Dragging an object with a rope may look easy, but it’s also easy to get tangled up. Here, trainer Aaron Ralston helps you safely teach your horse to drag a log. First, you’ll make sure that your horse is comfortable following and watching the log drag, then you’ll learn to pull the rope while you stay in a safe position. Your horse will learn that during training, the safe thing to do is face the rope and log instead of running away.

“It’s important to know how to work a rope correctly,” says Ralston. “It’s easy to get in a wreck if you don’t know how to keep the rope in the correct place.”

Before the Drag

Before you mount up, make sure you have a rope made for ranch work. Twisted rope maintains its shape and won’t break easily.

You’ll also need to ensure that your horse accepts the feel of rope touching him. Here, we’ll assume that your horse will stand still and relax when a rope touches his body. (If you need desensitization help, visit www.horseillustrated.com/how-to-desensitize-your-horse.)

Loop or tie your rope’s end to a log before you start to practice. Choose a log that is a similar weight to a calf—about 125 to 175 pounds. A log with some weight will mimic pulling a calf and will provide resistance as you and your horse pull.

Safety notes: Keep in mind that at any training step, you can turn and face the dragged log if your horse gets worried. Turning toward the side where the rope touches your leg will relieve pressure and allow your horse to stop, look, and relax without getting wrapped up.

Never dally until your horse is calm and comfortable while pulling. You can always hold the rope and drop it if necessary until your horse fully accepts the feel of pulling the log.

Follow First

Have a knowledgeable friend drag a log on a horse that has mastered the skill. Follow along on your horse. First, approach from afar and move forward to follow more closely.

Ralston suggests allowing your horse to see the log move with his eyes in all possible positions.

“Let him see it from the front, then from the back of his right eye, then from the back with his left eye,” he says. “Seeing that the log moves from these different directions will help your horse be less fearful of it when he’s pulling the rope.”

Drag the Rope

Next, get your horse accustomed to dragging the rope with nothing attached.

“Without the threat of something else moving, make sure that your horse is comfortable with the rope touching him all over,” Ralston says. “He can drag it and then turn and face the end—doing the same motion that I’ll later teach with the log attached to the rope.”

Ralston says this is a good time to get used to holding the coils of the rope in your left (reining) hand, while keeping the dragging rope in your right hand. The rope and the object you’ll drag will always stay on the right side of your horse.

With your reining hand also holding the coils, you can adjust the length of rope that you’ll feed out to drag the log. When it’s time to pull the log, you’ll need to keep the rope length long enough so that your horse doesn’t step on the log, but short enough so that excess rope doesn’t get caught under his tail. Keep your log about a horse length away from your horse.

Log Drag

Have a friend hand you the coiled end of the rope that’s attached to your log. From the start, allow your horse to face the log so that he can clearly see what’s moving—and reduce his urge to flee.

“I’m going to let him face the log and I’m not going to dally,” Ralston says. “I’ll sit at a safe distance and pull the log closer. He wants to back up away from the log. We are safer and won’t get caught up.”

Ralston continues to pull the rope toward his horse until he stands still and accepts the log moving toward him. When he stands calmly, it’s time for the next step.

Half Wrap

It’s time for Ralston’s horse to pull the rope. Without wrapping the rope tightly around the saddle horn, Ralston moves the rope in a “U” shape around the saddle horn, not making a full circle around it. In this half wrap, the horse will move the rope and log, but Ralston can quickly release the rope if needed.

“I’ll ask him to back up and move the log,” he says. “He’s backing up nice and relaxed and confident. He starts to lick and chew, meaning he’s thinking and processing.”

Stay at this stage until your horse calmly backs on command. If at any time he seems nervous, go back to pulling the rope on your own and release the half wrap.

Pull, Then Turn

If your horse is comfortable with the log in front of him, it’s time to transition to pull from the right side. To start, you’ll position your horse so that the log isn’t behind him.

“Now, I’ll turn my horse,” Ralston says. “This is a scarier position for horses to be in because they can’t see the log with both eyes. I don’t want to move straight away from the rope. I want to be at a three-quarter angle to the log so that I can easily turn my horse to face up to the log without getting caught up.

“Standing still at our three-quarter position, I can feel my horse start to move and worry that the log is in a new position,” he says. “I turn him to the right to have him face up again. When he calms down, I’ll return to the three-quarter position and move the log. If he moves his feet, I’ll turn him to face up again. I keep working until he stands still when I pull it at the three-quarter position.”

Ralston says he’ll only take a half wrap on the horn once his horse stands still and allows him to pull the log with the new three-quarter position.

“I’ll take a partial dally and take a few steps,” he says. “If he panics, I undo the dally and face the log. The safest thing is to have them face up to it. We don’t want them to tuck their tail and go forward and away. If the rope gets stuck on the saddle horn and they get running, it will snowball into a negative result. The horse’s release is always to face it and stand still.”

Straight On

Stay at the three-quarter pull position until your horse is calm, accepts the log, and will move forward without stress. Only then is it time to ride straight away from the log.

Ralston says it’s best to undo your half wrap or dally and face up to the log any time your horse tenses or moves quickly.

“If the rope touching your horse’s hindquarters causes him to worry, return to the three-quarter position, then face up. The rope will be against my right leg and against the right side of his hindquarters.”

Ralston says he uses his right leg pressure, reaching behind the cinch, to move his horse’s hip to the left any time he worries that the rope may go under his horse’s tail.

“My right leg pushes that hip from getting too far under the rope,” he says. “That will prevent the rope getting up over the hip and wrapping us up. If that rope gets over the hip, it’s very dangerous. That happens when you get too straight and don’t have a slight hip yield as you pull. At any time, I can push that hip over to the left, face up and get safe.”

Ralston reminds you that any time you need to rest or praise your horse for doing well, face up to the log. Always emphasize that being faced up to the log is the best release.

You’ll ultimately circle your horse in both directions, working a large figure-eight while keeping your rope safely to your right side. In the highest show levels, horses perform the figure-eight log drag while trotting—but only after mastering the basics and facing up to the log often.

This article about teaching a horse to drag a log appeared in the October 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Teach Your Horse to Drag a Log appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Riding over logs may seem like a common obstacle, but ranch riding judges don’t want to see you take painstaking time to get across. They want to see horses that step forward with interest and without breaking gait.

To master this show obstacle, you must know how to regulate your horse’s stride and use precise body cues that keep him moving forward without rushing. Your horse must be precise, too—only one hoof may land between each log.

Here, champion-earning trainer Julian Nemmers coaches his son, Justin, as he practices his pole-crossing protocol. The Nemmers family ranch is in Longmont, Colo., where Julian and Nancy Nemmers’ amateur, non-pro, and youth clients have received World Champion titles and honors at the national level.

Julian Nemmers shares his coaching tips to help you walk and trot over logs in the show ring after you’ve practiced at home.

“In ranch riding, you have to ride aggressively and forward,” says Nemmers. “If you’re complacent, you won’t score well. You have to be in a hurry to get to your next transition or obstacle, but your horse can’t look in a hurry. To find that balance, you have a lot of practice to do at home before the show.”

The Set-Up

Logs for ranch riding classes are set wider than poles in trail classes. The logs are often natural, cut trees or round fenceposts that are natural in color. The precise distance between logs isn’t mandated, and riders may not know what spacing to expect until they approach the obstacle in the show ring.

Logs are set with 26- to 30-inch spacing if horses are to walk through. For trot-overs, the poles may be spaced anywhere from 36 to 42 inches apart.

Homework on Riding Over Logs

Nemmers suggests placing logs or poles around your riding area and changing their placement and distance daily. Your horse needs to learn that the obstacle will be different.

Small tree trunks or round fence posts work well. You can also change the height of your logs by stacking 6-inch-diameter fence posts. With two on the bottom and one resting on top, your horse will have to step higher than usual.

When it’s time to ride, approach the logs with your horse aimed at the middle. Since the logs are often shorter than standard ground poles, your horse could step around and miss the obstacle if he starts at an angle.

Stop your horse and wait for him to look forward at the logs. In a show, you won’t stop before you ride over the logs, because it would be considered a break of gait.

To practice, though, Nemmers says he often halts his horses to encourage their curiosity and to keep them from rushing. Judges like to see ranch horses with forward-aimed ears, looking interested and alert.

Cue your horse to move forward by raising your reining hand and shifting it slightly forward (about 5 inches). Keep your lower leg in its usual riding position but stand and shift your shoulders forward. Look at the slots between the logs to help your horse move in the direction you want to go. You can hold the saddle horn as you lean forward.

Keep this position consistently until you have crossed all the logs. Only when your horse’s last foot has exited the obstacle should you lean back and sit down.

Trot With Cadence Over Logs

Trotting across the poles means learning how to adjust your horse’s stride to fit the distance between the logs.

“When you’re trotting, look past the obstacle and not down at the logs,” says Nemmers. “That will help keep the horse moving forward. I may feel that I need to speed up to get across, or I may feel that we’re moving too fast, and I need to soften and slow my horse just a little. Do make sure to allow your horse to look forward so he can see the obstacle that’s coming. Don’t collect up so much that your horse can’t see.”

If you feel like you need to move more quickly, move your reins down toward your horse’s head. Increase your leg pressure, too. If you need to slow, pick up your hand slightly. Even a half-inch movement should slow your horse’s speed. Repeat the obstacle often and allow your horse to trot for several strides before riding over the logs.

“With repetition, you’ll learn how to control your horse’s gait,” says Nemmers. “The more you go over different configurations and get out in a pasture setting will be a big benefit, too. Work where it’s natural.”

Showing Success Over Logs

When it’s show time, make sure your horse looks alert, forward and interested in every obstacle. Your horse shouldn’t have memorized a pattern, but he should be willing to listen to where you want to go.

When it comes riding over logs, the judge wants to see a horse that’s aware of where his feet are going and moves through with ease. While there’s no set penalty for ticking a log, it’s up to the judge to score the whole maneuver as a plus .5, 1 or 1.5 or to deduct on the same scale.

Make sure not to break gait and move through the log obstacle with knowledge of your horse’s stride and cadence. If you’ve worked on this at home, showing will be a natural step.

Special thanks to Justin Nemmers on Boxo Heavens Firefly. With Justin riding, the mare won bronze at the 2020 AQHA World Show and was the NSBA World Champion at AQHA World for ranch riding, both in the amateur divisions.

This article about riding over logs in ranch riding appeared in the June 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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