Training Tip: Your Horse Needs a Solid Foundation at Home First

The biggest problem people have when taking their horses away from home is not having control of their horse at home. They spend no time teaching the horse how to use the thinking side of his brain and earning his respect and trust. Then, when they take him away from home, they wonder why he jigs, rears, bolts and otherwise misbehaves. Why wouldn’t he? He has no foundation.

Before taking your horse away from home, it’s best if he knows the entire Fundamentals Series and can do each of the groundwork and riding exercises to at least a B level. That ensures that he respects you as his leader, he knows how to use the thinking side of his brain, and you have control of his feet. If your horse knows the Fundamentals well, you’ll likely encounter very few problems with him away from home. Do your homework before taking your horse to a new riding location.

When I first started my career as a clinician in the States, I’d do an event each year called Ride With the Stars. It was a weeklong event that featured a trail ride and training demonstrations by clinicians. Five hundred to 600 people would turn out for it each year.

I’ll never forget my first time doing the event. I showed up early in the morning on the first day and everybody was excited to get on their horses to start the ride. It was a cooler, windy morning, making it the perfect condition for horses to be more alert and full of energy. All 500 to 600 people started to get on their horses at the same time, and it wasn’t five seconds in before people were getting dumped left, right and center. It was utter chaos. I saw more horses galloping around fully tacked up with no riders than I’d ever seen before.

I just stood there and shook my head. The horses were in a brand-new environment. Instead of the riders practicing some groundwork before tacking their horses up, they’d taken their horses straight off the trailer, immediately tacked up and gotten in the saddle. It’s no wonder it was such a wreck.

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