I had a request recently that I share more of what I do with my horses (you know, besides just throwing my money at them) and since I got a little horse time in this weekend, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to fulfill that request.
I didn’t spend much time with Spur, Saturday was pretty chilly and I wasn’t very motivated. But Sunday was sunny (and windy) so I dedicated some time to Wrangler (aka Scarface).
Through no fault of his own, Wrangler doesn’t get as much saddle time as Spur does. He’s always been an “easy” horse and the unfortunate truth is that makes him easy to put on the back burner. But that also means his education is lacking and he’s had more time to pick up a few bad habits. Like being unable to leave his buddies.
When I stepped on him and asked him to walk off, it immediately became apparent that he wanted to go one direction and only one direction. And I have a hard time believing that it was coincidence that that one direction was where the rest of the horses were standing.
(Also, it’s probably high-time I post my normal disclaimer that I am not a horse trainer.)
So I chose the stretch of pasture that is the farthest away from the other horses and decided that is where we would be riding. We rode the same stretch of pasture (I’d guess it’s about 75 yards across) and made sure that each turn we made was away from the direction he wanted to go. We walked a few sections until that became relaxed, then trotted for a looooong time (it took two or three goes before he became relaxed at the trot), then we loped, practicing varying speeds at each gait. Our overall ride time looked about like this:
- Walk 4x
- Trot 10x
- Lope 6x
- Walk 4x
- Pictures (hahahaha)
I realize my graphic is ridiculous, but I’m one of those people that has a hard time visualizing something without an aid, so if you’re like me, this might help. We don’t really have a dedicated place to ride at our house, so we have to use the pasture with horses in it or the driveway. The straight line in the “photo” below is the route Wrangler and I were taking and the arrows show that each of our turns were purposely away from the house/other horses/place where Wrangler gets fed. Along that straight line we worked on varying the speed of whatever gait we were working on at the time as well as collecting for a few steps. We took our turns at either the walk or trot (not a lope).
The thing about Wrangler is that it doesn’t take long for him to figure things out. It’s part of what has made him such an easy horse to start. He wants to please, he wants to learn, he wants to do what is asked of him. But he also might throw a little fit about it, and that’s where some repetition and work goes a long way.
After we finished riding, I took him up by the shop (the only place we have open shade) and made him model these gorgeous burgundy reins from Andrea Equine. The modeling fulfills two things: it’s fun for me and an important part of my business but it also forces him to stand quietly and patiently, away from his buddies. In this particular spot, unless Garth and the goats come investigate, he’s out of sight from all of the other critters. It’s a win-win!
One Comment
Thanks Brianna.
I’ve got a guy like this too.
“Dallas” is my steady eddy; a appaloosa gelding who turns 21 in January. But he is also notoriously herd-bound.
I’ll try your diagrammed turns next time we ride.
Have a great day !!
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