I agree with this. Some people try to accommodate their horse not always realizing their horse can learn and getting confidence on different footing is a good thing. However if the rider isn’t confident until the horse is confident that is a different situation.
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The horses who get unglued or deeply offended may have some sort of pain component. In my cases they were too thin soles and overall back pain. A confident and sound horse shouldn’t be bothered by slipping when the stakes are casual like a trail ride.
I don’t believe studs on rock is a good idea. Studs are ineffective if they can’t bite into the substrate, and at best you’d have some unbalance when walking across the shale. Rocks are not my preferred terrain but you’d be hard pressed to find a more rocky territory than up north. Here you can’t even put a fence post in without hitting ledge. There’s pieces of exposed ledge and shale in my pastures. The barefoot horses navigate it best.
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I think a lot of riders clench up and try to “help” too, which can freak a horse out. Just sit still, let him have his head, and let him pick the way through. That’s his job.
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And, don’t kick, don’t get pissed, don’t anything. Loosen the reins, let him put his head down to take a look, make a nice wide funnel to guide them to stay going in approximately the direction you want to go, and let him take all the time he needs. No rush, no muss, no fuss.
I think trail riding/terrain riding is a skill that some people need to learn. Relaxxxx and let the horse do his job.
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Totally agree. All eventers need to leave the arena and smooth mowed trails and learn to ride over varied terrain. And at different speed over that terrain. And then jumping over that terrain. At the highest level, eventers are still only jumping 1.20m but it is the terrain, the context in which the fence is placed, that makes it a challenge.
Interestingly enough, my old tb Larry when he was still shod used to get very upset and unglued when he slipped, even when he had studs in. When he was barefoot, if he slipped it was not a big deal and he coped quite well.
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Totally agree, I was coming in to post this same thought. Lucinda Green has some great stuff on how to use trail riding on varied terrain to create bravery and self-confidence on XC.
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For context, I’m pretty sure this horse is an eventer - if OP is talking about their nice boy that just did Training (IIRC) with their pro. This is probably more of a barnsour issue.
From what I understand though, the OP still has some difficulty with this horse. Looking critically at one’s own habits (Do I clench? Do I tighten up the reins? Do I kick/spank to get forward when I should be letting him take a look and analyze?) can often reveal what might be setting him off over something pretty minor.
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If the issue is just a lack of confidence, handwalking may help him get over it. Consider it a training exercise, just like anything else you teach your horse to do.
As for what to put on his feet, I think boots would be best for traction if he can otherwise go barefoot (hoof boots are not meant to be worn over shoes). My horse wears Scoot Boots and he goes over rocky ground like a tank. I’ve also used Cavallo Treks and liked those as well. If I’m riding in the field or an arena I just leave him barefoot.
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This is so so true. I’ve been on a ride where there was a bridge that was different enough that two horses in the lead refused to cross mostly because the riders were trying to beat them across it. Of course, the horses thought there was something clearly wrong and refused to cross. I went with my little mustang and let her quietly assess the situation, I sat there with totally long reins and let her take the time she needed to satisfy herself, she put her nose down and sniffed it, then tested it with one foot, and walked calmly across with the other riders following, silently I might add.
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Yes. And it only takes a couple times of the former (trying to beat them/kick them/rush them) through an uncomfortable situation before they learn “If I’m scared I’d better fight because the human is going to shove me over my threshold.” It also can make them scared of something forever, because you, their leader, gave them a reason to be.
You see the same thing with trailer loading. Rush too much and you get a horse who plants even harder because he was never given time to think about it.
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It is the same guy. He was on the buckle on the other 85% of the trail that was a nice path. He did not care to slide down the mild incline that was flat rocky. Did I mention he was a warmblood? lol
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My main thing I did was not allow him to turn back. Widen my hands way out, allowed him to put his head down and pick he way. This was a brand new trail for us. My fear is that if he builds up this stress in his head, he will get more apprehensive at the whole thing which is how his brain works. As an aside, I trail rode my TB for years. He was very much a braver guy than my WB who needs things just so. I wanted to start trail riding him twice a week but to make the experience positive for him.
He can be nervous and it can still be positive. It sounds like you did the right thing - just keep at it and he will become more confident. Really try to sit neutral/a little back if it’s a down hill and talk to him ‘eeeasy bud nice and slow’.
Can’t get better at things he doesn’t do, and he will never “do” them if you stud him up. He’s gunna be fine, just keep working at it.
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You mentioned he is a warmblood a couple of times, are you expecting him to act different because he is a warmblood? I do know some people have expectations of a certain type or breed and treat treat them accordingly.
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While I am nervous XC I can trail ride just fine, and I have never known a single trail rider or endurance rider to ever use studs.
Breed is not an issue. Your horse needs to figure out where his feet go and to slow down. I would however avoid slick rocks as some slipping will happen.
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While I just posted a thread about being nervous schooling XC I just took my green horse out solo trail riding. Her 4th trail ride, solo, the only people in the park on the trails. No cell signal. Had a blast. My eventer friends think I’m crazy brave.
You would not believe the number of eventers I know who would NEVER trail ride solo, or only “trail ride” on flat manufactured paths, and find the trails I do that I consider tame or “intro” trails to be terrifying and beyond them yet they compete at Training or higher! It’s interesting what we find out of our comfort zone.
Although, while my horses always do water this may explain why I have to pony kick in water on XC because they want to take a drink!
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Definitely. My gelding was just the ‘trail nanny’ to a 3* horse this spring. He may not be great at my preferred discipline of choice (eventing) but he is a damn good trail horse. I thought it was funny the XC weenie needed to hold an XC monster’s hand down a pretty basic bridle path.
Many competition barns seem to be limited in trail access and what they do have is often short and what most people refer to as a “bridle path” – a small loop around designated property. Great for boarders, but not the same as experiencing a new trail every day. Trailering to a new trail site is not the same (in the horse’s perspective) as forging a new trail from the barn. I find the latter more useful for curing barnsour behavior/confidence on trails, if you’re lucky enough to keep your horse somewhere with trail access.
Sadly, with land loss this difficulty in getting exposure will just become more common. I speak of this bitterly, having just lost about 500+ acres of trail access because of a recent change in land ownership that resulted in my access route to these amazing trails being converted to private property. I used to be able to access about four different conservation forests through a short footpath on my generous neighbor’s property. Unfortunately, the new neighbor is not so charitable. Who can blame her? Horses poop, are destructive, and come with liability.
I was lucky to have access to these trails as long as I did, so I cherish the memory. I do hope my upcoming filly gets the same incredible exposure my gelding did, but it’s becoming harder and harder to do.
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There’s a barn very close to me with this - direct access to lots of trails that I am very familiar with due to trailering in for so many years.
The only problem is the access is across the street, and I have a phobia of getting decked and the horse runs back to the barn… across the (somewhat busy) street.
So unless the access is direct land-to-land, my own fear prevents me from utilizing it.
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