Not to de-rail, but how many people here ride their greenies on trails alone? I am itching to get my youngster out of the arena more but I only have a riding buddy one day a week or so. I sort of assumed that it would be foolhardy to take him out solo, even though he is incredibly sensible and much less spooky than my 20-year-old whom I ride out alone all the time. Should I take reasonable precautions and give it a try?
[QUOTE=SmartAlex;8743692]
You said you don’t have a riding buddy. But can you find a hiking buddy? That’s what I did with my horse. I remember the first time he saw a ravine. He thought it was as deep as the Grand Canyon until my helper walked down and stood in it then things swam back into focus and he heaved a great sigh and crossed it just fine.[/QUOTE]
Sometimes even having a dog along can help. My mare once got to a very scary bridge and wouldn’t budge until my dog walked over it in front of her. Then she happily followed him!
[QUOTE=luvmydutch;8743663]
She has all the basics instilled and could go out and win a training level dressage test tomorrow so she has lots of whoa and go both :). She just is tense and worried on the trails in not worried about her running off with me. Her cowboy instructed me to take her to the trails as often as I can this summer while I’m off of work (teacher).
We did some trotting yesterday and I will say that did seem to help!
As for different places I should specify…we either go to the public riding arena 10 mins away or to the same trails. The trails are where we wind up most days and we both know them well but they get heavy bike and dog foot traffic.
Today my friend is going to walk my brave little mini horse with us to try to help her be more confident …ill let you know how she does![/QUOTE]
For a young horse a lot of bikes and a lot of people sure is a lot to ask since the horse is alone. Find a pokemon buddy 
to come along and walk with her, like her leader, while you ride. She really does deserve and need a little guidance, that’s a lot to ask.
[QUOTE=Libby2563;8743699]
Not to de-rail, but how many people here ride their greenies on trails alone? I am itching to get my youngster out of the arena more but I only have a riding buddy one day a week or so. I sort of assumed that it would be foolhardy to take him out solo, even though he is incredibly sensible and much less spooky than my 20-year-old whom I ride out alone all the time. Should I take reasonable precautions and give it a try?[/QUOTE]
I ground drive them and just take them on walks on said trails first. Doing so on a longe line so you can ask them questions (hey, trot over that log in that cruddy wet ground over there, good boy). helps build confidence.
You folks are brave…I guess I am a bit paranoid but would be afraid to ground drive/lead a horse too far into woods or deep into trails in case a maniac person is on the loose!
[QUOTE=Libby2563;8743699]
Not to de-rail, but how many people here ride their greenies on trails alone? I am itching to get my youngster out of the arena more but I only have a riding buddy one day a week or so. I sort of assumed that it would be foolhardy to take him out solo, even though he is incredibly sensible and much less spooky than my 20-year-old whom I ride out alone all the time. Should I take reasonable precautions and give it a try?[/QUOTE]
I am the opposite of a lot of folks on here. I definitely take my greenies out alone on the trail. I want them to be pretty solid on on trail by themselves before I take them in a group. I don’t want their behavior dependent upon what other horses are doing.
[QUOTE=tabula rashah;8744240]
I am the opposite of a lot of folks on here. I definitely take my greenies out alone on the trail. I want them to be pretty solid on on trail by themselves before I take them in a group. I don’t want their behavior dependent upon what other horses are doing.[/QUOTE]
THANK YOU!
I am not alone in that thinking!
[QUOTE=Libby2563;8743699]
Not to de-rail, but how many people here ride their greenies on trails alone? I am itching to get my youngster out of the arena more but I only have a riding buddy one day a week or so. I sort of assumed that it would be foolhardy to take him out solo, even though he is incredibly sensible and much less spooky than my 20-year-old whom I ride out alone all the time. Should I take reasonable precautions and give it a try?[/QUOTE]
Yes, you should. Reasonable precautions. Make sure horsey has a halter on under the bridle.
And, one day a week with a riding buddy is more than a lot of us get.
Just make sure you know your trail (you are confident with it) and don’t overface your youngster.
I’ve got a husband horse in training - I mainly did h/j and now dressage and low level eventing for myself. But having a dedicated trail horse, I’m realizing the trail is his arena so just like I ride in the ring alone, I should be able to ride on the trail alone. But I also exercise caution. I’m fortunate to have horses at home, and have a 1/4 mile trail on my property, with woods, a field near a pond, and even a creek crossing. So I can ride endless loops at home and face a lot of what we’d face in the neighboring park (I have permission to ride through to it from two neighbors). I have been taking baby steps, and having to remind myself I’m fine. I make sure hubby is home and aware of what I’m doing, though. And the youngster is great-minded (STB) so that helps. I tell myself his job is to just be smooth and brave, so going out for just a short while to face something scary - like the carp in our pond splashing - is a good learning opportunity. He doesn’t need to get super fit anyway, so hand walks, short rides, specific questions of bravery at home, and that’s his routine. I would never go on trails alone on a green horse before, but now that the green horse is intended to be a trail horse, it changed my thinking!
I have one who’s a hiker - put on some sneakers, he’s ready to go anyplace as long as I’m on the ground. On his back he’s a nervous wreck if we’re out alone, better with a pal, not so great in bigger groups. He LOVES to get out of the yard but he’s so, so much more confident when I’m on foot. His problem is related to being RIDDEN, not trails per se.
My other horse, with totally different temperament, is ok but not great out alone. He wants it to be familiar and then he’ll relax, so it’s been a process of getting him comfortable with new places and routes with a friend along, then trying it solo. That’s his temperament in general, and unlike his brother, he’s better if I"m riding than if I’m hiking with him. He wants to be RIDDEN, and he likes familiar places.
I wonder if Ms Morgan is just young enough and just new enough that she’s not gaining confidence on the trails by herself, but losing confidence. If that were the case I’d be looking hard for a riding buddy, even if it means lurking at the trailhead and going up to people you don’t know and introducing yourself! Some horses have a temperament that works with “just ride them through it” and others need a different approach. If she’s escalating, it sounds like time to try something else.
[QUOTE=Libby2563;8743699]
Not to de-rail, but how many people here ride their greenies on trails alone? I am itching to get my youngster out of the arena more but I only have a riding buddy one day a week or so. I sort of assumed that it would be foolhardy to take him out solo, even though he is incredibly sensible and much less spooky than my 20-year-old whom I ride out alone all the time. Should I take reasonable precautions and give it a try?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Obsidian Fire;8744260]THANK YOU!
I am not alone in that thinking![/QUOTE]
I agree with all of the above. After I start a horse and he has about 90 days on him, I trail ride him alone mostly because I find that other people do stupid things that can get me into trouble! I want the horse’s attention on me and I want him to accept me as his leader.
Lots of big problems with horses on the trail come from being barn sour or herd bound, so it is better to avoid that from the start. I have schooled older horses that are used to being led or following another horse or bicycle and it is really hard to get them to be submissive to the rider on the trail.
My key is just do a little bit at a time. Gradually expand your horizons, have tons of PATIENCE, and don’t follow a plan. Ride the horse, not the plan.
[QUOTE=tabula rashah;8744240]
I am the opposite of a lot of folks on here. I definitely take my greenies out alone on the trail. I want them to be pretty solid on on trail by themselves before I take them in a group. I don’t want their behavior dependent upon what other horses are doing.[/QUOTE]
I do the same thing. My horses must be confident being ridden alone.
Have you followed up with the cowboy? Does he know that she is getting nervous and spooky on the trails? He may be able to give you some specific pointers since he worked with her.
I normally work hard in the ring and do a ton of desensitizing and spooky obstacle stuff. We cool down by wandering around the farm and up the road. If a green horse gets nervous about something outside the ring, we go to work by doing lateral movements and circles. I don’t push the horse towards whatever is making it nervous. It quickly figures out that it gets to walk/rest by approaching the scary thing. This can be hard to implement on the trail due to a lack of good riding space, so I make sure they are great hacking around the farm and up the road before I go into the woods. I also make sure the first few woods rides are with another horse that is good.
Good luck - she sounds cute!
We hit the trail yesterday with my.friend and my mini. She didn’t seem to gain any confidence from having another horse present (kindnofna good thing in my mind as she’s not here bound). We stayed as busy as we could and at one point she had a meltdown over a log she saw. I channeled my inner natural horsemanshio cowboy and decided to get off and do some groundwork with The long lead i took with me. Lots ofnxhsnges of direction, backing and asking her to really move her feet. That seemed to really help cslmnher mind and her whole demeanor changed. I walked her for a bit to help her stay calm then got back on when did some serpentines at the trot, some transitions and worked on side passing and backing. She bravely walked past a biker, 2 groups of people with dogs and some big herons that flew off. It worked really well. At the end of the ride this even happened!
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h312/earth2283/Mobile%20Uploads/20160712_125734_zpsgvg2htqb.jpg
I don’t think it is wise to not bring a young horse places because it scares them. I think it makes more sense to train them to find their confidence in their handler. I will check back in about today’s trail ride and let you know how it went!
This starts waaaayyyyy before you even get on the horse.
What is your horse like on the ground? Is she fidgety or nervous or does her attention frequently go somewhere else? Is she looking one place while you are looking another place? Does she lead well with you and follow your footsteps (either stopping or going or speed and cadence)?
I make all my horses good trail horses, and it starts on the ground. Oh, and I ride them all solo on the trails 99% of the time (even though I may see other riders, hikers, bikers, strollers, wildlife, cows, whatever), regardless of the age.
I would learn some basic ground work stuff first. A cowboy who put 30 days on her might have had her attention 100% and her going really nicely. If you don’t know what he knows, or know how to get your horse to be with you, then it doesn’t matter what his training did (basic walk, trot, canter-wise), you are a different person and you need to build that connection so that she is mentally with you. THAT’s the hard part - not the wtc.
For getting a horse to be with you, I recommend the work of Harry Whitney or Buck Brannaman. Harry is really good at getting to the mind of the horse. Buck is really good at getting to the feet of the horse. If you have both you can do anything (and these horsemen have both, they just go about it different ways).
So I’d start in an enclosed area where you can work alone - round pen or small arena, nothing too big where the horse can get away from you.
I’d work on getting the horse’s attention. You need someone to teach you this, it is very hard to learn from reading, IME. Even watching a DVD or auditing a clinic is better than reading about it, because you need to be able to see what a person does to affect a horse’s mind and feet.
Once you have some basics of ground work (which can come in handy if you are on the trail hand walking or need to dismount - it is more that stop, go, and it isn’t lunging), then I’d do it like this: ground work, hand walk on the trails, ground work. Eventually I’d move up to ground work, ride in the arena, cool out by walking around the property (if you don’t have trails on property). I’d do that for a good while until walking around is boring. Then ground work, shorter arena ride, longer walk on the trails - repeat, decreasing the arena ride and increasing the outside ride. Eventually you can get to ground work and then trail ride. And then just trail ride.
Good trail horses are made, just like good anything-else horses. It requires thoughtful planning and execution of goals and the right tools to get the job done. It ISN’T just jumping on your horse and going and hoping for the best.
So you need to learn how to get to the mind and how to get to the feet.
I think I pretty much answered the other person’s question, but yes - I do take my young horse out on the trails by ourselves. We started planning for it in the manner I outlined above. We’ve gradually increased the length of rides as her confidence improves, and I go by how she is feeling on a given day, not what I want to do. She has a busy brain, so we do lots of circles around sage brush and shifting of attention where I would like it to be and rewarding for a job well done (whether that is for a change in attention, a good circle, a good flexion, whatever).
My ultimate goal with any horse is to be able to walk on a loopy rein down the trail and have a relaxing ride . . . but have the horse be with me mentally and be ready for whatever I ask.
I would avoid halting an anxious horse unless absolutely necessary. It increases the anxiety and gives it no place to go. Nnnot the best idea.
I would also quit all of the fussy back and forth with the head.
Longer reins, if the nose points somewhere other than forward nudge it gently back to center and carry on.
If you are constantly all over the horse making demands it is not going to relax. It is being trained to spend every second wondering “what next, what next” and you are wondering amidst all of your endless input why it isn’t chilling out and just moseying quietly along.
And yes I hit the trails solo with my then-3yo when he was two weeks under saddle. No bending, no legyielding, no endless up down transitions, just a quiet walk several tines a week to see the sun come up. If you want the horse to be no fuss no muss YOU have to be no fuss no muss.
When my horse was a youngster and a greenie, I always went out on the trail with either another horse, or another person hiking with us. It made a huge difference.
My guy, at the time, was scared to go out by himself. We had some situations where he would stop, sping and refuse to go anywhere but backwards. Frustrating! But if I had another rider with me - or my husband hiking along out in front, he would happily go along with no issues. it took a while, but he eventually got confident enough to go out on his own. It just takes time.
Because I apparently held my breath when nervous, I was told to sing while riding my horses out on trails for the first time. So I sang. And it helped both horses and me. Cloudy had only been out of the ring 2x before I bought him, both times as tadpole on 3 day events; and Callie had been only off track when out to pasture as brood mare. We learned that stumps were not bears and that the deer we woke up in the woods were more afraid of us than we of them. Patience helps. I’d never had horses who were not trail and traffic savvy before. Ironically, my horses did not mind dump trucks or cars or helicopters or gunfire, but were wary of deer and gators and tree stumps.
I think it really helped when i took my own dogs out with us. They were the leaders and got rid of anything spooky on the trail. I could see a big difference with the last dog was too frail to trail ride.
[QUOTE=Libby2563;8743699]
Not to de-rail, but how many people here ride their greenies on trails alone? I am itching to get my youngster out of the arena more but I only have a riding buddy one day a week or so. I sort of assumed that it would be foolhardy to take him out solo, even though he is incredibly sensible and much less spooky than my 20-year-old whom I ride out alone all the time. Should I take reasonable precautions and give it a try?[/QUOTE]
i do. i got my horse as an untouched 4 y.o. put her into training for four months. got her back and started trail riding, both with others and solo.
she actually goes better alone.
first summer, age 4-5, we did group rides, rides with one other horse, and solo rides close to home.
second summer, age 5-6, we started trailering out long distance, and my husband and the dog went with us (on foot, hiking or running) and i started taking her on extended overnight trips, both with him and solo.
that second summer she was still pretty goofy and mentally immature. she’d bolt, she’d lose her mind, etc. i went with her back to the trainer (who has started well over 5,000 colts) and he kept reminding me that a green horse is going to have her moments when she will lose her mind and bolt, and there is nothing i can do except ride it out.
i took several private lessons with him that were geared specifically to riding a green horse out on trails alone (which he urged me to continue doing). he gave me some tools to handle her.
here are some of the things we did, ages 4-6, to get her reliable alone on the trails.
-
walk in hand, you on the ground, for hours. this is great for establishing leadership.
-
work on your seat and your balance so that when trouble comes, you automatically drop deep into your seat and can’t be unseated. dressage of course is perfect training for this.
-
get a nightlatch for your saddle and use it. stay in the saddle no matter what! (or as her trainer says, “don’t make the worst thing the first thing.”) it can be traumatizing for a young horse to unseat her rider.
-
practice at home, where things are calm, all the tools you will need in an emergency. practice them so much that the horse will respond automatically even when their adrenaline is up. (this take a long time, but it is a must.) this means they yield to the bit, they turn when asked, they bend when asked, they collect when asked. you get a rock-solid stop, every time. you get a hq yield, every time. you can back up in a straight line. you can turn on the hq, and turn on the fq. you practice a one-rein stop at the walk and at the trot. you teach the horse to bend only so far–if you pull the head around it throws them off balance and they could fall with you. practice slow/fast transitions so they get the message that you control the speed.
-
out on the trail, if your horse gets silly, change the subject. ask for a circle, ask for a serpentine, ask for a very slow walk, ask for a hq yield, ask for backing in a circle, weave around trees. they can’t freak out and pay attention to your requests at the same time.
-
keep them straight and balanced. they follow their noses, so keep the nose out front, lined up with their shoulders. hold the reins wide and low on a green horse so if they turn their nose, they bump into the reins. bump them with the opposite leg if the nose turns, saying, “hey, pay attention to me”. keep in contact so they feel they have support–don’t ride on a loose rein. ask them to collect regularly. give them things to do besides lose their minds.
this all sounds exhausting and it is at first. but then it becomes pretty automatic.
my green horse just turned 7, and she is rock solid on solo rides now. she trusts me, is very brave, and does whatever i ask. we just had to ride through the silly stuff for a couple of years. it was definitely very worth it. plus it made me a lot handier with a horse than i otherwise ever would have been.
