Small-Space Training with Your Horse
It’s the middle of winter. Freezing rain, snow, and arctic temperatures are enough to put your riding (and training) on ice. While riding in the snow can be fun, if it’s slippery or conceals ice, it can be dangerous. If the footing outside isn’t safe and an indoor arena’s not available, you might think you’re doomed to just feed and muck out stalls until spring.
But you can train--despite the bad weather--by using spaces as small as an aisle, a stall, or even a dry area under the eaves of your barn. We’ll show you how to tune up your horse in three categories: conditioning, training reinforcement, and obedience. Before you begin, read “Turn Them Out First,” at the end of this article. Then try these tips and fill those gray days with fun and accomplishment--for both of you.
Conditioning
Horses are like humans when it comes to physical conditioning. As they get older, it’s harder for them to stay in shape if they exercise in spring, summer, and fall, then take winter off. For most horses 5 years old and older, year-round conditioning is beneficial for longevity and health. Here’s what you can do:
- Turn on the forehand. The horse pivots around his inside foreleg, cutting an outer concentric circle with his other legs. You can start from the ground, then do it under saddle in an aisle if you have room. Forehand turns are beneficial because they provide stretching and work the muscles and joints by moving the horse laterally.
- Turn on the hindquarters (or haunches). The horse turns around his inner hind leg, which remains on the spot or makes a small circle, while his other legs cut a larger outer concentric circle. This is done under saddle, but you can try on the ground, as well. Like the forehand turn, it provides exercise and stretching by moving the horse laterally.
- Backing.This is a good exercise to perform in a barn aisle. You can do it from the ground or under saddle. Make sure you back your horse straight, which will condition his hindquarters.
- Neck flexion from the ground. Outfit your horse in a snaffle bit with split reins. If you stand him next to a wall or stall, he can’t turn his hindquarters away when you ask him to give to bit pressure when you lift the rein. Stand next to his withers, holding the rein above it, and bring the horse’s nose around in that direction to stretch his neck. You can flex his neck to both sides. This will relax your horse and is also good for training and obedience. It will make him lighter and more responsive, improve steering, and teach or reinforce the concept of yielding to pressure. (For a detailed description, see Clinton Anderson’s "Flex Your Horse's Neck from the Ground.")
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Training Reinforcement
Horses don’t forget their training, but they can get a little rusty if they haven’t performed a routine for a while. The following tips will reinforce skills for certain classes, but they’re good for general horsemanship, as well. These are groundwork exercises.
- Speed control on a lead. The premise is to teach your horse to lead freely--and quietly--next to you at various walking speeds and the jog. This is necessary for halter and showmanship classes, but it’s also beneficial for any horse to know. With his lead rope in your hand, have your horse match your stride as you take long steps, or you can even jog. You can do this in an aisle,under a shed row roof, or on the dry side of a long barn.
- Responding to “whoa.” Every horse needs to know this basic command for training and safety. Walk your horse to a stall door or the barn entrance, and stop him by saying “whoa.” If he continues forward, back him to the stopping spot and repeat “whoa.”
- Setting up square. Required for halter and showmanship. The goal is to set up your horse squarely with his feet up underneath him so you can present him to a judge. After telling your horse “whoa,” hand-set your horse’s feet, starting with the right hind foot, then the left. Next, set the right front foot and the left with your hand. After your horse has learned to stand in the correct position, start working him from the halter so you can use it to move his feet. (For more details, see “Set-Up Smarts,” in the June 2006 Horse & Rider.)
- Backing into a “chute” made of parallel poles or cones. This maneuver is required in some timed events, such as calf roping, in which a horse must start the event from a “box.” It’s also useful in trail classes and general horsemanship. Be patient as you back your horse into the “chute” because some horses are reluctant at first to do it.
- Walking on a “bridge.” Place large pieces of plywood lengthwise in an aisle to simulate a trail-class bridge. After he masters it as groundwork, you can do it under saddle.
Obedience
An obedient horse is a safe horse, not only for himself, but his rider. The following tips can be done from the ground to reinforce good manners, patience and safety.
- Tie-up acceptance. Also called “patience training.” Regularly tie your horse in a safe place so he learns to wait patiently instead of pawing or fussing. Do it just often enough and long enough that he learns to accept it. This is almost as important as your horse knowing “whoa” because if he won’t tie quietly at home, you can’t leave him tied safely in an unfamiliar place.
- Pick up both feet from the same side. Pick up the near side hoof, but instead of walking around to the other side, pick up the offside hoof from the same side. This makes cleaning and picking out your horse’s hooves easier and faster because you don’t have to walk around him as often.
- Lower head on request. This makes it easier to put your horse’s bridle on. It’s also good for controlling a horse’s “attitude” when he doesn’t want to respond.
