perception that we do,
out there.”
Many people initially are drawn to
so even though we see that the stream or
horses because they are “adorable” or “pretty”,
creek or puddle is only about three inches
“I can’t ride my horse unless his buddy is right
and therefore assume that they are easy to
deep, our equine friend might perceive it as
beside him. I want to go out alone sometimes
“the abyss”.
Usually the horse will notice the
stream somewhere around fifteen to twenty
feet ahead and try to stop at this distance. We
should let them stop and relax here for a
minute or two. The horse is telling us what
distance from the stream his comfort zone
ends, and caution, or even fear sets in. If you
push right here you may end up with a fight on
your hands, so instead, let him relax for
awhile, and when you think you have a
reasonable chance for succeeding in getting
forward motion, then ask for it. You may only
get a step or two, but possibly three or four
before he stops again. This is great, as you’ve
increased his comfort zone towards the creek.
Let him relax again for a minute as before;
keep on repeating this step without rushing,
until you get to the creek.
Once there if you ask your horse to
go forward he will choose to either go back-
wards, or to the left or right - anywhere but the
creek! If he goes backwards you need to start
bumping him lightly with your legs or a whip,
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