Need advice regarding walking on the trail

[Bristol_Bay]

I recently moved my retired TB who is neurological and can’t be ridden, but can be hand walked and lunged. This guy has always been a mellow trail horse, but in his new surroundings he’s having trouble settling down on the trail. I’ve tried calming cookies, going out with a buddy, and going out alone.

This is an urban setting. The trail runs along side a golf course and driving range. There are joggers and dog walkers, and an occasional bicycle, otherwise it is shady and lightly traveled. I’m talking about maybe a mile round trip, and I’d really love to get him relaxed out there. I’ve hand walked this horse a ton without tension or meltdowns, but right now it’s just not fun.

He really pulls me along and wants to walk ahead of me to where I’m back next to his shoulder. He wears a chain and I wear gloves. I’m very fit, but it’s a narrow trail with enough rocks and tree roots to mean I need to watch my step.

Do I just allow him to walk ahead of me? It seems preferable to the constant tension in my poor arm, as well as him always feeling the stud chain across his nose. It’s like he’s reliving his youth on the track and I’m the hot walker.

I’d appreciate any advice on resources to help get him through this. I could just walk in circles around the ring, but with summer coming, I’d much prefer the shady trail.

[Bluey]

Could you pony him from another horse that just needs a short walking trip?

[CBoylen]

You can’t let him walk ahead of you because you wouldn’t be in a safe place if something scared him or you tripped. I’m assuming you know how to dig that elbow into his shoulder, racehorse style? You can switch to a lip chain for a while if he’s really not responding to correction, but I’d skip the whole trail for a while and focus on setting him down when he drags you. Last thing you want to do is lose him out in the open.

[Bristol_Bay]

It’s a narrow trail, so not much room for error if something went wrong. There is a polo player who boards there and he ponies his other horse sometimes. He’s even ponied my horse around the ring to give me a break. If only the trail were wider.

[Bristol_Bay]

I’ll ask my friend, a former track trainer, about that elbow maneuver.

[RedHorses]

I hand walked my younger horse on trails all winter several years ago. We have below freezing, with snow and ice for months on end winters here. With four feet he was much better prepared for walking in snow.

I had two rules - he could not crowd into my space, and his front feet could not get ahead of my hips. When he broke either rule I halted him, backed him up, and waited until he was standing still and waiting for my cue to continue. The early walks were about 55% forward and 45% backwards movement as he had a tendency to start walking the moment I moved. After a while I’d only need to remind him with the halt/back/wait a few times during a walk. I used to test him by varying my own walking speed.

[StormyDay]

Carry a short crop and when he starts to get ahead of you give him a smack on his chest. If he doesn’t respond, stop him and back him up. He shouldn’t be pulling on you at all.

[ClassyJumper]

I am not a gimmicky person but I really do love the monty roberts halter for things like this. My mare would drag me around when she got nervous at shows. You can really get after them with it but then it releases better than a chain. I play “red light, green light” with her and it gets her paying attention to me and staying next to my shoulder no matter if I am walking fast, walking slow, stopping or backing up.

[endlessclimb]

For a horse who likes to get ahead, I like to twirl the rope in front of me. If he gets too far forward, he bops himself on the nose. After awhile, a twirl or two is enough to refresh their memory that they don’t belong that far forward.

You can also try abruptly changing direction and see if that gets his attention that you’re the pilot, not him.

[wsmoak]

You won’t be able to practice this on the narrow trail but it sounds like you have an arena and hopefully there is an intermediate space where the behavior begins but you still have a bit of room.

This is an old video from Warwick Schiller that may help. It’s one of the first ones of his that I found when I was trying to “restart” my older horse after some time off and he was dragging me around, not standing still, etc. It helped me. Although Warwick has changed his style a lot in recent years to more of a relationship thing, there is still a base of this transactional obedience that you need for safety.

Horses that get distracted in new places

[Vyce]

I was just going to recommend some Warwick Schiller videos but you beat me to it lol! His stuff helped me with my lease horse. (Arabian mare who is a poster child for all the crazy Arab stereotypes).

[2DogsFarm]

Maybe intro the trail in segments?
Take him to the trailhead, let him graze, relax, then back to the barn < where you can handwalk the property.
Once the trailhead is No Biggie, go a bit farther, to the point he starts to fidget, then stay until he relaxes.
Wash, rinse, repeat, until you can handwalk the whole trail with all the “happenings” along it.

Is there a horse you could borrow to accompany your Polo friend while he ponies your horse?

[Bristol_Bay]

Sadly, all the grass we had after the December rains has grown into fox tails, so we can no longer safely graze. I did let him graze all the time, especially at “scary” parts of the trail. Now I think it just adds to his discomfort that it’s still green he can’t eat any of it.

[eightpondfarm]

@endlessclimb

For a horse who likes to get ahead, I like to twirl the rope in front of me. If he gets too far forward, he bops himself on the nose. After awhile, a twirl or two is enough to refresh their memory that they don’t belong that far forward.

You can also try abruptly changing direction and see if that gets his attention that you’re the pilot, not him.

i use a helicopter twirl too. i do it fast so that it whrrrs and do it forward enough that s/he’s not likely to get popped.
But more than that, i do stop…face and ask for a reverse couple of steps. And i do that every single time. It takes a while, but once they figure out that going backwards is going to happen they are not as inclined to forge. Note: You can pair the back-up with a negative noise before you initiate the first backstep, and eventually, you will only need that noise. When i have room, i will just walk slowly, in a circle before proceeding. Or again, like endlessclimb said, reverse direction…thought being that you really don’t know where we are going so why are you walking ahead?

ALL three of these things are basic walking lessons one teaches a dog, so…maybe check out dog-training skills for other ideas.

Oh, and don’t forget to compliment (an authentic compliment, not a rote one) good walking citizenship liberally!

[Jealoushe]

Get yourself a rope halter. Practice this at home first. A chain is painful and will make your horse not want to listen or play.

Every time your horse passes your shoulder, don’t let it, make your arms big and tall, swing them around, but don’t scare or hit the horse. If he doesn’t listen, back up. Every single time. Horse isn’t allowed to move past you ever. Practice moving the horse away from you with a dressage whip or even your hands. Practice moving off your aids in whichever way you prefer in each direction, making sure the horse moves its hind end around the front. This helps connect your horse and to understand how connected the horse is to your cues and aides.

Moving the legs helps calm the brain. When your horse starts to look at things redirect the attention to you, give him a task. Whether that be moving the hind end, walking a circle. Always encourage the focus back to you. Use positive reinforcement when the horse relaxes or does a good job without needing to be corrected. Learn how to ask to lower the head. Ask for this when the horse is stopped and focused enough. This helps work as a reward and its a good go to when things get tense.

Start small, take short trips until the confidence builds.

[anon38350891]

@wsmoak

This is an old video from Warwick Schiller that may help.

(OT but what is up with that horse’s penis? Dangling?)

[Bristol_Bay]

He’s otherwise so good looking, I didn’t notice until you mentioned it.

[Spudsmyguy]

I tried that Warwick Shiller method on my horse yesterday who can get a little distracted when leading him to the arena. It only took a couple of turns and his focus was on me.

[Bristol_Bay]

I had a good walk yesterday. We didn’t go far enough to hit the narrow part of the trail, so I was able to use the Warwick Schiller technique also. It really helped. We also did a lot of stop and back up. I think it helped to go alone so his focus was on me.

Today he got a walk on the property after his bath, and he knew his treats were waiting for him in his stall, so he started out pushy. All I had to do was stop him, back him up, and the light went on. I’ll make a point of doing a little more every day.

I really appreciate everyone chiming in. COTH knowledge runs deep.