Urban trail riding can be unnerving if you’re not used to it—for both horse and rider. Urban trail horses deal with an assortment of unnatural obstacles they wouldn’t encounter on a wilderness trail.

The good news is that even though urban trail riding might be more challenging than a trek through the woods, you and your horse can learn to enjoy it—and even reap the benefits.

The Challenge of Urban Trail Riding

When riding on rural trails, your biggest worry is likely to be a wildlife encounter. A deer or even a bear popping out and scaring your horse is always a possibility. Other than this, your rural trail ride is probably relaxing, and you can sit back and enjoy the scenery as your horse pokes along.

Urban trail riding is a different beast entirely. Unlike rural trails, urban trails are full of stimuli. Sights and sounds will present themselves to your horse on almost every urban trail ride. Because most urban trails are located in neighborhoods where people live, you can expect the kind of activity you’d see yourself on a given day if you want for a walk near your home.

Here are some examples of what you might come across on an urban trail ride:

◆ Barking dogs running behind fences

◆ Motorcycles, trucks, and golf carts

◆ Skateboards, scooters, bicycles and e-bikes

◆ Roadside trash, such as plastic bags, old couches, mattresses and discarded kitchen appliances

◆ Buzzing electrical or telephone equipment

◆ Kids playing basketball in a driveway

◆ People holding umbrellas

◆ Tennis courts, golf courses and soccer fields

◆ Road crews with ladders, jackhammers, and other heavy equipment

◆ Tree trimmers high up in cherry pickers with chainsaws

◆ Lawnmowers, weed whackers, and welders

◆ Seasonal lawn decorations

If you’ve only ridden in the quiet countryside, all this might seem incredibly daunting. But over time, you and your horse will get used to it, and you’ll start to enjoy the benefits of urban trail riding:

◆ You’re close to help, should an emergency arise.

◆ If you live in an urban or suburban area with horse trails, you don’t have to drive far—or at all—to go on a ride.

◆ You’ll meet other riders on the trail and can make friends.

If you are riding in a horse-friendly community, you might even come across hitching posts or mini corrals in front of stores and restaurants where you can “park” your horse and go inside.

A Suitable Horse

If you want to have a fun experience on urban trails, you need the right horse. Not every equine can handle the level of stimulation that comes with riding in a city environment. A quiet temperament goes a long way in helping a horse learn to be an urban equine.

Assuming you have a horse that isn’t overly spooky on quiet country trails, you can teach him to cope with the noise and activity of urban trails. It’s crucial that your horse can relax once he gets comfortable in a place or situation. If he’s the type who adapts easily to new situations, he’s likely a good candidate.

If your horse has trouble being calm, even at home, urban trail riding may be too much for him. Horses who are ultra sensitive and easily over-stimulated may not be able to cope with the sights and sounds of the urban trail, even with repeated exposure.

Desensitizing

If you think your horse is a good candidate, before you take him on a busy trail, help get him used to some of what he might see along the way. Desensitizing him to unfamiliar objects will teach him that even though he hasn’t seen something before, it’s not necessarily a threat.

Using an arena and your horse’s favorite treats, gradually expose him to some common urban objects by just turning him out and leaving them where he can see them. Reward him when he approaches the object and starts to relax. Here are some items you can use:

◆ Balloons

◆ Empty baby stroller

◆ Bicycle, both ridden and parked

◆ Large beach ball

◆ Big cardboard box

◆ White plastic trash bag

◆ An open umbrella

Expose your horse to each of these items individually, and don’t overwhelm him. If he’s terrified of something and can’t seem to get used to it within the confines of the arena, put it farther away where he can still see it, but isn’t stressed by it.

Gradually bring it closer, gauging when he’s getting stressed and backing off if it’s too much. He will eventually get used to seeing it, and over time you can move it a little bit closer. Eventually he should ignore it, even at close range.

Sounds can be another challenge for urban trail horses. While the sound of a passing car doesn’t frighten most horses, a truck pulling a rattling trailer or a bus letting the air out of its brakes can unnerve even the most confident horse.

It’s hard to find an opportunity to expose your horse to these sounds without actually taking him on an urban trail ride, but some people will board their horses in areas with these kinds of sounds with the goal of getting the horse used to it. Most riders will just help their horses get used these sounds as they start riding urban trails, reassuring them when a loud sound startles them.

How to Start Urban Trail Riding

When you first start riding your horse on an unfamiliar urban trail, it’s a good idea to ride with a trail buddy who has an experienced urban trail horse. Horses take their cues from one another, and if the experienced horse is relaxed, it will help the newbie feel safe. Look for a riding buddy who understands that your horse is just learning how to negotiate a busy city trail.

Be prepared to take your time letting your horse get used to the new environment. Go at a walk, and make your initial rides short so your horse doesn’t feel overwhelmed. Reward him with lots of praise when he encounters something unfamiliar and responds with courage or curiosity.

Your horse isn’t the only one who needs to learn to relax in this new environment. As his rider, it’s important that you convey a sense of confidence to him. If you are anxious and uptight, your horse will sense it and assume you are both in a dangerous situation.

If you are a nervous rider and are concerned you won’t be able to relax while getting your horse used to urban trail riding, consider asking a confident rider you trust if he or she would mind riding your horse. You may suggest that you ride your friend’s experienced urban trail horse while he or she rides your horse. This way, both you and your horse can become familiar with urban trail riding with the help of another team who are comfortable in this environment.

As with any type of trail riding, make sure you have spent time riding your horse in an arena before you head out into the open. You want to be sure your horse listens to your aids and is safe and compliant before you test him in a more stimulating environment.

Before long, you and your horse will be enjoying the neighborhood trails. You’ll discover that horses who are comfortable in urban environments turn out to be even more solid when you get back into the countryside.

Further Reading
◆ Horse Safety: Riding on the Road
◆ Urban Riding Programs
◆ Horseback Riding in Los Angeles: Explore Iconic Griffith Park
◆ Riding Your Horse on the Beach

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

The post Urban Trail Riding appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

When her daughter Maya came home from school with a flier describing the summer day camp at the Detroit Horse Power urban riding program, Danielle Harling had no idea how large an impact the program would have on her family.

“Being from Detroit, seeing the blight, knowing the daily struggles of [families], I really had no idea back then that a program like this even existed,” Harling recalls. “I had no idea how horses could help children and their families.”

With Maya (now 13) and son Tariq (age 15) both involved in Detroit Horse Power Programs, there’s no longer any doubt in Harling’s mind.

“The horses are vessels for teaching,” she says. “And [parents] see that their children have pride, confidence, empathy toward others, knowledge of how to use self-control, and how to persevere through tough situations.”

Reaching Kids

Detroit Horse Power is one of several urban riding programs around the country that uses horses to help young people living in cities skirt urban drug and crime cultures and recognize their own potential beyond their neighborhoods.

That’s exactly what founder David Silver had in mind when he launched the program four years ago. A former competitor in the hunter/jumper and eventing disciplines, Silver arrived in Detroit as an elementary school teacher in the Teach for America program. It wasn’t long before he recognized that horses could help kids learn beyond the classroom.

“I realized that the values of compassion and empathy that I was trying to teach my students were connected to my experiences with horses,” Silver recalls. “In 2015, we started the first summer camps in June and August with 18 kids; in 2018, we had 108 kids.”

Via partnerships with volunteers and staff from local boarding barns, including Heavenly Horse Stables in nearby Pinckney, Mich., Detroit Horse Power has grown to include two barn trips every month and weekly meetings to encourage the kids’ continued learning.

“We have three sessions going on at once: one where the kids learn to ride, one where they learn to take care of the horses they ride, and year-round classes [without horses] where kids learn about core emotional traits of perseverance, empathy, responsible risk-taking, confidence and self-control.”

Young people who reside in high-crime or minority neighborhoods are recruited to take part in Detroit Horse Power through the program’s partnerships with area schools and other non-profits.

“We have a very broad definition of ‘at risk,’” says Silver. “About 81 percent of the kids in Detroit are African-American, the crime rate is high, and lots of kids don’t graduate from high school or go on to college. We asked, how can we motivate a kid to a different result?”

Positive Outcomes

The program’s impact on the children who participate is obvious and nearly immediate, Harling says.

“Some start out shy and withdrawn, while others are sort of hyper and intimidated by the size of the horses,” says Harling, who also serves as the child advocate on the organization’s board of directors. “By Friday, they’re all confident and calm and sure of themselves and the things they learned that week. [The children] also benefit by having that amazing experience with the horses, and most importantly, they have received a socio-emotional education that they can use daily.”

The families of participating children benefit, too.

“The children return home confident, with wonderful stories of their accomplishments, photos, positive affirmations, and a blue ribbon just to start,” says Harling. “[Families] see an improvement in their children’s behavior as well, which is always a plus.”

Patricia Kelly wanted to see a change, too, when she started Ebony Horsewomen in 1984 as a cultural and social enrichment group for women of color in Hartford, Conn. It wasn’t long before it became apparent that the group could play a similar role for women raising kids in African-American and Latino neighborhoods.

“The first time we rode into a neighborhood, a kid came up to me and asked, ‘Is that a real horse?” remembers Kelly, a Cowgirl Hall of Famer and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. “I realized that the child had never seen a horse before, and that we could make a difference.”

By 1987, members of Ebony Horsewomen were riding into neighborhoods distributing anti-drug materials and connecting urban mothers with fundamental resources.

“In those days the phrase was ‘Just Say No,’” she says. “We would ride into the neighborhoods and talk to the women and hand out pamphlets; later, we would have a doctor with us.”

Today, the organization serves 30 youngsters ranging from 5 to 18 years old by teaching them to ride and take responsibility for the 17 horses at the organization’s Equestrian and Agricultural Center, located in Hartford’s 693-acre Keney Park.

They also tend the Center’s garden and care for the menagerie of other animals residing there.

“Some kids never have the opportunity to get out into the fresh air,” says Kelly. “Some are inside playing computer games, but for other kids,
it’s not safe for them to be outside.

The kids come [to the Center] seven days a week and they want to work; they want to participate and they want to learn.”

Putting Horse Skills Into Practice in Urban Riding Programs

Ebony Horsewomen also offers the Young Ladies Dressage Team and Leadership Academy, a comprehensive initiative that provides a range of leadership, educational, cultural and developmental support geared toward independent thinking and problem solving.

Dressage team members compete in classes at local horse shows. Likewise, the organization’s Junior Mounted Patrol provides boys with equestrian training, promotes leadership skills, and puts both to work as mounted rangers in Hartford’s Keney Park.

“There are bikes in the park, runners, dogs—they never know what they’re going to meet—so the horses have to know that they can trust the boys and the boys have to know that they can trust the horses,” Kelly explains. “When you’re out there on patrol, it’s just you and the horse.”

Kelly believes that urban horseback riding programs are successful because they show kids ways to tap into their best selves. In Chicago, Murdock hopes to do the same for young people there through the Broken Arrow Riding Club.

Learning to ride in Chicago’s Washington Park sparked Murdock’s dream of making a living as a member of a mounted police unit. But when he returned to the city after a stint in the military, horseback riding opportunities for both kids and adults were scarce.

As a result, for the past several years Murdock has been petitioning the Chicago Park District to develop a venue where inner-city kids can learn to ride, participate in horse-focused demonstrations and workshops, and watch farriers at work. He believes that the experiences can change kids’ lives.

“As a kid, I knew that I could be one of the Three Stooges, a circus boy, or someone who worked with horses,” he says. “I had a dream in my heart to work with horses, and it made a difference.”

While a facility specifically for the Broken Arrow Riding Club remains under consideration, the group sponsors a pair of events intended to call attention to Chicago’s urban equestrian community.

The Broken Arrow Rodeo and Horse Show at the South Side Cultural Center draws 40 riders and attracts 300 spectators every June. In July, 75 horses are riders are expected to take part in the High Noon Picnic and ride to Washington Park.

“We’re in our 30th year this year, and I think that’s significant,” Murdock says.

In the meantime, urban riding programs that exist right now are making the difference in youngsters’ lives every day.

“We tell kids they can be farriers, veterinarians, trainers,” says Harling. “We tell them to pay attention because the skills they get from the program will help them get into college.”

The message is not lost, according to recent poll of kids in involved in the Detroit Horse Power program.

“Some kids tell us that they are interested in jobs that work directly with horses, others have a goal of going to college to be in professions that will allow them to afford to own and care for horses,” says Silver.

“Either way, they can see that alternatives exist—it works.”

This article on urban riding programs originally appeared in the July 2019 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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