Training at Home to Prevent Trouble on the Trail
The third component of developing a steadier trail horse is the foundation work you can do at home. Some of this training isn't strictly designed for trail rides. For example, you'll want to work on speed control and getting a smooth, balanced halt no matter where you ride.
But once your horse is responding well to your cues, you can turn those exercises into trail ride preparation by practicing them in increasingly exciting situations. ("Exciting" doesn't mean in the middle of a parade, by the way; traveling a few yards down the driveway, or slightly increasing your speed, may be more than enough to turn up the mental pressure.) As we'll see in a minute, you can also work on trail-specific lessons by simulating certain situations or conditions.
Let's look first at some exercises to work on for all-purpose control techniques. You'll want to start by practicing these lessons in a safe, enclosed environment where you know your horse can relax and learn. Once he responds to your cues consistently and correctly, you can move the lesson a little bit outside his comfort zone.
Remember to take things slowly. You can gradually increase the excitement level by moving farther away from his home base when he's equal to it-but you may be moving in increments of just a few yards at first. If he becomes too nervous and distracted to obey your cues, just move back to the point where he was able to handle the level of excitement.
Trail Prep Exercises
In addition to working on basic techniques like those described above, you can give your horse some practice in dealing with some of the gremlins he's likely to run into on the trail. Of course, you can't desensitize your horse to every scary thing he's going to encounter-but you can teach him to maintain his focus on your cues and to respond to them even when something frightening or disconcerting is occupying some of his attention.
One good way to practice this is to have a friend introduce a mildly scary object from a distance. You don't want to overwhelm your horse with something that's too scary-maybe just have your friend bang the handle of a bucket repeatedly. Your job is to simply conduct business as usual, riding your horse in a circle and making various requests, such as moving his shoulders over, lowering his head, changing speeds, halting.
If your horse wants to look at your friend, bring his attention back to you by keeping him busy with your requests. Work your circle in both directions and gradually move the circle closer to the noisy bucket. Once your horse is relaxed and responding to your cues in the new location, you can move closer still. Eventually, you'll be able to ride him by the scary spot and he won't be worried about it at all.
After you've succeeded with this lesson, you can gradually introduce scarier objects. You might consider things like a waving towel, a flapping poncho, an umbrella, or a soda bottle with some rattling rocks inside it. You may need to work through these lessons over a period of several days, but it will greatly improve your horse's ability to respond to your cues in the face of something unexpected or scary. Above all, make sure you don't push him into genuine panic. The key to this technique is to bring him to the point of concern without going past it-and to maintain good control at all times. If he starts to get wound up, you can practice moving his hips over and having him lower his head.
Another way to help build your horse's confidence for the trail is to expose him to various objects and challenges he's likely to encounter. You can't replicate the trail ride experience in your backyard, but you can set up some obstacles and let him practice negotiating them. It doesn't matter so much what the obstacles are supposed to represent. (After all, it would be difficult to faithfully re-create a waterfall or a slippery creek bed.) The important thing is to show him something unfamiliar and develop his willingness to approach it and respond to your cues to go over, around, or under it.
Your obstacle course might include logs, tarps, a simulated bridge, items hanging from tree branches, and so forth. As you introduce your horse to these objects, remember the previous lesson. You may need to work at some distance before your horse is responding well enough to get close to that log or tarp. Remember to focus on your horse, not the object. You can't expect him to keep his mind on your cues if your own mind is telling you, "Uh-oh, get ready, here comes that log… he's going to shy!"
Steady as She Goes
Trail riding is supposed to be a time to enjoy your horse, nature, and the company of friends-but that may not happen if your horse can't relax and you're braced for a succession of skittish moment. If you pay attention to your horse on the trail and know how to deflect or control possible meltdowns, and if you reinforce his ability to respond to your cues under stress by practicing at home, you'll develop a far more confident and responsive trail horse. As his security builds, so will yours-and so will his, in turn. And so on!
