Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Horse misbehaves on trails

From: Amelia

Hello Jessica -- My friend Lynn Cominsky has converted me to the wonders of your info service; thanks!

My beautiful trail horse is very well-trained in the arena, where instructors are usually found. And she is fine on the trail with one or two other horses she knows. Unfortunately, I get only two riding days per week, and the weekend day often turns into a seven-horse trail ride, wherein Dolly sometimes acts like an idiot.

If she wants to lead the herd and I do not let her do so, she will act pushy; she will canter sideways, with her hind feet off the trail. Then I give her (assuming she has swung her hind feet to the right) right rein and right leg behind the girth, left leg in front of the girth. Thank goodness I don't have to chew gum at the same time.

Jigging unless I let her lead.

If I bring her to the rearmost position in the herd, she will jig nonstop unless I let her run up to the head of the herd. This is often combined with problem 1 and 4.

Attempts to back off the trail.

Refusal to stand still while tied for lunch stops or even gate openings and closings.

Cutting in front of all the other horses in an S-pattern while moving fast (correctable with attention to left leg). There seems to be no rhyme or reason to which days she is good and which days she is naughty. I have learned the theory behind the "fix" for each of these problems, but am probably not applying the solutions fast enough as I am still figuring out what to do. It would be ideal to ride with an instructor, but I do not know any such person who would go out for an all day trail ride with the crazy New Yorkers in my circle. And that is the only time she does the bad stuff described! Thanks! Amelia Marshall p. s. She is a big red Appaloosa, age 13, who lives in a stall but gets turned out every day plus 25 miles per week of trail riding. I have been riding for almost 3 years, have owned her for nearly two.

Hi Amelia, and welcome to horse-sense! It's not at all unusual for horses to behave beautifully in an enclosed arena -- and much less beautifully outdoors, on the road or on the trail.

What you need to do is re-train her, so that she knows (a) exactly what your expectations are ON THE TRAIL, and also (b) that she must meet those expectations.

You need friends -- the all-day trail ride group would be perfect. I'm guessing that they find your mare's behaviour irritating, or at least distracting, and that they wouldn't mind helping you out. And you can always bribe them with food -- brownies make excellent bribes for humans. ;-)

You're going to play a game for as long as the trail ride lasts, and you'll need several riders (at least) and a wide trail or field. The name of the game is "lead, follow, stop, and go" and the purpose of the game is to teach your horse that when she is out with other horses, she must be able to go quietly whether she is first, last, or in the middle, whether she is going ahead alone, or stopping and standing while the others go out of her sight. She must be able to do all of this calmly -- and at all gaits, and she must be calm about being passed by other horses -- and about passing them.

The way to play the game: the riders take their horses out in single file, at a walk. The last horse in line then trots past all the others and takes its place at the head of the line, and then the new "last horse" does the same thing, until everyone has been first, last, and middle horse many, many times. Then it begins again, but with the last horse stopping, standing, and THEN trotting past the others. Then the first horse is taken out of sight of the others and made to stop and stand until the others arrive. Then you begin again, but at a trot, with the last horse cantering past the others, and when everyone is comfortable with that, the last horse is asked to stop, stand, and THEN canter past -- WELL past -- the others, and stop and stand again and wait for the others to come up.

It sounds simple and easy -- it isn't. But it's worth doing, and I think you'll enjoy the process.

Consistent practice is the key to this situation, and it definitely involves other people and their horses, so start bribing your friends! It may take a while, but it will be good for the other horses too, and their owners can either enjoy showing off how perfect they are, or work quietly on any problems that THOSE horses may have. And if everyone can do everything perfectly, you might consider forming a drill team and doing more complicated maneuvers, and putting on demonstrations. . . . ;-)

Jessica

Materials from Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE, The Newsletter of Holistic Horsemanship® may be distributed and copied for personal, non-commercial use provided that all authorship and copyright information, including this notice, is retained. Materials may not be republished in any form without express permission of the author.

Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org

Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.