Love On Horseback

If you are up to this chapter I can assume that you have mastered getting on and off your horse and have been riding at a walk and practicing turning and stopping.  Your horse is beginning to get comfortable with your weight in the saddle and is ready to move forward in his Training Under Saddle. 

Your horse already knows the voice commands for walk, trot, canter, whoa, and easy, because you taught him all of this on the lunge line.  He knows to give to bit pressure from long reining and to turn and stop when he feels the pressure.  Now you are going to transfer some of these cues to your legs and seat, and maintain control of your horse from up in the saddle. 

In the last chapter we discussed leg pressure and leaning and forward and back for a faster or slower response.  You know to always “put your blinker on” before applying rein, and you know to always lean back and say “whoa” before going to the reins to stop your horse.  Hopefully you have been working on this while you and your horse have been walking under saddle and practicing your turning and stopping.  If you haven’t been practicing, you need to.  Whether your horse is trained or not, you have to learn the proper way to ride and signal your horse in order to advance with your horse and get better together. 

After two or three days up in the saddle walking and turning, your horse is ready to start learning to trot under saddle and to back-up.  When you are ready to try trotting you want to signal your horse by squeezing with your outside leg, leaning forward just a little, and saying “trot”.  Your horse is not going to go right into it so continue to squeeze and lean forward while repeating “trot, trot, trot” and clucking to him.  Once he begins to trot, relax your legs and only concern yourself with controlling the direction of travel.  Try to keep the horse on the rail and not cutting corners or circling around in the middle.  Remember, you have always been working your horse on a lunge line and he is used to trotting in a circle.  He might fall into that habit as soon as he begins to trot.  Keep him on the rail the best you can. 

What I don’t want you worrying about right now is “speed”.  Let the horse go whatever speed he is comfortable with.  He is trying to get his balance with the extra weight and it takes muscle control that he may not have fully developed yet.  Once he gets comfortable with the trot we will start asking him to slow down but for now just concentrate on controlling where he goes. 

You might find that your horse trotted a few steps and then quit.  That is because you started bouncing up there and he got worried.  Ask him to trot again.  Keep your riding area big and do not attempt any sharp turns at this point.  The horse is going to be unsteady and needs room to feel this out without having to negotiate tight turns.  Just keep after your horse calmly and quietly until he trots again.  Once he is trotting, relax again and try clucking to him as you go along.  Throw in a “good boy” here and there and try to get him to trot at least one complete lap around the riding pen before stopping.  When you are ready to stop, sit back and say “whoa”.  Your horse probably won’t stop.  If he doesn’t say “whoa” again and gently pull back on the reins in give and take motions until the horse stops.   You are going to feel like he is a clock winding down at first.  Don’t expect your horse to stop on a dime.  Once the horse has stopped let go of the pressure on the reins and tell your horse what a good horse he is.  If he tries to move forward again, gently pull back and ask him to stand until you give the signal to walk. 

Now walk.  Do some circles and turns and some more stops for about 2-3 laps and ask for the trot again.  Cue the horse for the trot the exact same way as before.  You should notice the horse goes into the trot a little better this time.  Again, you  want to make the horse complete one entire lap at the trot before stopping.  This means if your horse breaks down into a walk at any given point during the lap, you have to put them back into the trot and start counting the new lap from that starting point.  If your horse is continually breaking into a walk in the same spot you need to get on the ball here and “ride” the horse past it.  I generally follow the rule of “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”.  With horses this rule does not apply.  It is better to fix something before it happens or do whatever you can to prevent something from happening.  You need to be a step ahead and know what your horse is going to do and when he is going to do it.  Learn to watch your horse and learn his behavior patterns.  In the world of horses “preventive” is always better then trying to fix something after the fact.  This pertains to their health, behavior, and both of your safety.