Never in history has so much helpful information been available to horse lovers. Good books, clinics, and videos, along with the wonders of the Internet, make available the latest trends in horse training techniques and equipment. But we've lost some things, too.
Just a generation or two ago, horses were used more widely for work than they are today, and there was more likely to be an old, retired horseman next door who could offer stories and firsthand advice from which you could learn.
We're likely to be quite well-informed about round-pen training techniques, but less capable than we should be when it comes to skills that help keep us safe with our horses in the backcountry.
Further, much of our horse's potential as helpmate is lost if we don't know how to better harness his power. Here's a brief rundown of five useful skills: teaching your horse to drag objects, hobbling, tying up a hind foot, picketing, and knots.
Skill #1: Dragging Objects
The ability to hook onto something and safely exert pressure can be extremely valuable. You can drag a snag of dead firewood back to camp or pony a reluctant packhorse. In an emergency, a horse trained to drag might be able to pull a friend's horse out of a bog. Plus, there are the recreational possibilities. Many ranch children have enjoyed a ride on a sled or on skis, pulled by a rope dallied to the saddle horn by an adult on horseback.
I learned the skills involved in dragging a load from the saddle horn by helping my father-in-law move stacks of irrigation boards twice daily when he changed dams in a ditch to irrigate alfalfa. He refused to damage his wet fields by making ruts with a vehicle, so he used his horse, Brownie, neatly stacking the two-by-eight-inch fir boards and encircling them with a series of half hitches, just as you do a manty. (See "A Packing Primer," On-Trail Training, September/October '05.)
