Training Horse Profile: Dasher

Last week, I had the privilege of having this sweet little mare for 7 days of training.  Her owner had only had her for about a month and wanted to know what she could do and what vices she had.  She was purchased off an auction, so her history was unknown. 

She was great on the trails and confidently crossed the wooden bridge and creek.  She left the other horses easily and did not throw a fit about being out on the trails by herself.  Her walk was perfect for the trails, as it was comfortable, yet not overly slow.  She had a nice moving trot that covered a lot of ground quickly.  Her canter was pretty rough for the first couple of days, but smoothed out as the week went on.  One of the most fun things about this horse was that she backed up really fast and could do fast hindquarter spins. She was an enjoyable ride and will make her owner a very pleasant trail horse!

Over the course of the week, I discovered a couple of issues that she had and worked to address them in the short period I had her with me.  Below are the three main issues she had and what I did to fix them: 

Issue #1: Tying

Dasher stood quietly while tied when she was by herself in the stall.  However, when I was near her or trying to brush or saddle her, she became very nervous and flighty.  The first couple days, she acted quite frantic, sort of like she was being bitten by flies (but there weren't any).  Her owner had also noticed this behavior the one time he had her tied up.

The Fix:

To solve her nervousness at being tied, I spent more time grooming and running my hands over her body.  I moved gently and quietly and reassured her with my voice that she was okay.  She had quite the mess of knots in her mane when she arrived, so this provided the perfect opportunity for additional grooming exposure.  By the end of the week, she was almost completely over her nervousness and was even falling asleep while being saddled.  

Issue #2: Rushing

Dasher was also very nervous and tense at the beginning of each ride.  As soon as I swung into the saddle, she was rushing off at the trot and travelling around the ring in a very stiff and tense manner.

The Fix:

This is one of those issues that just takes time to correct.  With each ride, the horse will gradually become more relaxed as they learn what to expect from the rider.  During the ride, to help the horse slow down and relax, I like to do lots of small circles.  As soon as the horse begins rushing, I guide them into a small (but easily trot-able) circle.  Once the horse slows down, I guide the horse back out onto the rail.  When the horse begins to rush again (usually after only a couple of steps in the beginning), I repeat the small circle.  With Dasher, this method helped her to relax and slow down within just a couple of minutes.

Issue #3: Dismounting

My preferred method of dismounting is to take both feet out of the stirrups and jump down (rather than step down).  This was one time I was very glad that I dismounted this way!  I found out when I jumped down that Dasher had a problem with shying away from the dismounting rider.  If I had dismounted by stepping down, my foot may have been caught in the stirrup and I may have been drug as she moved away from me.  I tested to see if she was frightened by me jumping down from the saddle by jumping next to her, which resulted in no flight response.  I then tested to see what her reaction would be to a step-down dismount, which resulted in the same response as my earlier dismount.

The Fix:

This is another issue that takes a lot of time and a lot of mounting and dismounting.  It is one of those training fixes that is rather tedious and boring to work on.  For Dasher, I sat quietly in the saddle until she was relaxed before I attempted a dismount.  I also placed her next to the fence so that she could not move away from me while I was dismounting.  This was effective because she moved away from me, rather than forward, so the fence prevented that movement.  Each time she stood still while I was dismounting she was praised.  Once she could consistently stand still next to the fence, dismounting could be practiced from the center of the arena.