Training Horse Profile: Flicka (Part 2)

Training Goals:

• Picking up hind feet
• Walk, trot, canter
• Turning, stopping, backing

(If you missed Part 1 of Flicka's training, you can find it here.)

Day 17: Flicka's first ride!  She did pretty well and walked quietly around the round pen.  It's always nice when they don't turn into a bronc.  She definitely wasn't 100% comfortable with a rider on her back and she immediately stopped if I shifted my weight or made any noise.  I also started working with her on picking up her hind feet.

The first step to teach an adult horse to pick up their rear feet is to get them comfortable with you being back there.  I start by making sure they are comfortable with their hindquarters being touched and with someone walking behind them.  Then, I begin handling their lower legs.  I want the horse comfortable with me running my hands down their legs and feeling their hooves.  If the horse is not comfortable with me touching their legs, they won't be comfortable with me holding one of their defense mechanisms.  Next, I apply pressure just above the fetlock to ask the horse to pick up their foot.  As soon as they lift their foot, I release the pressure.  Once they are proficient about picking up their foot quickly when asked, I can work toward teaching them to keep the foot up and allow it to be held.

Day 18:  Her 2nd ride was uneventful as well.  I worked with her on maintaining her walk and introduced turning.  Turning at the walk was pretty easy for her, as she had lots of practice with that while ground driving.

She has difficulty standing in place when I ask her to pick up a hind foot.  It is pretty common for horses to try and avoid picking up hind feet by moving their hindquarters away from you.  This movement can be prevented by having the horse stand along side a fence.  It is helpful (and safer) to have a second person hold the horse for you.  If you do not have a second person, the inside corner of a sturdy fence can also be used.  

Day 19: Today, I introduced trotting.  Based on early body language, she did exactly what I expected her to do and bolted after a couple of strides of trot.  Trotting created more movement on her back and the saddle makes more noise as well, and she spooked.  Thankfully, she was easy to get back under control.  I asked her to do short sequences of trotting until she could go a few strides without bolting.  Continued training with pressure and release to pick up hind feet.

Day 20-22: The next couple of days we did a lot of walking, circles/turns at the walk, trotting, transitions, and I introduced her to backing under saddle.  She picked this up very quickly and responds quite well when asked to back up.  She is picking up her hind legs pretty consistently when asked, so I have begun to teach her to let me hold her hoof.  Right now, I only hold it for a couple seconds and I try to place it back down before she thinks about pulling her foot away.

Day 23: She is consistently picking up the trot and maintaining the trot both directions in a circle, so I introduced turning at the trot.  As is completely normal at this stage, Flicka breaks down to a walk or stop when I ask for a turn.  This was one of those days when the trainer gets more of a workout than the horse!  Her hind feet are coming along slowly.  Sometimes she picks it up quickly and I can hold it up for a few seconds, other times it doesn't go as well.

Day 24: A lot of exercise for the trainer again today!  She is maintaining the trot through some of the turns, so some improvement, but I sure am tired out from all the effort it took to get her there.

Day 25: Flicka's owners visited to see how her training was coming along.  She showed them how well she stands to be saddled, how she lunges and leads, she picked up both of her front feet beautifully, and quietly stood tied.  I am very proud of how she behaved under pressure!

Day 26: Flicka's turning at the trot has really improved!  She is maintaining her trot through the turns and I don't have to constantly keep after her to stay trotting.  She had trouble backing up today, which is uncharacteristic for her as she is usually very responsive to backing (she later came up lame, so it was likely due to pain when she put extra weight on her hindquarters to back up).

Day 27:  I was really excited to continue today after yesterday's great session.  Unfortunately, just as we were starting to make great progress at maintaining the trot through turns, Flicka came up lame.  As soon as I started working with her, I could see that she was feeling sore in the right hind leg.  Upon inspecting her leg, my suspicion was confirmed when I located swelling at and above the right hind fetlock.  Bummer!  She likely stepped wrong during the previous day's session and strained the tendons her fetlock.  This type of injury typically heals up just fine after some rest.  Flicka's owner decided to take her home to heal up and give her enough time off to ensure that she was 100% before continuing her training.
  

Training Horse Profile: Flicka (Part 1)

Training Goals:

• Leading
• Tying
• Saddling

Things I work on every day:

• Grooming: This helps the horse get used to being touched and handled, as well as provides relaxing bonding time.

• Picking up Feet: This is a skill that takes time for most horses to master.  Picking up their feet daily can help make it a routine activity for the horse.  When teaching this, I try to only give the foot back when they are standing quietly.  In the beginning, this may only be a second or two, but the time can be gradually increased.

• Round Penning: This is a great way to warm up the horse's muscles and get them mentally prepared to begin learning.  Lots of directional changes, speed changes, and halts makes this exercise more beneficial for the horse and prevents it from becoming mind-numbing circles.  It is a great time to work on vocal cues, which are helpful for later training under saddle, and builds respect and trust.

• Tying: I tie training horses up after sessions to get accustomed to being tied and help them build patience.  If time allows, tying before AND after training sessions is very beneficial to the horse and can help break buddy sourness and barn sourness.
• To begin, I 'tie' by wrapping the rope around the round pen panel a couple of times.  This gives tension on the rope if she tries to move away but if she panics it will slowly let out rope.  This prevents the horse from hurting themselves from pulling back when they are still learning how to give to pressure.  Once the horse is good with wrap-tying, I start tying them up in the stall after I work them.  I always use a quick release knot just in case.  I do not hard tie to the round pen panels because they are not strong enough if the horse pulls back hard.

Flicka is a 9 year old Quarter Horse mare, with no previous training.  The owner has worked with her on standing to be haltered and allowing people to pet her.  She has not been taught anything else, so I have a lot of work ahead of me!

We backed the trailer up to the round pen gate so that we could unload her right into the enclosed arena.  That way I could start working with her on leading in a safe and controlled area and I didn't have to worry about trying to get her back and forth from the stall to the round pen when she doesn't know how to lead!  I have two small pens attached to the round pen for this reason.  I can chase horses into the stalls if they don't want to be caught, or if they don't yet have leading skills.

Day 1: My first task is to teach Flicka to lead.  It is difficult to move horses from pastures to stalls to arenas if they can't lead.  Plus, all future training is easier to accomplish when the horse has good ground manners.

Flicka's first instinct when she doesn't understand something or when she gets upset by pressure is to throw her head up and back away.  When forward pressure was applied on the lead rope, she threw her head up and backed quickly away.  Some horses are quick to realize that if they come to the pressure, it goes away.  But for Flicka, more pressure on the halter just made her pull back harder. Playing tug-of-war with a horse is not very effective and the horse always wins!  

To help her to understand what I am asking, I begin by asking her to move her hindquarters away from me.  This introduces pressure on the side of her nose and jaw.  To get her to move her hindquarters away, I walk towards her hip and give pressure by swinging the end of the lead rope.  I keep her nose turned toward me so that it is less likely that she can kick me and it makes it a natural response to step her hindquarters away.  At first, I am looking for basically a forehand pivot (front feet are mostly stationary and the hindquarters move in a circle around them).  As the horse begins to understand the concept, I start to lead off from the pivot.  I usually can get a few steps before the horse realizes the pressure change and stops.  Then I go right back to pivots.

I also introduced her to lunging.  She really struggled with going forward and too much pressure caused her to bolt and take off.  I decided to try lunging another day and we switched to round penning.

Day 2: After the challenging day yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised when she practically starting leading right from the start.  If there was too much pressure on the lead, I'd have to go back to moving her hindquarters to get her moving forward again.  

Tried again at lunging.  This time I put a rope halter on her.  This helped a lot in keeping her from bolting off and I was able to get her to start moving off in a circle.  

I also started working with her on picking up her front feet.  It is so much more challenging to teach an adult horse, weighing upwards of 1,000 lbs, how to pick up their feet and hold them up!  Flicka was not thrilled with this and did all the behaviors that are much easier to handle when they're babies: pulling foot away, leaning into me, backing away, hopping on three legs, etc.  

Day 3: After warming up with leading and lunging, I introduced Flicka to the saddle pad!  She did  really well with this.  I always begin by letting the horse sniff the blanket and then rubbing it on their shoulder and back.  If they are good with that, then I start laying it over the back.  I threw it on her from both sides, on her butt, up on her neck, she was completely fine with it.  Another one of the horses in training injured my back and doing heavy lifting is off limits right now, so I have to take a break from working on picking up her feet.

Day 4:  Introduced her to the saddle and bridle!  She was fine with the saddle, but was a little unsure about it when I cinched it up.  I always do this step while holding the lead rope, not tied up, in cause the horse panics.  She backed up when tightening it up but otherwise no issues.  She took the bit pretty good as well.  Lunged her to help her get accustomed to the feel of the saddle and girth.  No bucking and she seemed pretty comfortable with it.

Day 5: Started with lunging with the saddle and bridle.  Then I hooked up the long lines for ground driving to  begin to teach her about bit pressure.  Right away she turned pretty good but panicked when pressure was placed on both reins.  She bolted a few times

Day 6-10:  Continued to work with her on ground driving, improving her turning, and working on stopping without panicking.  I also began to desensitize her to mounting.  I desensitize on both side by slapping the saddle and pad, shaking the saddle, flopping the stirrups against her sides, putting pressure down on the stirrup.  This is to get her ready for her first ride.  I don't want to swing into the saddle and have her spook because the saddle is making noise, or the stirrups are bumping her sides, jumping next to her.  I want her used to a lot of activity on her back.

Day 11: She has really improved in her ground driving.  She will now stop AND back up WITHOUT panicking!  This is one of the skills I want before I get in the saddle.  I want the horse to know how to stop and stand still.  Now that she is fine with me jumping next to her and lots of saddle noise, I start putting my foot in the stirrup and bouncing.  This puts weight onto her back and prepares them for mounting.  She was not comfortable with this.

Day 12:  Ground driving great with back, halt, and turning.  Continued work on foot in stirrup.  She backs up and looks to run away.

Day 13: Slight improvement with mounting practice!  I was able to put foot in stirrup with some weight.  My lower back injury has healed up so we are back to working on picking up her feet.

Day 14 & 15: Mounting practice and feet pick up.  I am getting a lot of exercise bouncing next to her with one foot in the stirrup!  I am definitely more sweaty than she is when we are finished for the day.

Day 16:  I was finally able to stand in the stirrup!  She stood calmly  while I stood in the stirrup over her back.  I was beginning to think she was never going to accept this step, so this is a huge relief.  I know that now she is mentally ready for her first ride.  She also picked up both of her front feet without trying to pull them away!  This was a great day!

Stay tuned for my next post where we will see how Flicka does with riding!

Training Horse Profile: Milo the Mule

Training Goals:

• General tune-up
• mounting/dismounting from offside
• ride with spurs, britchen, and rear cinch
• Improve response to bit pressure (turning, stopping, backing)

Milo

My grandfather has had various mule teams over the years, all of which were trained for driving.  Some of the teams have pulled his covered wagon during the annual wagon train, while others he put to work on the farm raking hay or other field work.  I always loved to ride along when he hitched up the team.  Milo was my first experience with a riding mule.  The main difference I found between horses and mules was that they are much stronger and pretty quick on their feet.  This guy could do a 180 turn before I could even blink.

The first day was spent doing one of my favorite exercises: round penning.  I love to start with this exercise because it forms a working relationship and begins to build trust between me and the horse.  With this exercise, I establish vocal cues, body language, and the horse starts to learn to look to me for directions.  I find that starting with round penning and other ground exercises helps the horse to respond more successfully when I move to riding.  Milo caught on to this exercise fairly quickly.

Milo with the rear cinch, breast collar, and britchen.

One of the main concerns Milo's owner had was controlling him under saddle.  On the ground he listened fairly well, but under saddle he tended to have a mind of his own.  I spent the remainder of the week working on turning.  At first, he was very resistant to any bit pressure.  If I tightened the left rein, he stuck his nose in the air and ran right, and vise versa.  I had to work on this for a few days before he really started to give to the pressure.

Next, I worked with him on trotting.  He much preferred to walk and it took a lot of energy and encouragement to keep him going.  I think I got more exercise than him!  After okaying it with the owner, I started riding him in spurs.  This helped immensely and made trotting much more enjoyable for both of us.  He struggled with turning at the trot but improved as we continued to work at it.

Milo was glad to be done for the day!

The final thing I worked on in relation to the bit was backing up.  A horse that backs well is usually quick to respond to bit pressure when asked to stop or turn.  Milo was very resistant to backing up, which was not surprising.  The longer the pressure was held, the harder he pushed against it.  To help him understand what I wanted, I switched to working on it from the ground.  Milo understood how to back up from halter pressure, so I combined the two.  While standing next to him, I asked him to back up using equal pressure on the reins.  I waited a few seconds to give him the chance to respond, and then added halter pressure.  Pressure from both the reins and the halter was released when he took a step back.  Eventually, he learned to back up from the bit pressure alone.  Interestingly, though he backed up off of bit pressure easily on the ground, he still resisted it from the saddle.  This got better with continued practice, but he tended to respond much slower under saddle than from the ground.

Now that Milo was easily controlled in a contained environment, I wanted to see how he would do outside of the round pen.  I started in the large pasture and he listened very well.  He turned, stopped, sped up and slowed down when I asked him.  I also took him out on the trails.  I was impressed that he crossed the bridge, stream, and swampy areas without hesitation.  The first time, things were going well until he decided that he was too far away from his friends (thanks to the mare for neighing loudly).  One minute we were walking calmly down the trail and the next minute I was on the ground and he was headed home without me.  I stayed very aware of his body language for the rest of our rides on the trails!  

Milo was definitely most comfortable staying where he could see the other horses.  When he could see them, he was obedient and calm.  When he could no longer see them, he became quite a handful to ride.  This is not uncommon.  Buddy sourness is one of the biggest frustrations horse owners have.  This is not surprising as horses are herd animal and would much rather stay with their friends!  Typically, buddy sour horses that are a handful on their own are perfectly happy going out on the trails in a group, and Milo likely would too.  Milo improved a lot during his 30 days, and with continued time in the saddle he will be an excellent trail mount.

Trailer Training: Step 3

The boys enjoyed the snow this winter!

Life has been busy, so I haven’t been working with Zeke and the trailer in quite awhile.  The good news is that he has remembered our previous sessions and after a one day review of Step 2, we were able to move to Step 3.  I say this because you don’t need to consecutively work on trailer training from start to finish.  You can start it, take a break, and come back to it later.  The horse will remember the previous sessions and after a short review, you will be able to move forward.  Taking a break won’t send you back to square 1, as long as you continue to build upon positive experiences with the trailer.

At this point, Zeke is very comfortable loading in and out of the trailer.  I can load him both by leading him in and by standing at the back of the trailer and sending him in.  I can tell that he is much more relaxed with the trailer for a couple of reasons:

• I can ask him to back up to the door, stop, and then step back forward.  Previously, once he started backing up, any forward pressure would result in him backing faster to get out. 
• He does not hesitate to load.
• I have to make him leave the trailer instead of him quickly wanting to leave it. 
• If I load him and remain outside, he will wait until I ask him to come out instead of rushing out and blowing past me. 
• He no longer tries to run away from the trailer when we approach it.

While he has improved immensely, he is still afraid of being locked in the trailer.  He doesn’t want to be confined to the small dark space.  The open door allows him to relax.  Obviously, I cannot travel down the road with the door open, so I need to help him get comfortable with the door shut.  To do this, I will lock him in the trailer for increasing amounts of time.  At this time I am not locking him between partitions or tying him up.  He has 2/3's of the trailer to move freely about.  I also have a hay bag with tasty hay for him to munch on and a feed pan on the floor with a little bit of grain.

What You Need:

• Horse Trailer: The trailer should be parked in a safe location and secured so that it can not move.  At this point, you should be able to load your horse outside of an enclosed area.

• Halter and Lead:  I love the control that a rope halter offers, especially for horses that try to turn away from the trailer.  However, I do not tie horses up in a trailer with a rope halter because it can seriously cut into the horse’s skin if the horse panics or an accident occurs.  At this point, I transition the horse to loading in a nylon halter.  While I am not going to tie the horse up in this step, I want him to load regardless of the halter I am using.

• Food Reward: The trailer should be stocked with tasty hay (either on the floor or in a hay bag).  A small amount of grain can be used during this step as well.

The Steps:

Step 1: To begin, load the horse into the trailer by leading him in and asking him to back out.  This is really a review of Trailer Training Step 2.  Do this a couple of times until the horse is relaxed and obedient.

Step 2: Next, load the horse into the trailer by sending him in while you remain outside of the trailer.  There are some instances where you may need to load your horse without leading him in and this helps him to become comfortable with this.  If the horse turns around to exit the trailer, make sure to make him wait at the door until you tell him to come out.

Step 3: Place a small amount of grain at the front of the trailer.  I like to use a rubber feed pan on the floor.

Step 4: Send the horse into the trailer like you did in Step 2, and close the door behind him.  The lead rope should be taken off so that it does not catch on something or get wrapped around their legs.  It is normal for the horse to move around and make noise.

Step 5: While you wait outside, be sure to vocally reassure the horse.  Praise the horse when he is doing well (you can do less of this after a few days).  Once the time is up, prepare to unload the horse.

Step 6:  Open up the trailer door slowly and attach the lead rope to the halter.  Stand in a safe location so that you won’t be run over if the horse bolts out.  Tell the horse, “whoa” as you open the door and make him wait quietly until you ask him to step out of the trailer.

Step 7:  This is a very important step.  Begin by leading the horse back into the trailer and backing him out a couple of times.  If the horse refuses to load, lunge the horse for a couple of minutes and ask again.  Then, load the horse while standing at the back.  This will show how comfortable the horse is with you and the trailer.  You are in a position where you could lock the horse back in the trailer and he knows that.  Ideally, he will load in the trailer and you can be done for the day.  If he refuses, make him work until he decides that rest and the tasty hay inside the trailer is a much better option.  Always reward the horse with lots of praise (and a treat once in awhile) when he loads.

Time Duration:

• Day 1: 2-3 minutes
• Day 2: 5 minutes
• Day 3: 8 minutes
• Day 4: 10 minutes
• Day 5: 15 minutes

Times can be adjusted to fit the needs of the horse.  Some horses with be able to increase time much more quickly than others.  Repeat the same amount of time as many days in a row as it takes for the horse to be comfortable with it.  Do not move to a longer time if the horse is anxious with a shorter duration.  Remember, we want the horse to associate the trailer with good things: tasty food and lots of praise!

Case Study: Zeke

Zeke was nervous for the first couple of days that he was locked in the trailer.  He moved around in the trailer quite a bit and his breathing rate increased.  As I continued to work with him, he got more used to waiting in the trailer and would actually settle down to eat.  The best indicator of his improvement was that he willingly loaded back into the trailer (both by leading him in and sending him in) after he had been locked inside.  A few months ago, he would be running away from the trailer if I dared to ask him to load after he had just gotten out of it.  I call that a success!

Trailer Training: Step 2

Now that your horse is comfortable with being inside the trailer and has learned to accept you in the trailer with him, it is time to teach him how to load on command.  I like to teach all of my horses two ways to load.  I first teach them to load being led inside (suitable for stock trailers or slant load trailers).  I also teach them to load by themselves, while I stand at the back of the trailer (suitable for straight load trailers that don't have a walk-through).

What You Need:

• Trailer
• Halter and Lead
• Training Stick (optional)
• Enclosed Area

I like to begin working with the horse in a smaller area, such as a round pen.  This helps prevent the horse from being able to get far away from the trailer and keeps them contained in case they should pull the rope out of your hands.  This also gives you a safe location to lunge the horse if needed during these exercises.  Eventually, you want to graduate to being able to load your horse in an open space, but wait until he is consistent in the enclosed area.

Goal: The horse will consistently load in and out of the trailer, both by leading him in and by sending him into the trailer.

Step 1: Leading In

This step is fairly simple: lead the horse into the trailer, reward him with treats and praise, and ask him to back out.  At first, he may only put his head or front feet into the trailer.  That is OK.  Reward the baby steps.  When he is ready, ask more of him by only rewarding him when he is half-way inside, and eventually, all the way inside.  Make sure that you tell him when it is time for him to leave the trailer.  Don't let him decide when to leave.

If the horse responds to your request to load, make him do something else.  You can lunge him, move his hindquarters away from you, back him around the pen...whatever you want.  Don't reward his refusal by allowing him to stand still.  After a few minutes, ask him to load again.  Repeat as necessary.  Eventually the horse will decided to try to do what you asked, even if it is only a baby step.

Step 2: Sending In

Once your horse is consistently loading each time you lead him into it, you can begin to teach him to load by himself.  Throw the lead rope over the horse's neck so that he can't step on it and lead him up to the trailer.  Encourage the horse to load using a verbal command (I use "load up") or clucking.  You can also use a training stick or whip to tap the horse's rump if needed.  The horse will most likely turn around to exit the trailer.  Make sure to make him wait quietly at the door until you tell him that he can step out.

Repeat the same procedure as in the previous step if the horse refuses to load.  If the horse is struggling to load by himself, go back and practice loading by leading him in.  Always return to something the horse knows and is confident about when he is struggling with something new.

Once your horse is comfortable loading into the trailer using both of theses methods, you can move onto Step 3!

Zeke relaxing in his trailer.

Case Study: Zeke

I worked with Zeke on this step for around 10 minutes a day for about two weeks.  I started in the round pen for a couple days, and then moved the trailer to the driveway.  For the first week or so, I used a rope halter.  He tends to try and turn away from the trailer and the rope halter gives me more of a chance to get his nose pointed back in the correct direction.  After he was loading consistently with the rope halter, I switched to a nylon halter.  I love training with rope halters, but I never trailer with them because they can deeply cut the horse’s face in an accident.  Nylon halters distribute the force over a much wider area and are much safer for trailering.

The first step is to ask the horse to follow you into the trailer.  This was naturally an easier step for Zeke to do because he feels safe when I am with him.  Every time that he followed me into the trailer, I rewarded him with treats and praise.  Zeke is highly motivated with food, so grain is an excellent reward for him.  He had a few refusals in the beginning, but after trotting in a circle for a few minutes, he quickly learned that going into the trailer was the better option.  I like to vary how long I ask the horse to stay in the trailer and make the training session less predictable.  I want it to be my idea to leave the trailer, so I always try to back the horse out before he starts to think about it.

Asking him to load into the trailer by himself was a little trickier.  In the beginning, he would refuse to go all the way in, putting two feet in and then stepping back out.  Once I was able to get him all the way in, he would turn around and try to exit the trailer right away.  I am fine with him turning around and coming back to the door, but I make him stay in the trailer until I ask him to step out.  He started loading more consistently and with fewer and fewer refusals.  Eventually, I had to get in the trailer myself to get him because he wanted to stay inside!

One weekend when we were out of town, the horses broke through the fence and ended up at a neighbor’s house about a mile away.  This gave me the opportunity to test how Zeke would load at a less familiar location.  My husband loaded our Quarter Horse first in the front partition.  I had to literally hold Zeke back from getting into the trailer.  When it was his turn, he jumped into the trailer without hesitation.  This would have never happened a couple of months ago, so it was a really encouraging sign!

Trailer Training: Step 1

The method I use to train horses to trailer willingly and without fear is not new.  You may have read about similar methods in horse training books and it has been used by a few horse trainers that I have known.  This method is successful with horses that are fearful of trailers because it progresses slowly and makes them feel safe around the trailer.  Horses that do not have trailer anxiety can still benefit from Step 1.

I back my trailer up to the gate of my 60' round pen.  It gives me plenty of room to work with the horse, but keeps them contained enough that I can keep them close to the trailer.  I like to keep my trailer on the outside of the enclosure to give the horse less surface area for chewing and damaging my trailer.

What you need:

•          Trailer
•          Enclosed Area

The trailer can be parked inside the enclosed area or backed up to a gate.  The trailer’s tires should be blocked so that the horse can go in and out of the trailer without it rolling around.  I have backed the trailer up to the gate of a paddock or have created a fence around it.  This step works best in an area that does not have vegetation (a dirt lot).

The Goal:  The horse associates the trailer with something “good” (food).  The horse accepts your presence in the trailer with him.

Once the trailer is secured, the back door of the trailer should be left open.  If it is a slant load trailer, the partitions should be removed or secured open so that the horse has as much room as possible.  All of the horse’s food should be placed inside the trailer.  For some horses that are especially wary of the trailer, the food may have to be placed closer to the opening for the first few days.  The horse should be allowed to go in and out of the trailer as he pleases.  Do not offer any food except what is inside the trailer.  It is normal in the beginning for the horse to grab a bite of hay and quickly exit the trailer and eat it outside.  Eventually he should relax and be able to eat his food inside the trailer.  Continue to feed the horse in the trailer until the horse seems relaxed.

Training Plan Example:

Day 1: Place the food inside the trailer where the horse can just barely reach it by stretching out his neck.

Day 2: Place the food where the horse must put both front feet into the trailer.

Day 3: Place the food where the horse must put all four feet into the trailer.

Day 4: Place the food at the very front of the trailer.

Next, the horse must learn to accept your presence in the trailer with him.  Using grain at this step can be helpful.  The grain should only be available when you are standing in the trailer.  For some horses, you may have to start back at Day 1 with placing the grain so the horse can just barely reach it without stepping in the trailer.  Each day, move the grain farther into the trailer until you can stand next to your horse all the way inside the trailer while he eats his grain.

Once your horse is relaxed with you in the trailer and willingly stands inside the trailer for extended periods of time, you can move to Step 2!

Case Study: Zeke

I began Step 1 with Zeke last fall.   The first day, Zeke spent very little time in the trailer, especially when I was close enough where I could have shut the door.  He went in, grabbed a bit of hay, and jumped out to chew the hay.  Over the next several days, he spent more time in the trailer and was less concerned when I was nearby.  By the end of the week, I was able to stand in the trailer with him. I ended up having to use the trailer about a week later and never got around to parking it back in his pen.

When I got the trailer back out this spring, I started back at Step 1.  As soon as I opened the round pen gate, Zeke jumped into the trailer.  This was a really great sign that he remembered the food reward from last fall and was not concerned about the trailer being there.  He readily accepted my presence with him in the trailer and we moved on to Step 2.

Training Horse Profile: Copper

Training Goals:

• Walk, trot, and canter under saddle without bucking
• Desensitized to rear cinch
• Desensitized to spurs

I have this cute little guy for a short two weeks. Copper has had a lot of love and handling in his two years of life and is a very friendly guy. His training will be very basic as the owner would like to do most of his training themselves. My job is to get him started enough so that is safe for them to take over. Two weeks is a pretty short time to get a horse cantering under saddle, so I have my work cut out for me.

Session 1:  Boy, is he a little guy.  I put a pony girth on my saddle and it is barely short enough for him! I have the girth almost touching the ring on my saddle on the offside and it is nearly as close on the left side. I had to shorten up the rear cinch quite a bit as well.

I always start with lunging/round penning so I can establish a relationship with the horse and see how he responds to me.  I also want to establish forward movement through voice cues, which is helpful when we are actually ready to ride. We started off a little rough as Copper tested the boundaries and my personal space bubble.  By the end of the session I had that sorted out and he was responding better to my body language and voice cues. Lots of bucking happened as he felt the rear cinch move against his belly.

Session 2:  I saddled Copper up and started again with round penning.  I was planning on starting ground driving with him but I discovered that I needed to punch more holes in my bridle to make it fit his tiny head properly.  Instead, we worked on some other ground work and voice cues. Less bucking today.

Session 3: I began today with reviewing round penning to warm Copper up and get his attention on me. Last night, I punched more holes in my bridle so that we could begin ground driving today. I am using the Driving from Behind method (more on that here: Ground Driving). He caught on very quickly to turning and backing up. He fought the bit some when stopping, but it was pretty good for his first day.

Preparing for his first ground driving lesson.

Session 4: Reviewed round penning and ground driving.  After he was warmed up and responding well to the pressure on the bit, I desensitized him more to the saddle: shaking the saddle, slapping the saddle, flopping the stirrups against his belly, etc.  I did this on both sides. I do this because I want the horse to be used to a variety of sounds and movements from the saddle so they are less likely to be spooked by them when I am on their back. Some people choose to spend less time on this type of stuff, but I prefer to try and prevent as much jumping around as possible! After desensitizing him to the saddle, I put one foot in the stirrup and jumped next to him, standing up in the stirrup every few jumps. I repeated this on both sides.  He stood still and did not seem very concerned about it. He looks ready for his first ride tomorrow!

Practicing Ground Driving

Session 5:  I began today by warming him up for a few minutes with round penning.  I wanted to get out his extra energy and any bucks before I hopped on.  He stood quietly while I mounted and I flexed his neck in both directions.  I then asked him to move forward through voice cues and some light leg pressure.

He doesn’t yet know what the leg pressure means, so I want to associate the ‘clucking’, which he knows means move, to the leg pressure.  I like to use light leg pressure in the beginning because he doesn’t yet understand what it means, and intensifying the leg pressure usually either causes them to shut down or start bucking—neither of which is particularly desirable.  It took a few minutes for him to figure out what I wanted him to do. Each time he stepped forward, I released the pressure (both verbal and physical) and let him think for a minute. It only took about a dozen repetitions for him to figure out what I was asking and then we were walking around the ring.  

Next, I practiced turning, stopping, and backing. This was relatively easy for him because he already had learned how to do it while ground driving. My last goal for the day was to get a little bit of trotting. He trotted several times for me in short bursts, and no bucking! I was very happy with his progress for the day.

Session 6: Today, my goal for Copper is more sustained trotting. As I only have four more sessions with him, I am also introducing the spurs. Because Copper does not have a lot of fat protecting his ribs, I am wrapping my spurs to give them a little bit of cushion (more on that, here). I started with the spurs on the ground so that he learned what they felt like before I am on his back. He did not have much of a reaction to me manually pressing the spurs against his sides, so I think we are good to go.

Since I want to keep Copper trotting, I am carrying a crop to help encourage him forward. I often use a crop during the first few rides because it helps get the forward movement I am looking for when I find that leg pressure is not working. Combining the crop with the leg pressure usually helps the horse to understand what I am looking for and is only needed for a couple of sessions. Copper did great with the spurs and with trotting. He is a fast learner!

Session 7: Today, I am introducing Copper to the canter! I started with a few minutes of round penning to warm him up and make sure he wasn't overly energetic. Once he was ready to ride, I reviewed what he had learned so far at the walk and trot. He is turning very willingly and is quite soft in the mouth. To finish the training session, I asked him for the canter. I used vocal cues (kissing sound) and the crop to reinforce the light leg pressure. For his first canter, I am only looking for a couple of strides at a time. He cantered off nicely and behaved himself very well.

Session 8: I hopped on today without round penning him first to see how he would do. This did not seem to bother him and he worked well at the walk and trot. I asked him to canter earlier in the session so that he had more energy for sustained cantering. He did very well with his left lead, but struggled with his right. This was not surprising because he struggles to pick it up when lunging as well. Towards the end of the training session, he began to randomly stop while stretching his nose down to the ground. He stopped quite suddenly and it caught me off guard the first time. I had to work with him longer that I normally would so that I could correct the random stopping.

Session 9: It is raining and there is lots of thunder in the distance. Copper is not thrilled about working in the rain. He has not repeated the sudden stopping trick of yesterday, so apparently that was a one day thing. We worked on turning, stopping, and backing at the walk and trot, as well as more cantering. About halfway through the session, he decided that he would not travel clockwise, regardless of the gait. If I turned him to the right, he would stop and refuse to move. The only way he would start moving again is if I turned him to the left. It took a little while to convince him to go to the right.

Session 10: This is Copper's last day of training with me! The round pen was very wet today, so I had to be a little careful with cantering so he didn't slip. We did lots of transitions, circles of various sizes, and changes of direction. He is becoming much more responsive to cues!

Copper is doing extremely well at turning, stopping, and backing. He has a really nice trot and his canter is coming along. He struggles with his right lead, but more practice and building muscle will help him get that too. He and his owner have a bright future ahead of them!