Have you ever wondered if your actions could be influencing your horse’s progress? Subtle changes can help promote the best possible partnership with your horse.

Kim Walnes is one such expert on the subject—you may remember her name as individual and team bronze medal winner at the 1982 World Three-Day Event Championships in Germany and the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event winner the same year.

But even more so, she’s known for her incredible bond with her mount, The Gray Goose, during their banner years from 1980 to 1986 as members of the United States Equestrian Team.

You might assume their star-studded career began as a walk in the park, but that’s not the case.

“When I started riding Gray, he already had a bad reputation. He bit, kicked, and threw people off. He also bolted. I could see in his eyes and in his attitude toward life that, in his mind, the best defense was a good offense,” recalls Walnes, who also is a coach and clinician with The Way of the Horse.

Channeling Compassion

Horses are excellent teachers. Before Walnes acquired the legendary Gray, she had a 3/4 Arabian named Hunraff (“Raffy”). Raffy taught her to recognize the signs of fear in a horse. Due to early life experiences, both Raffy and Gray started out distrustful of humans.

“I stopped trying to control [Gray’s] behavior and began letting him know I was a safe space to be around,” says Walnes. Channeling earlier learnings from Raffy, she understood that aggression can come from a base of fear. “I was compassionate toward [Gray], and everything shifted. The cool thing with horses is they forgive us once we understand.

“Listening ensures understanding,” Walnes continues. “What I see a lot is, ‘My horse has to be disciplined.’ He can’t stop when he says he needs to—it’s ‘one more lap.’ When we listen to the horse and say, ‘Sure, I understand how you might be more tired than I thought, let’s stop here,’ they will start working with us.”

Fear & Confidence

“If you’re anxious in any way, for any reason, all the horse will feel is fear,” says Walnes. “Safety is his No. 1 priority. We’re supposed to be their leaders and protecting them, and if they feel fear from us, they will be looking for what’s wrong in their environment. The horse picks up on your emotions immediately.”

Walnes recommends taking a moment to ground yourself with reassurance.

Try these steps:

1. Calm your nervous system by putting a hand on your heart or stomach.

2. Observe your surroundings to confirm there is no danger.

3. Reassure yourself by voicing, “In this moment, we’re safe.”

4. Express your desire to work together when approaching your horse. Voice your anxiety and request mutual patience.

“Explaining things to a horse is like a miracle,” says Walnes. “Because they’re like, ‘Oh, OK.’ Horses are highly intelligent, sentient beings; we just don’t speak their language. In order for your horse to trust you, he must know you trust yourself.”

Acknowledgement & Presence

Try to be aware of common under-saddle errors, says Esther Kuhlmann, coach at Northland Equine Lessons and Training just outside Kansas City, Mo.

“A horse is a flight animal,” explains Kuhlmann, who was part of the Danish Team as a young rider. “The more you pull on the reins, the more the horse pulls against you. And when he goes faster, you [grip with] your knees because you are nervous—that is just human reflex. If you come forward in your shoulders and you hang on your knees, then the horse is just gone. You have to remember to let go.”

To help, Kuhlmann suggests groundwork and longe line lessons. Longe lessons help you concentrate on your riding form. She also recommends a lesson on a schoolmaster to teach you how the horse is supposed to feel.

Riding with tension can contribute to a horse’s stiffness and tension.

“I always go to the horse first to make sure there is nothing wrong with him,” says Kuhlmann. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, it is the rider.”

For a more fluid connection with your horse, she recommends practicing yoga and Pilates.

Riding with clarity is important for horses, “rather than going out vaguely and riding circles,” says Walnes.

“Training is like playing ‘hotter or colder,’” she continues. “It’s helpful to have a clear yes/no signal with the horse. You need to give the horse signals that he is on the right track, such as using a word like ‘good’ or a rolled ‘R’ sound, rather than the old paradigm that no punishment means he’s doing great.”

Tone & Behavior

“Horses understand us and what we say,” says Walnes. “They pick up the thoughts behind your words. When we label them or call them demeaning names, they feel the same as a human would feel in that situation. They tend to live up to expectations, and it builds resentment.”

Do your best to speak kindly and to be mindful of your emotions and bad days, such as an off day at work. On such days, Kuhlmann asks that students opt for a trail ride or longeing instead of a lesson.

“Otherwise, the horse feels it immediately,” she says. “Horses are sensitive and can read your heartbeat from 5 feet away.”

Consider this guidance when looking to improve the bond with your horse.

This article about under-saddle communication appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Improving Under-Saddle Communication appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Warming Up

Set up for this exercise by placing eight poles in a square shape, with two poles creating each side of the square. If you don’t have poles to create the shape, get creative with any (safe!) items you do have on hand. Each side of the square will be about 20 feet long.

As you warm your horse up prior to beginning this exercise, leg-yields and circles are beneficial. In the circles, focus on riding your horse from back to front with him pushing from behind and working up into the hand.

During the leg-yields, be sure to note how your horse is moving off of each of your legs. If your horse has a notably weaker side, you will probably want to start on his stronger side so that the two of you can more easily sort out the exercise in the beginning.

At the Walk

Begin the exercise by bringing your horse alongside one of the box’s sides in a forward, working walk. As you approach the last quarter of the side of the square that you’re on, begin to collect the horse’s step slightly, half-halt, and then apply outside leg just as your horse’s front legs have passed the corner of the box. This will result in your horse performing a quarter-turn on the haunches, with his body still parallel to the next side of the square.

The most common mistake is for the horse’s shoulders to fall to the outside, bulging out around the turn. Instead, you want him to rock back and lift during the half-halt, sending his energy into his outside hind leg to aid him in executing a pivot-like motion that turns his body and then propels him forward with power in the new direction.

This can be maintained with strong outside rein contact blocking the horse’s shoulder from popping out. His energy will then continue to flow forward through the cycle of being captured by the collection, rocked back into his hindquarters by the half-halt, and then funneled around the turn by the outside leg.

If the horse is slow to respond to your outside leg pressure, use a bumping leg or a whip/crop to improve his response to your leg the first few times.

At the Trot

Once you have fine-tuned your timing and understand the feeling you are searching for from your horse, you can move up to the trot. I generally find this easiest in the sitting trot, as your seat is very useful for reminding the horse to rock back and balance.

By this time, your horse should be moving willingly off your leg. As he carries more momentum in the trot, don’t allow him to swing loosely around the corner and end up further from the pole guides in the trot than he was in the walk. He should maintain his power and collection and use it to keep the turns sharp.

During this exercise, it’s crucial to allow your horse to take breaks and go to another section of the arena to stretch. It’s also not an exercise that should be drilled endlessly if your horse is finding it difficult. Revisit it over the course of a few days or weeks so as to not make your horse sore or frustrated in one session.

More Advanced Work

If you have been successful with this exercise and have a horse working at a more advanced level, use two sides of the box as a guide for trying a square turn in the canter. This is especially difficult, so I wouldn’t suggest asking your horse to do this for more than one or two turns at a time.

Another way to expand this exercise is by using it as part of an extension and collection exercise. The extension section could be anything you choose. For example, ride the full box in trot, then working canter across the diagonal, do a flying change of lead, canter back toward the box, collected trot, then ride the box again in the other direction.

There are plenty of times during your horse’s career that he may need an exercise to sharpen him up to the leg, create strength and muscle memory in the hindquarters, or that you need to remind yourself to make better use of your outside aids to support turning. This easily set-up exercise can do all of those for you, and more!

More Training Advice from This Author

◆ Achieve the Correct Timing of Riding Aids
◆ How to Improve a Lazy Horse’s Responsiveness
◆ Solutions for a Horse Stopping at Jumps
◆ Making a Spooky Horse More Confident
◆ How to Train a Horse That’s Rushing Jumps

This article about an exercise for your horse’s hindquarter engagement appeared in the September 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post An Exercise for Your Horse’s Hindquarter Engagement appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Although simple, trainer Clay Cavinder explains that the ground tie exercise teaches a horse how to be accountable and reduces the temptation for you to micromanage him.

Cavinder is a professor and extension horse specialist for Mississippi State University. In addition to training horses and teaching students, he is a professional judge for the American Quarter Horse Association, American Paint Horse Association, and National Snaffle Bit Association.

Why Ground Tie

While many horse-friendly locations provide ample places to secure horses, not every place has a solid, safe place to tie, Cavinder explains. When hitching posts are lacking, ground tying can come in handy.

Also, if you’re interested in showing in ranch horse classes, you may encounter patterns that require your horse to know how to ground tie. So what does a good ground tie look like?

Cavinder explains that the ground tie exercise demands a horse know how to stand still. In a show setting, the obstacle requires you to dismount and walk around the horse or go accomplish a task while the horse stays where you left him.

“Once you park the horse’s four feet, he doesn’t move—he stands there,” Cavinder says.

When he is judging this obstacle, he not only wants to see the horse’s hooves planted, but he also wants to see the horse’s head and neck stay still, too. He’s looking for a horse that mimics a statue. The horse shouldn’t be putting his head on the ground and fidgeting in the dirt. Instead, he should be alert, still, and focused on you.

Preparing to Teach

Before you consider teaching a horse to ground tie, Cavinder advises settling your horse. This isn’t an exercise to teach a freshly halter-broke horse that jumps when your hands move.

Instead, the horse should feel safe around you and know simple cues, such as what “whoa” means. If that’s the case, teaching the ground tie can help you build trust with your horse.

“Ground tying develops ‘Whoa means whoa, don’t move your feet, and let me work around you and develop this trusting bond with you,’” says Cavinder.

He uses a three-step process to train horses consisting of cue, response and reinforcement. It breaks down as follows:

Step 1: Provide the horse with a cue. A cue is any stimulus you give the horse. It can be verbal or physical.

Step 2: Read the horse’s response to the cue. The response is the horse’s feedback (or lack thereof) to a cue.

Step 3: Reinforce the cue. These are actions you take that help the horse understand if his response was right or wrong.

Once these prerequisites are complete, Cavinder says you can begin teaching your horse the ground tie exercise.

Teaching the Ground Tie

To teach this exercise, outfit your horse in a nylon halter. Cavinder recommends using a longe line instead of a lead rope while your horse is first learning the exercise. He breaks the ground tie down into the following three steps.

Step 1 (Cue): Drop the longe line on the ground in front of the horse and say “whoa.” (Hold on to the very end of the longe line in case your horse tries to leave.) Take one to two steps away from him.

Step 2 (Response): Watch how the horse responds. Does he choose to follow you, or move in another direction? Does he take a step and then stop? Does he stand still the entire time? Carefully assess the horse’s response to your cue.

Step 3 (Reinforcement): Communicate to your horse whether he responded correctly to the cue. If he responds by moving, show him that was the wrong response by either lifting his head and backing him up or asking him to move his hip away from you in a forehand turn. Then start over at Step 1.

If your horse responds by standing still or taking a single step and then standing still, show him he found the correct answer by returning to his side and petting or praising him.

As he begins to understand the exercise, you should gradually increase the number of steps you take away from the horse and vary their direction. The horse should remain still until you return.

Common Pitfalls

Although simple, there are several pitfalls Cavinder sees equestrians struggle with when teaching their horses how to ground tie.

Micromanaging the Horse: Cavinder cautions against micromanaging the horse. For example, when a horse is first learning the exercise, Cavinder doesn’t correct him if he takes a single step forward. Instead, he watches the horse’s response and gives him time to self-correct.

As the horse gains an understanding of the exercise, Cavinder’s expectations increase. You want the horse to try to answer the question being asked of him, and that requires him to search for the correct answer.

Giving Up: Horse training takes time. Too often, Cavinder sees equestrians watch or read training material, try the exercise a couple of times, and give up. Like humans, horses take time to learn.

Setting Unrealistic Expectations: Every horse is different. One horse may learn the exercise in three days, but others won’t. Additionally, a horse’s age and experience should help determine the expectations set for him. For example, Cavinder says yearlings should have lots of wiggle room for errors, while an older, well-trained horse will be expected to respond correctly sooner.

Misunderstanding the Three-Step Process: If you aren’t implementing the three-step process correctly, you can’t expect your horse to understand what you’re asking him to do. For example, being inconsistent with cues or misinterpreting the horse’s response will confuse him.

While simple, ground tying is a great skill for you and your horse to learn together. When a safe place to tie isn’t available and you’re faced with ground tying as the only option, you’ll be able to count on your horse to stay right where you left him.

As an added bonus, properly executing this training helps strengthen your relationship with your horse and lays a solid foundation for learning more challenging exercises together.

This article about the ground tie appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Master the Ground Tie appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Reason for Respect

Trainer Mike Brashear states that you’re training your horse every time you’re near him. While your horse may not be aggressive or mean, stepping into your space when he isn’t invited can lead to accidents.

Imagine walking into your horse’s pen to put hay in a slow feeder. Would your horse stand at a distance and only approach once you finish loading the feeder, or would he move forward into your space and steal a mouthful of hay as an appetizer?

If your horse is the type who would come to you and grab a snack, you may be in need of Brashear’s training tips so that your horse doesn’t accidentally munch your fingers, bump into you and cause a fall, or put you in a vulnerable position if multiple horses are in the feeding area.

“When you walk in the pen any other time, you want your horse to come to you,” he says. “Your horse learns that if he comes to you, he gets pets and gets loved on. So when you enter with hay, that’s what he’s going to do as well, unless you teach him something different. You may look at grabbing hay as disrespect, but the horse looks at it as, ‘This is what is allowed.’”

Ideally, Brashear says he wants his horses to wait. He works to put “wait” on his horses wherever and whenever possible so that they tune into his cues.

At feeding time, he wants horses to stand at a 3- to 6-foot distance and wait for him to set down and move away from the hay or grain. Brashear uses the following steps to teach a horse when he can come into your space (to get the food) and when he should respectfully keep his distance.

Teaching “Wait”

Make sure your horse has had his usual meal so that you aren’t training a hungry horse. Also make sure you have time to work with your horse without being rushed. Brashear suggests making this the groundwork that you do before you ride.

Outfit your horse with a rope halter and a 12-foot training lead attached to the halter with a knot. For now, leave the food in the barn. You’ll teach the cues without temptation present first. Only after your horse is doing well and obeying your request to stand and wait should you attempt it at feeding time.

“It’s always better to start with a connection with your horse so you have some control and can send him back out,” says Brashear.

1. Start by facing your horse and stand about 3 feet in front of him. Mimic the distance you’d like to be from your horse when you feed him in his stall or paddock.

2. If your horse moves into your space, shake the lead rope to encourage him to step or rock back. If he doesn’t move, shake harder. Make sure to keep your feet in the same place. You don’t want to chase the horse away or act aggressively. Instead, you’re just teaching him to respond to the rope correction and stay in place as you asked.

“I don’t want to walk to my horse or act mean,” says Brashear. “I want to teach him to wait. When the horse steps back, all my energy stops, and I stop moving the rope. That change of energy is the release.”

You may add a verbal cue of “get back” to remind your horse to stand still in a calm way. If your horse will stand still and not move into your space, back up and see if he will come into your space. Your moving back will invite the horse forward.

If you step forward, he should move accordingly, too. If you stop again, make sure that he will stand still. Practice this again. When you want your horse to move closer to you, step back (while still facing your horse) and take slack out of your lead rope.

As you work without feed present, think about how this same skill will work at feeding time. Think, “You can’t come up to this feeder until I’m back out of the stall door. If I turn my back and walk away, you can come up, but you can’t come up on me on your own accord.”

Add Feed

Next, set up the same scenario (standing in front of your horse and expecting him to stand respectfully), but have a pan of grain at your feet.   

Brashear says that now it’s time to ask your horse to move in and out of your space on command while the food is present. First, ask your horse to stand 3 to 6 feet away from you and the feed. Allow him to wait for about 30 seconds.

Ask your horse to come into your space by slumping your shoulders and stepping back. This change will invite your horse to move forward to get a bite from the feed pan.

“Horses will usually take one bite of grain, then lift up their heads to swallow,” he says. “Once your horse has taken a bite, ask him to step back and leave the feed again. Step forward and stand tall. Ask him to stand and wait until invited in again.”

Practice this over and over.

“Every bite of grain that my horse gets is dependent on me asking him to come into me,” says Brashear.

If your horse is responding well to your cues, practice again with a web halter. You want to know if your body language alone is enough to tell your horse to back up. With a “lighter” halter, you can tell if your horse is listening to your cues but still have some connection to him.

Finally, it’s time to test your horse without a halter. Work where you would feed your horse, but when he isn’t waiting for a meal. Take the halter off altogether and try the same setup.

If your horse stands and waits, notice if he’s looking for your cues.

“If he looks like he’s wondering if he should move to the food or not, he’s watching you,” says Brashear. “Make him wait and stand for about 30 seconds. Then, step back and away and allow him to get the food. Your rocking back draws him to you and allows him to get to the grain.”

Keep in mind that you may have to move back to previous training steps if your horse isn’t listening without the halter. Ask him to move away again when he picks his head up. Step forward and increase the energy in your body, then move your hands up and away just like you would have while holding the lead.

If he doesn’t respond, increase your energy until you get a change—without yelling or appearing angry. If your horse won’t move away or listen, go back and work with the rope halter and lead.

At Feeding Time

After you have practiced sending your horse away from the grain during a practice session, it’s time to do the same work at feeding time. Make sure that you have time and aren’t in a rush.

When you walk into the pen, carry the hay to the feeder and make sure that you’re aware of your horse’s position. If your horse comes up to you and you’re focused on filling up the feeder, put the hay down and focus on the horse just as you did in the last “no-halter” training session. Put your arms up and calmly tell your horse “get back.”

When you remind your horse of the training you did with the halter, he should learn that you expect the same behavior any time you are near him—including at feeding time.

This article about improving a horse’s behavior at feeding time appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Improve Your Horse’s Feeding Time Behavior appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

“It’s super beneficial to expose a horse to any sort of obstacle you can get your hands on because it creates better communication and trust between handler and horse,” says Camille White, who operates Camille’s Mustangs out of Bryan, Texas. White is also the 2022 Fort Worth Extreme Mustang Makeover Champion.

Preparation

Before you begin introducing a bridge or step-over to your horse, White advises preparing him by making sure he has a few prerequisites down pat.

Can Stand Still: A horse that knows how to stand still shows that he is capable of down-regulating his nervous system and accessing the thinking side of his brain, according to White. During obstacle training, she rewards the horse by releasing all pressure and allowing the horse to stand still and relax.

Legs Are Desensitized: When working with obstacles like bridges or step-overs, there is a good chance the obstacle will touch the horse’s legs. White prepares the horse for this sensation by introducing him to the feeling of having his legs touched by various objects before starting obstacle training.

Has a Good Follow: Before she starts obstacle work, White wants the horse to know how to track her when being led. She calls this “having a good follow.” In addition to tracking her, she wants the horse to know how to maintain a respectful distance from her.

Can Isolate Body Parts: White wants the horse to know how to move specific body parts when asked so she can position him to approach the obstacle. This includes the ability to move his shoulders and hindquarters from both sides. Once finished, she wants to see the horse return to a neutral, relaxed state.

Understands Halter Pressure: White teaches a horse how to respond correctly to halter pressure before starting obstacle training. When she picks up on the lead rope and the halter tightens across the horse’s poll, she wants him to smoothly and willingly move forward with her.

Ground Obstacle #1: Bridges

Bridges can show up in the show ring and on the trail. But White explains that learning how to step onto a bridge can also teach a horse how to step onto other strange surfaces, such as loading into a trailer. Groundwork is the key to introducing bridges and other novel surfaces.

Step 1: Begin by confidently approaching the bridge and ask your horse to follow. Don’t stop or hesitate when walking toward the obstacle, as this may communicate to the horse that it’s unsafe to move forward. If he hesitates, reinforce your ask by continuing to move forward and creating gentle pressure across the horse’s poll with the halter.

Step 2: Reward effort. Watch for the horse to commit to following you across the bridge. As soon as he commits, release all pressure. Try to time the release of pressure with the horse crossing the bridge to associate it with the obstacle. You may have to reward many small steps (such as sniffing the bridge or taking a single step toward it) before the horse commits to crossing the obstacle.

Step 3: Once he is comfortable calmly crossing the bridge, have the horse cross it again, but ask him to stop in the middle. When he stops, release all pressure and allow him to relax on the bridge. This helps the horse associate relaxation with the obstacle. If your timing is well-placed during step 2, this step will come naturally to most horses.

Be ready to troubleshoot the top three most common challenges when it comes to introducing a bridge crossing from the ground.

Refusal to Move: If the horse refuses to move during your approach, yield his hindquarters and shoulders to unlock his feet, then approach the bridge again. If he still refuses, create pressure at the hindquarters to encourage forward movement. Begin by simply looking at his hindquarters. If there is no response, increase pressure by using an extension of your arm, such as a training flag, to tap the horse’s hindquarters until he moves forward. Reward the smallest effort by removing all pressure.

Moving Backward: If the horse moves backward, move with him without releasing the tension on the lead rope. Continue to ask him to take one step forward in the right direction. Reward effort, which may be as small as the horse leaning toward the bridge.

Rushing the Bridge: The first time the horse crosses the bridge, he may rush over it. If he rushes through the obstacle, immediately turn around and cross the obstacle again. Repeat until he slows down and becomes intentional about where he places his feet.

Ground Obstacle #2: Step-Overs

Step-overs appear in the form of ground poles, cavalletti poles, logs, branches and even puddles of water. A horse that knows how to step over an obstacle can successfully navigate many different situations. White shares the following steps for teaching a horse how to step over obstacles from the ground.

Step 1: Start with an easy item to step over, such as a ground pole. Confidently approach the step-over and ask the horse to follow. Don’t stop or hesitate when walking toward the obstacle, as this may communicate to the horse that it’s unsafe to move forward. If he hesitates, reinforce your ask by continuing to move forward and creating gentle pressure across his poll with the halter.

Step 2: Reward effort. Watch for the horse to commit to following you across the pole. As soon as he commits, release all pressure. Try to time the release of pressure with him crossing the bridge to associate it with the obstacle. You may have to reward many small steps (such as sniffing the pole or taking a single step toward it) before the horse commits to crossing the obstacle.

Step 3: Once the horse is comfortable stepping over a single ground pole, increase the challenge by adding more ground poles in a row and eventually increasing the height of the step-over. Follow steps 1 and 2 until he can calmly cross the obstacle.

Again, there are some common issues you should be ready to troubleshoot from the get-go when it comes to step-overs.

Avoiding the Obstacle: If the horse tries to sidestep or go around the obstacle, isolate his shoulder and ask him to return to a straight position before asking him to move forward toward the obstacle again.

Reacting to the Obstacle Touching His Legs: If the horse reacts poorly to the obstacle touching his legs, return to the prerequisite of familiarizing him with foreign objects touching his legs before trying the obstacle again.

Rushing the Step-Over: Adding height to the step-over may cause the horse to rush or jump over it. If that happens, immediately turn around and cross the obstacle again. Repeat until he slows down and becomes intentional about where he places his feet.

“Preparedness is always going to be your best friend when working with horses,” says White.

She encourages you to prepare your horse for situations that require him to cross obstacles before the need to cross an obstacle arises. Teaching your horse how to become comfortable with obstacles takes time, but it’s time worth investing.

More Groundwork Articles

◆ Groundwork for When You Can’t Ride
◆ Five Groundwork Exercises for Your Horse
◆ Groundwork Exercises to Improve Communication
◆ Groundwork with a Purpose
◆ How to Start Training a Horse for Liberty

This article about ground obstacles appeared in the September 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Try These Two Ground Obstacles appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

What is the Ranch Riding Trail Class?

Ranch riding patterns include obstacles such as poles to sidepass, logs to drag, poles to trot or lope, and segments of extended trotting. The class requires horses to move at slow and fast speeds—and always to listen to their rider’s directions.

“In the ranch riding trail class, there are obstacles where you need your horse to focus and go slow, and times when you want to show that your horse can move out,” Crow says. “It’s important to plan your warmup time so that you can bring the fast horses down to the speed you want and make sure they are patient for the poles or gates. With slower horses, you’ll need to know you can pick up their speed when you want an extended trot.”

Warmup for the Energetic and Speedy Horse

Crow says that many horses labeled “too fast,” “too much,” or “high strung” may need some longeing as part of their warmup, but they will definitely need a warmup that helps activate their brain.

“It’s old school mentality that you go lope them for an hour to wear them out,” says Crow. “Instead, what you need is to get the horse’s brain working with downward transitions, turns, stops, and backs. Otherwise, their bodies are tired, but their minds are busy, and they won’t pay attention to you.”

Focus on trotting and walking transitions, Crow advises.

“Loping can escalate some horses, and makes it harder to get their brain focused on you,” he says.

If competing, Crow advises that once you have warmed up an energetic horse, make sure to go straight to the show pen for your ride. Don’t warm up and then stand around watching others. If busy and energetic horses get a long break, they may need a whole new warmup.

You may also consider starting the night before. If your horse will be stalled overnight, you may choose to longe him when you arrive. Allowing him to move out will help wear off the adrenaline from travel.

Turning for Attention

At a show, begin your warmup about an hour before your scheduled ranch riding trail class so that you have time to work your horse’s body and mind. Crow likes to work his fast horses in a box formation. He trots straight ahead, then if he feels the horse being strong or going faster than he asks, he makes a sharp turn while continuing the trot.

“Pick up your reins and redirect the horse in a square maneuver,” says Crow. “This takes away the forward motion and asks him to focus on your direction.”

Work your horse in the middle of the arena and avoid going around the entire outside. Trot ahead four to five steps, then pick your reins up and to the side to direct your horse on a new straight line, creating a box or square. Move ahead again and turn when you feel your horse wanting to go faster.

Be careful not to pull on the reins to keep your horse slow. Instead, the box formation will teach your horse that he needs to pay attention, and he will be redirected when he speeds up. When your horse is going at the speed of trot you want, place your hand down in front of the saddle’s horn and allow him to move without interference.

“As soon as I make that square turn, I’ll set my hands down and let my horse go straight again,” says Crow. “If he stays focused and I have his attention, he’s earned the right to just keep going forward and I will leave him alone. If I lose his attention, I pick up and redirect, turning on a new line of the square.”

Crow says if a horse looks around and doesn’t settle in, he’ll pick up his inside rein to tip the horse’s nose in as he also applies leg pressure to encourage a bend. He will walk small circles with his horse’s nose tipped in to one side, then the other. Then he’ll repeat the box pattern again.

When it’s time to warm up at the lope, a “go” horse may pick up speed again. Crow says if you have spent time warming up at the walk and trot, the lope should be manageable, too.

“I do the same thing at the lope that I did at the trot,” says Crow. “Do your square turns and keep your body balanced.”

At the lope, Crow says many riders turn too sharply, using inside direct pressure to pull the horse’s head inside. This can cause your weight to shift to the outside, making your horse scramble to regain his balance. To avoid this, keep him straight through his body and open your reining hand up and out to guide the horse through the turn.

Mix it Up

Instead of just riding around the arena at a walk, trot, and lope and then being done, mix up your warmup.

“Bringing your horse up in speed and then back down is really important,” says Crow. “Some horses are just wired to keep that adrenaline going once they move fast. [Going up and down in speed] keeps them going strong and doesn’t wear them out. If you allow them to move from the trot or lope back to the walk, they realize how tired they are. When you ask for speed again, you aren’t fighting the adrenaline and you seem to get their minds engaged much more quickly than just running full out.”

Warmup for the Slow Horse

If your horse is known to be slow or needs to be pushed to move out, your plan needs to help boost his energy.

“With a slow or lazy horse, our goal is to get his focus and make sure he moves out when asked,” Crow says. “I’ll walk in a straight line and use a direct rein to turn the horse and drive him around in a small circle with my outside leg pressure. I want to get his feet moving.”

Crow says asking for sharp turns can help the horse know that you’re requesting a quick response. He says to be careful and not allow the slower horse to pause after you’ve asked him to move his feet.

“I want these horses crisp and sharp,” he says. “You don’t want a lag between the moment you give the horse something to do and when he does it. You don’t want to have to nag to follow up. If you have a horse that’s too dull and lazy, you can see that the rider is having to beg this horse to step forward or to move his feet. That’s not a good picture in the show. We need to sharpen up those cues.”

If your horse is on the slow side, adjust your warmup time so that you only warm up for 10 to 15 minutes before going into your class. Make sure not to use up all his energy. Instead, warm up just enough to remind your horse that he should respond quickly to your cues.

After walking for a few minutes, it’s time to get the slow horse to work. Ten minutes before the show, Crow says he will ask a slow horse to extend at the trot and the lope.

“I’ll give the horse a verbal cue and then go to my legs for a cue,” says Crow. “I will really get that horse moving and sharpen him up.”

Keep in mind, it’s all about efficiency. You may only be able to cue a horse for speed once or twice. If you warm up too much and ask for speed over and over, you may wear out your horse and not get the speed changes you want in the ring.

If you feel like you need more practice time than your horse does, run your patterns in your mind or practice the key obstacle. Don’t wear out your horse because you feel like you need more practice.

“It’s all about knowing yourself and your horse,” says Crow. “When you know how much practice you both need, you’ll go straight to the pen in good shape.”

A few notes of caution for riding the slower horse: Make sure you don’t pull back on the reins when you’re loping. Some horses will look for any excuse to slow down. Don’t train him that it’s OK to break gait because you inadvertently pulled on the reins. Also make sure you aren’t micromanaging your horse. He should go at the speed and in the direction you choose without having to hold him there. Make sure your reins aren’t tight and that you allow your horse to move out.

“If you tend to tighten up your reins too much in the extended lope because of your comfort level, remind yourself to look up, straighten your arm and put your hand down,” says Crow. “Make sure you aren’t the reason your horse is slowing down or learning that it’s OK to be a little lazy.”

Having a riding buddy or coach remind you to look up and reach forward when you ask your horse to move out can help you be in the best position and keep your horse moving.

Show Plan

Crow advises using the time that you have to walk the trail pattern to think about the body position and cues you’ll need to help your horse go the speed that you want.

“You get to walk the trail course first,” he says. Make sure you plan how you’ll ride, where you’ll look, and how and when you’ll cue your horse. Having a plan and knowing your horse’s habits—and your habits—will help you know what to do if your horse speeds up or needs a push.

“The goal isn’t just to complete the pattern, it’s to have a confidence-building pattern for your horse so he’ll come back better next time,” says Crow. “From the moment you start warming up until the moment you’re done with your trail class, your main goal is to keep building that horse up so you’re both successful and can keep going and enjoy the ride.”

This article about the ranch riding trail class warmup appeared in the August 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Ranch Riding Trail Warmup for Any Horse appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

There are several ways to get started with liberty. Everyone has their own style, but I am going to explain how I start training a horse for liberty. What makes liberty work is to make the horse’s favorite place in the world with you.

I basically want to turn you into a giant magnet for your horse so that he is either with you, or if he is away from you, he will be thinking about getting back to you. This is the invisible connection that keeps a liberty horse attached to the trainer—his desire to be with that person.

However, even though the goal is to work at liberty, I like to begin the early liberty training with a halter and lead rope attached instead of turning the horse loose. With the rope attached, I can teach the liberty cues much easier, because I can help the horse more and keep things slower than I could if the horse was free in the very beginning.

One last point before you start: make sure your horse has good ground manners before you begin this training. If your horse is pushy and doesn’t have good ground manners, that’s going to cause problems.

In the early stages of liberty training, you are going to be bringing your horse to you a lot, which teaches him to want to be with you. However, if your horse is rude, then he will likely end up pushing into you, which isn’t safe.

To get started, you will need a halter, lead rope, and a longe whip.

Watch our webinar with Jason & Bronwyn Irwin.

Step 1

Pick a voice cue to call your horse. It can be any word or a whistle or just about any other sound.

If you ever watched old Westerns, you have probably seen at least a few where the hero whistles or calls out and the horse comes running to save the day—usually just in the nick of time. This is the same idea. I usually say the word “here!”

Step 2

Stand your horse beside the arena wall or a good fence. Start out with the fence on your horse’s right side.

Stand in front of the horse holding the lead rope in your left hand and the longe whip in your right hand.

Step 3

Back away from your horse, and at the same time lower your whip. Give the voice cue to come to you, and then tap very lightly on the horse’s left shoulder.

If your horse starts walking toward you when you tap him, that’s great. However, if he doesn’t, it’s OK. As you back up, the lead rope will tighten, which will give the halter a tug and bring the horse to you anyway.

What is important is to give the voice cue before the tap on the shoulder; the horse needs a chance to respond to the verbal cue before feeling the tap.

Step 4

As the horse is walking toward you, keep backing up. When you’re ready to stop, say “whoa” and lift your whip straight into the air.

The whip going up like this encourages the horse to stop, and later on, the whip being held up can be the cue for the horse to stand still, no matter how far away you are.

Repeat these steps several times. Once your horse is coming to you willingly, just motion toward him, but don’t tap as often.

Step 5

Turn your horse around so that the fence is now on his left side. Stand in front of him holding the lead rope in your right hand and the longe whip in your left hand, then repeat all the same steps tapping on his left shoulder.

Repeat until your horse is walking toward you as soon as you motion with the whip and begin backing away. Be sure to be very inviting to the horse with your posture and expression.

When the horse comes to me, I pet him (usually using the whip) to teach him that all pressure goes away as soon as he comes to me.

Step 6

The idea behind using the fence and tools as described is to make coming to you the easiest thing for the horse to do.

The horse is held in on one side because the fence is there; he likely won’t go the other way because the longe whip is there, and he can’t go backward because of the lead rope attached to him. Coming to you, therefore, becomes the most logical thing for him to do.

However, we don’t want to be stuck at the fence forever, so now it’s time to get away from it and move around in the middle of the arena. Sometimes I will hold a second whip (such as a dressage whip) in my other hand. This way I can gently guide the horse back toward me if he veers off to either side. If you’re holding two whips, you would lower both to bring the horse to you and raise both to ask for the stop.

Step 7

If your horse is coming to you the moment you call him and is following you around willingly, it’s time to get rid of the physical connection. Take off the lead rope or put it around the horse’s neck. Practice calling the horse to you and stopping him, and if it’s going really well, you can get rid of the halter and lead rope completely.

You’re now working at liberty! To learn the next steps, stay tuned for Part 2 of this liberty training series.

This article about how to start training a horse for liberty appeared in the July 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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If you’ve ever wondered why your horse behaves a certain way, or why you’re having trouble solving an equine behavior challenge—from trailer loading to simply catching your horse in the pasture—you are not alone. According to Emily Weiss, Ph.D., an applied animal behaviorist, it’s the top question she hears all the time, and it all boils down to one simple thing.

“The answer to all behavior, whether you’re a flatworm, a human, a horse, orangutan, or dog is the same: why we behave the way that we do is because it feels good,” she says. “Or, it feels less bad than the alternative.”

Weiss should know—she has worked with species of all kinds, including lions, orangutans, elephants and Komodo dragons, as well as many dogs, cats and horses. While it all comes down to “feeling good,” we have to first figure out what that means.

Think Like a Horse

Sometimes this requires an objective look at the situation, and being observant to best understand why an animal is behaving a certain way, says Weiss.

“Oftentimes we can’t help but think like humans about the things that we would like or what feels good to us,” she says. “We have to be able to take that hat off and think a bit like a horse.”

For example, consider trailer loading.

“Walking up into a horse trailer, for a lot of reasons, doesn’t feel good for horses,” says Weiss. “One thing we often don’t think about is the change in light. Going from a very light area into a horse trailer, which is quite dark, can be incredibly off-putting and frightening because horses can’t see it very well. To set up a horse [for success] while you’re training him to get on a horse trailer, one of the things you might start with is getting the trailer [well] lit so there isn’t that change in light.

“Thinking like a horse can be really helpful to figure out what might be motivating this particular animal to behave in this way at this time,” says Weiss. “And then, what do I have in my toolbox to be able to modify and change that?”

A Trainer’s Toolbox

As a behaviorist, Weiss’ preferred tool is positive reinforcement, which means you give a reward, or something that feels good, when the desired behavior happens.

Typically for horses this is food, but other rewards may include touch, such as scratching a favorite spot. By giving the reward, you increase the likelihood of the horse repeating the behavior.

Traditional horse training, using the concept of pressure and release that most equestrians are familiar with, is known in learning theory terms as negative reinforcement. Folks associate the term “positive” as good and “negative” as bad, but the terms here are referring to giving and taking away, says Weiss.

“Negative reinforcement just means you remove something when the desired behavior happens: I apply pressure, my horse moves to the left, and I release that pressure,” explains Weiss.

One of the benefits of positive reinforcement is that it can increase confidence (in both horse and human) and trust. Many routine horse care and handling tasks can be easily trained using this technique.

Both methods require good timing.

“When you apply pressure, you need to release it at the right time for the horse to learn ‘this is the behavior you want me to do,’” says Weiss.

Tweet & Treat

Thankfully, Weiss says, most domesticated horses are incredibly food-motivated, and some animals, including the horse, can be incredibly touch-motivated. Even the ones that are not comfortable with humans are pretty food-motivated, and that can serve as a powerful starting point.

When working with positive reinforcement using food, it’s important to have a signal that says “food is coming,” says Weiss.

This is typically a sound and is often called a “bridge,” or a marker, because it marks the moment a behavior occurs, and bridges the gap until you can deliver the reward.

At the moment the desired behavior occurs it tells the horse, “Yes, that’s what I want you to do, food will be coming,” and then gives you time to be able to take the food from your pocket or wherever it is and give it to your horse.

“I use a whistle, so I call it ‘tweet and treat,’” says Weiss.

Step one is to pair the sound with the delivery of food. Tweet (or whatever sound you use) followed quickly by treat. Pair the delivery several times and then observe what happens when you tweet. If the horse looks toward the food location, you have successfully paired your sound!

There should be no food visible during the training process, says Weiss. You’re teaching the horse “If I do X (behavior), I get Y (reward).”

How to Use Positive and Negative Reinforcement

There are lots of different ways you can train a horse to pick up his feet. The traditional method uses negative reinforcement, where you run your hand down the leg, apply pressure when you’re closer to the hoof, and then increase that pressure until the horse lifts his foot. Once the horse lifts his foot, you release the pressure. You then have to shape the behavior from there.

Using positive reinforcement can take a little bit of patience in the beginning, but it’s quick and quite effective, as Weiss outlines:

Begin by bringing the horse into the space in which you’d normally work with his feet, placing either a stick or your finger on his leg, waiting for any movement at all and then reinforcing that, using Weiss’ “tweet and treat” method or similar, so that the horse understands that when he moves his foot, he gets a reward.

“Once the horse now understands that touch means ‘move my foot,’ you can progress from shifting the weight and moving the foot to holding the foot for a second (tweet and treat); lifting that hoof (tweet and treat); and then holding that hoof and doing what you need to do,” says Weiss.

Weiss adds the pairing of a verbal cue so that the horse lifts without the handler having to first touch the leg.

“Done correctly, this takes a couple of sessions for most horses to learn to hold their feet,” she says. “For horses that have had a lot of negative experiences, it can take longer.”

Techniques of positive and negative reinforcement can also be used in combination, adds Weiss. The use of positive reinforcement is just one tool in the toolbox, and can be woven into more traditional pressure-and-release training.

Variable Reinforcement

If you’re worried about what happens when you run out of cookies and carrots, or becoming a nonstop treat dispenser, Weiss says that’s where variable reinforcement comes into the process: the horse gets a treat for the behavior sometimes, but not every time.

“When we’re first teaching the behavior, the horse gets a treat every time because he needs to learn it and is trying to figure it out,” says Weiss. “We have to make it consistent so that the horse understands if I do X, and I get Y.”

Once established, you can move on to variable reinforcement to make the behavior “stick.” You might use a little scratch or a verbal reinforcer if he finds that to be something that feels good to him, but he doesn’t have to get food every time.

“If he doesn’t expect to get the reward every time, he’s going to continue to do that behavior and it will remain consistent so long as he gets reinforced every once in a while,” says Weiss. “Think about playing the slot machines in a casino. Most of the time, people don’t win anything. But every once in a while, they do, and this keeps them coming back and pulling the lever.”

Key Takeaway

Positive reinforcement is a valuable addition for any horse handler.

“It’s all about finding the right tools in your toolbox for a particular situation,” says Weiss. “And for a lot of horses there’s a frustration point, where you haven’t quite been able to get the behavior that you want. Removing the negative reinforcer and replacing it with a positive reinforcer can be just the ticket to completely change the horse’s perspective and make it much easier for you to get the training done.”

This article about training horses with positive reinforcement appeared in the July 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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The Goal of Softness

Softness starts with your horse’s mouth and chin, through his neck, rib cage, and hindquarters—his whole body. Some riders confuse softness with achieving a “headset,” where the horse holds its head in the desired position.

“It’s beyond headset—it’s more a willing behavior to do the task you’re asking for,” says Baldus. “Some horses naturally have a neck that comes out a little bit lower, [and] they’re comfortable being lower-headed due to their style or their pedigree. Other horses with a different pedigree or style might carry their head a little bit higher and have a higher-headed look. That doesn’t mean that the horse is stiffer, it just means that he has conformation that puts his head higher.”

A horse with higher-headed conformation can still be soft with his head and neck, according to Baldus. This type of horse can still be flexed at the poll, willingly guided and soft—just with his head coming out of his neck a bit higher.

If a horse is high-headed and tense, he might be anxious or protecting himself from reins that are pulled on too firmly.

“When a horse has his head way up and his neck tight, his shoulders are heavy and he’s hitting the ground hard while he moves,” says Baldus. “His whole body is stiff, rigid and tight.”

In contrast, a soft horse has a lightness of step and movement regardless of gait or maneuver.

“He’s going to have a soft and light step, and that’s going to help the horse move better,” he says. “And that’s true whether working a cow, on the trail, just riding down the road, or riding for pleasure around your ranch. A horse that is lighter and moves with more fluidity is going to be smoother and softer to ride.”

Preparation

The bit you choose to use while working on softness with your horse is important. Baldus says that when he’s first starting to train a horse—usually in the first 30 days of riding—he’ll use a loping hackamore to work on lateral softness. He will next put the horse in some variation of a snaffle bit.

“As I transition to a snaffle, some horses are very light and soft and go in a smooth O-ring,” he says. “Others need a bit more, maybe a little twist to the mouthpiece, or even a short shank bridle to help him understand how to soften to the bridle.”

No matter what bit you use, your hands are the most important piece of the puzzle.

Move Slow and Soft

Baldus says the way you ask your horse to move is key.

“Every day when I get on, every ride, I remind myself to slow my hands down and ask [for a response] as slow and soft as possible,” he says.

This starts with asking the horse to tip his nose to the right, for example. You’ll do this every time you ride after your horse has warmed up.

“I ask myself how slowly and how smoothly I can pick this rein up and ask this horse to tip his nose to the right,” says Baldus. “If I ask slowly and methodically, in a sequence of half a pound of pressure, 1 pound of pressure, 2 pounds, 3 pounds, and so on over a 10-second time period, that horse has a chance to respond to a soft, light pressure before I increase to more pressure. By building the habit of keeping your hand slow, the horse will start to respond to 1 or 2 pounds.”

Build this habit into everything you do with your hands and legs while riding—whether you have on a loping hackamore or a spade bit on a finished bridle horse. Focus on keeping your hands as slow and consistent as possible.

The Release of Pressure

You’ll also want to focus on the release of pressure.

“Your horse is going to learn the most from the release of pressure,” says Baldus. “The moment he starts to soften in the direction I want with his head, neck or shoulders, I start to release the pressure.”

Look for a place to reward your horse, even just for trying, then pick up and ask again. He will probably get softer faster, according to Baldus.

The Sequence of Achieving Softness

Working from the front to the back of the horse, Baldus asks for softness.

“I start with his nose, and I’m just bending his nose laterally, let’s say with my left hand,” he says. “I’m tipping my left hand toward my left pocket and asking the horse to give his nose to the left.”

Baldus notes that he’s not clucking or using his legs for this step—he’s asking the horse to stand still and stay relaxed, flexing his nose toward the rein cue.

“Once he stands still and gives his nose to the left, then I release that pressure,” he says. “Then I will pick up the rein and ask again in another 10 seconds.”

Your horse is not going to respond perfectly right away—you’re looking for small steps, building habits that will stay with the horse. Baldus says it may take a horse two weeks to understand if he’s never done it before.

Vertical Flexion

The drills Baldus uses most often are asking for lateral bend and flexion, asking the horse to soften to the left and right, and then adding forward motion as he asks for a slight vertical flexion. At this point, he’s using his legs as an additional cue.

“When I’ve got the horse going at a walk, I just tip his nose to the left and to the right as we’re progressing into vertical flexion,” he says. “I’m asking the nose to move toward his chest and soften at the poll; I’m using my legs to squeeze and tell him to keep going forward. That’s the difference between your reins being a ‘whoa and stop’ cue and your reins being a ‘soften and flex at the poll’ cue.”

The moment you feel flexion or softening in the horse’s poll, release your reins—Baldus says this is a “micro release” of half an inch as a reward. Your horse may push his nose back out, and that’s OK.

“You’re just going to pick him up again and say, ‘Hey, let’s not root our nose out; when I pick my hands up, flex at the poll and soften your chin toward your chest,’” Baldus explains. “When [the horse complies], I start to release my hands again. I’m teaching him to look for the release of pressure, and he’ll find it by flexing at the poll and lowering his neck a little bit.”

Baldus works on these moves at a walk, and once the horse is solid, he’ll move to a trot, and eventually a lope and gallop on a finished horse.

Body Softness

Baldus teaches the horse to shoulder-yield next while walking in a circle. Traveling to the left, he’ll close his left leg from his calf to his heel right behind the front cinch to teach the horse to move away from pressure.

“His head and neck stay the same, and his body stays on the same arc of the 10-foot-circle, but now I’m teaching him to cross his left front leg over his right front leg as he makes the shoulder move,” says Baldus. “This helps when a horse drops his shoulder to the inside. The more control you’re going to have over the circle, the more you can control your horse’s feet and softness, and the better his patterns are going to be.”

Baldus will also ask the horse to step his hindquarters to the outside of a circle, almost like a forehand pivot, where the hind end is moving around the front end.

Once the front end and back end can be moved in response to your cues, you’ll move on to the sidepass, where you ask the horse to move his front and hind end laterally at the same time.

“Think about that softness in your horse’s head, neck and shoulders, all the way through his body to his hindquarters,” Baldus explains.

These skills translate to maneuvers such as opening and closing a gate, or sidepassing to pick up a slicker off of a fence in a trail class.

“The sidepass is another way to gain body control and softness through your horse’s body with a single maneuver to focus on,” says Baldus.

Key Takeaway

Remember, if your horse is stiff and heavy on his feet, he did not get there overnight. It may take six months for a horse to become softer and lighter, and that’s OK.

“You’re always going to ask as softly as possible and release the pressure the first chance you get,” says Baldus. “Those habits are going to build, and your horse is going to learn to carry himself in a way that’s flexed at the poll and willing and soft through his body. Then you’re going to be more comfortable on a trail ride. You’re going to have more fun, whether it’s in the show pen, working a cow, or on the barrels, because your horse is a softer, more willing partner.”

Meet the Trainer Ben Baldus has been training and showing horses since he was 12 years old. He trains horses for reining, reined cow horse, and ranch versatility, and has earned championship titles at major events with the National Reining Horse Association, National Reined Cow Horse Association, Ranch Horse Association of America, and American Quarter Horse Association. He and his wife, Cameron, operate Baldus Horsemanship in Gainesville, Texas.

Further Reading
◆ Brush Up on Your Riding Aids
◆ Achieve the Correct Timing of Riding Aids
◆ Common Horse Training Mistakes

This article about training your horse for softness appeared in the June 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Improve Your Horse’s Softness appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Skilled riding is often all it takes to improve a horse’s athleticism, performance, and overall well-being. But just as often, even good dressage-based training programs fail to fully root out the habits and patterns that prevent many horses from reaching optimal movement and correctness of their gaits.

Anything from a poorly fitting saddle to inconsistent exercise, an injury, or past postural imbalances can create compromises. These quickly become deeper impediments to a horse’s movement mechanics that persist even with good, regular riding schedules.

The body’s way of taking care of itself during physical imbalances is to put up defenses. These defenses take the form of muscular spasms, adhesions, restricted joint motion, and signals to and from the central nervous system to move differently.

Curing these defenses is not as simple as giving the horse a period of rest, though that can seem like a sensible solution. Putting a horse out in the field for a few months with the hope that everything will clear up rarely fixes the underlying problems.

Therapies like chiropractic care and massage are generally successful in releasing areas of immobility so the horse is able to move optimally. However, they only set the stage; they do not by themselves create healthy movement.

For that, the horse must be taken through exercises that habituate correct new patterns. This is where corrective exercises come in.

Let’s Go Galloping!

Galloping offers one of the most generally therapeutic exercises for a riding horse. It can release tension and stiffness in the horse’s back and hindquarters—sometimes more effectively than bodywork and stretches combined.

The classical masters of dressage often advised riders to take their horses for a brisk canter across the fields regularly because it’s one of the simplest tools to keep a horse tuned up with full, free range of motion.

Misunderstood nowadays as something that only applies to racehorses and eventing horses, galloping often fails to exist within the domain of most arena and recreational riders. And yet it helps cure rhythm irregularity in the gaits, a hollow back, and one-sidedness.

Galloping does not need to be an all-out, white-knuckled affair as some wary riders fear. It just needs to be a brisk version of cantering without holding the horse tightly with the reins.

Compared to other gaits, the galloping horse pushes himself forward with more powerful contractions of his back muscles. These forceful contractions are followed quickly by relaxation of the muscle fibers. The contraction/relaxation cycles prevent tension or stiffening of the horse’s long back muscles, which is often created by other work.

Horses that are able to canter briskly for a period each week, whether out in the field or around an arena, maintain better symmetry in the activation of their hind legs and more freedom through their back.

Start in the Arena

For those who are wary of their horse’s behavior when encouraged to canter quickly, or have other concerns such as the horse tripping, getting fatigued, or not steering very well, I recommend the following exercise.

While your horse will not be receiving the same benefits of a prolonged canter bout, you will lay a good foundation to get there soon. It is intended for the comfy confines of an arena or large enclosed area.

1. Shorten your stirrups by one or two holes. This helps you ride in a lighter seat up off the horse’s back.

2. After a normal warm-up, strike off in a canter.

3. Now come up in a half-seat, lighten the reins, and encourage your horse to move a little faster.

4. Try to travel around 10 miles per hour, not faster or slower. This is not an out-of-control speed, just a brisk effort.

5. Continue around the perimeter of the arena or on a very large circle (no smaller than 40 meters) for 30 seconds.

6. Take a short break by jogging around for 30 seconds.

7. Repeat this four times.

Once horses learn that galloping involves a fair amount of sustained work, it ceases to be thrilling. Horses that are initially excited or reactive about the freedom of galloping learn that it’s just another part of their work week, but you must help them get over that initial hurdle.

Use a watch for this exercise. Many riders don’t know what 30 seconds of galloping feels like, and they are prone to quit after a much shorter time.

Be sure to go at least 30 seconds—or longer—with each canter. This is the time you’ll need for your horse to settle into his strides for the right physiological response.

This excerpt from 55 Corrective Exercises by Jec Ballou is reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books. This reprint originally appeared in the May 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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