“Pimp Your Ride” into a Versatile Horse!

Broke means something different to each of us.

In my world, broke means a horse that can handle a cow or trail ride and give me a good time at an open show. In real speak, 50% of his saddle time will be climbing hills and riding out; the other 50% is schooling in the arena, working on softening into the bridle, loping a pretty circle and achieving some semblance of speed control.

If you have an arena horse that can’t work in the open, you are utilizing 50% of your horse.

It doesn’t matter if he’s into Dressage or Barrels. If he can learn to loose-rein it and sweat and do an honest day’s work in the great outdoors, his mind and body will thank you. Conversely, if you mainly check cows or ride the trails, is it time to pimp your ride?

 

Use that undeveloped 50% to teach him that all three gears have low, medium and high settings – and to maintain this until you ask otherwise. Teach him about seeking a soft feel and about straight lines, circles and curves; teach him to understand your increasingly subtle aids….

 

I repeat, his mind and body will thank you.

 

When it comes to change and our horses, it’s true that a new job is as good as a rest.

Today, more than ever, we have a bewildering array of well-trained horses who have never been ridden on the trails. Never hacked out. Some, when tried, have been anything but enjoyable. The idea of relaxing on these otherwise well-educated horses is almost beyond reckoning.

 

It helps to remember that once upon a time, these horses were uncertain in the arena, too. Their earliest memories will be of running with their mothers out in the wind and sun. It took training to make them the horses they are indoors… and it will take training to get them comfortably riding out in the great wide open.

 

We think that the trails will be fun and relaxing, so we load up and head to the mountains. While it might be fun for us, we forget that for many horses, trail riding is an out-of-body experience. Good news is, most any horse can be made better. Bad news is, it may take some effort.

 

Start by making the arena the place for work.

Hard work it is, demanding both physically and mentally. When both of us are sweating, puffing and generally ready to stand around, we can ride around just outside the arena to cool down.

 

We don’t make a point of taking another horse with us, we just stay nice and close to our safety zone. As much as we can, we ride on a loose rein and do a lot of praise and petting.

 

When our horse is doing this well over several days, continuing to use the arena to work off his energy, we’ll use the great outdoors to relax and enjoy. Gradually we can expand our territory. If he gets silly and hot, we don’t fight him; we go back indoors to work it off.

 

Eventually, riding outside will be the restful reward we can look forward to. Just keep gradually stretching that ol’ home base…

 

Not every horse needs this, of course.

Some are so grateful to get back to nature that they just head out and welcome the healing that riding out brings. I often wonder if this is just a North American problem, this issue of getting out of the practice pen? Is it because of our long winters or is it the encroachment of urban centres on rural land?

 

Whatever it is, we—and our horses—pay a price when we can’t ride out.

 

While we ultimately want our horses comfortably working alone, a calm and confident trail horse can be a brilliant mentor. Another help is having our horses live turned out as much as possible. They move, graze and learn to adapt to the wind and weather.

 

If you have an outdoorsy horse who thrives on change, this will all seem silly and unnecessary. For the many ‘indoors’ horses we come across nowadays, their fears are all too real.

 

Remember, your horse isn’t being “bad”, he lacks confidence.

Fear drives each of us to act in strange ways! Before too long, he’ll look forward to going out and seeing the sights with you, his friend, just touring around. The trick is in making our outdoor relaxation a learning priority, as much as our performance in the ring.

The degrees to where our horse will feel uncertain can vary. I’m riding a horse right now who is a little lost without a wall. He struggles with going forward without that boundary beside him; he’s unsure if he should turn without that boundary in front. It sounds funny but it’s an eyeopener if your training pen is the pasture!

 

Not surprisingly, many of today’s horses do so many indoor circles – so – many – indoor – circles – that they panic when ridden out in the great beyond.

 

We will simply work on raising our comfort level at all three gears without the safety net of an arena wall. It involves learning how to keep our feet and composure without me hanging onto his head. When we do ride indoors, we’ll be keeping away from the perimeter more than usual, building to the point that he can calmly travel in straight lines, maintaining his relaxation, maintaining the same speed…

 

This fear of going straight is as common in arena horses as the inability of many trail and ranch horses to hunt and hold a circle. As always, a healthy goal in a jack-of-all-trades is a fifty-fifty mix….

 

Let’s put the fun back in our riding.

We can encourage our horses to rock the rural life, as well as whenever we hit town. When we have a horse than can only go down the trails and not compete at a local show… or a horse than can only go in an arena and not be safe on the trails… we’re utilizing only fifty percent of our horse.

It is time to “pimp your ride”?

Let’s hear about your challenges in making a truly all-around, versatile ride… one that is comfortable and safe on the trails, as well as beautifully schooled in the arena. To my mind, there is no more worthy goal when training the riding horse! Cheers for now, Lee.