What's the One Thing You'd Like to Know About....
...Trail Riding?
From time to time, I'm going to pitch out a question like this on various want-to-know-about subjects.
First topic up: trail riding (I know, we all have our versions of what that is, exactly...but that should be part of the fun in reading your answers.
One thing--and it can be anything!
Jim Bortvedt Photo
posted by Juli Thorson @ 1:44 PM
19 comments
19 Comments:
The biggest question for a trail rider, is 'Where?' I am always looking for new places to ride.
How to get a horse to go out alone. I don't always have someone to go out with and don't want to be stuck doing arena work on a beautiful day. I took it for granted as a kid that my horse would go out alone and bring me back alive. As an adult I find that this isn't the case!
I'm taking my horses out on the trails for the first time in their lives. Their previous owners either only used them for breeding or only rode them in show arenas. They spook left and right at every new object, which makes it difficult to make any progress.
What can I do to keep myself safe and introduce them to new parts of the trails at the same time? I've done plenty of desensitization at home, but it never seems to translate into a different environment. I can ride a bicycle around them at home, but if they see one on the trail, they want to turn and run. Even signs on the side of the trails and rocks on the trails cause them to freak out despite seeing plenty of signs and rocks at home. They leap sideways, spin, and run backwards when they see, smell or hear anything new that they don't recognize.
Mine's rather stupid and not really H&R, but I really want to know the names of all the pretty native flowers I pass along the trail!
H&R-wise, I really need to how to deal with all the OTHER trail denizens I might encounter while on a horse. What's the best thing to do if I hear a rattlesnake rattle? How should I handle a swarm of ground bees (ala George's)? Encountering deer and some elk is a regular thing outside your fences, but what if it's a territorial buck or bull elk? How should that situation be handled? How is all of this complicated with the horse?
It's more than handling a spooky horse, though that may be part of it. It's realizing you walked into a potentially dangerous situation, and knowing the best way to get out quickly and safely.
The only place for me to ride is on gravel roads. How do I convince people they need to slow down so my horse doesn't spook?
I typically turn and face the oncoming traffic but that doesn't always slow the vehicles down.
How can I educate people to slow down when a horse is on the road or in a ditch?
I'm with nuzzling muzzles and have a horse that previous owners only rode in an arena. I'd like to take him out on the trails, but I don't feel confident with him and he spooks at everything when a fence isn't around him. Once we get back to the arena we calm right down. That's a problem I'd love to hear answers about.
How to attach saddle bags when you have neither D rings nor saddle strings on your saddle! I agree with rocky mountain Yankee, I had that problem for a long time. Just last week I rode my horse away from the buddy and out into the pasture for the first time in over 6 months.
Well Julie I guess we have learned a lot the hard way but I truly believe in the ground work at home. We have the best horses now that we have ever had because I spent a lot of time with them in my "white trash arena" as my husband calls it. I had everything you could think of in there and hanging in the trees outside. Wish I had learned all of this years ago. Also, you can hand walk them out on the trail with a lunge line and let them see everything first. That also really helps.
I am with Shadow Rider about the where to ride. In AZ we can find all kinds of maps for 4 wheelers but horses are another matter. I think where to and also rodeo grounds stockyards that will let you stay overnight with your horses.
While I am here I will pass on a trick we learned last year that was the best thing since Heinz Ketchup.
We have two horses with not much for withers and in the steep hills the saddles would always slip all over. I called a mule trainer to find a crouper (sp?) for my husband. He told me to put a rubber cinch on your back cinch instead of the flat leather one. Put a latigo on the left side just like you have on your regular cinch and tighten this up. It is absolutely awesome. The saddles stay in place and the horses are a lot more comfortable.
I want to know how to desensitize my horses sensibly and give them more confidence. An I have the same problem as Rocky Mountain Yankee - mine are more and more reluctant to go out alone.
My horses all ride out alone really well. I think it's mostly a matter of doing it regularly. I spend so much time with them, they are comfy with me as their partner, just as they are with another horse. Just go a bit farther every day, and stay calm! When you are nervous, your horse thinks there is something to be afraid of! (Yes, I know - easier said than done.) As for spooky horses, the best thing is a trail buddy that isn't spooky at all. I think some horses are just naturally spookier than others, but again, it's wet saddle blankets that solve most problems. It's hard though, riding through the not-so-fun rides to get to the fun ones!
I live in east Tennessee, and we are blessed with horse trails everywhere! I'm glad there are so many places to ride - in the mountains, around the lakes, we can ride all over!
Katy
I have been training trail horses for years. My horses are mostly QH's and Paint horses that go in a plain snaffle bit, and we travel as light as possible on the trails.
I want to know why (and please don't take this personally---anyone--)some people think that you have to put 8" shanks on a two year old with all this "stuff" hanging off him and put the biggest, heaviest rider on him to train him to trail ride?
I know everyone has at least seen a person like this at least once. And by 8" shanks please don't think I am talking about walking or gaited horses. I saw this on a 2yr old QH gelding just this past weekend!!
I too am interested in "where to ride," and I'd like to read some reviews of some of these rides and what to expect.
For example, there is a "Billy the Kid trail ride" yearly in NM. The ads make it sound like a lot of fun, but I don't know anyone who has done this. I would love to read a review of the ride (the good/bad/ugly), terrain, and what to expect/how to prepare.
I'm sure there are many trail rides like this that would be LOADS of fun! But first we need to know about them and what to expect, whether or not they are they appropriate for beginner, intermediate, or advanced riders, and of course the cost to participate, etc.
I've got an otherwise level-headed 15YO QH gelding who's an expert on most of the Clinton Anderson GW techniques and is calm and responsive under saddle. He was an arena horse for 13 years before I bought him.
We've been working HARD on getting him to be a trail horse for over a year now. Progress is very slow, and I ride 4-5 days/week year-round, so lack of wet saddle blankets is not the issue.
Are there some horses who are just NOT suited to the trail, and never will be?
It's not so much that some horses aren't suited to trail riding, as it is that all horses are creatures of habit.
A horse that has spent its entire life as an arena horse up to age 15 has been habituated to something very different from trail riding. All his expectations and assumptions, built over a lifetime, become null and void when the circumstances are so different. Some horses are more adaptable than others, but it's still a challenge for the horse to make such a change.
One would have the same problem in reverse by taking, say, a 15-year-old mountain trail horse and asking him to be an arena performer. Not saying it can't be done, but by the time a horse is middle-aged, he's usually pretty set in his ways.
April F., I'm with you on the wildflowers and other natural surroundings. That is part of a trail ride, not just the horse or the friends, but what is around you. By learning to observe the life around you, you become aware and a better trail rider with a little more enjoyment. Wildflower books are available at book stores as well as bird books. A trail ride is a walk in nature enjoy it. A trail ride is not a race and you can get off your horse if you want to look at something, just beware of whats happening around you.
I am making progress with my somewhat herdbound mare, just riding her down the road from where she is boarded. I started *very* small -- just get her to the end of the driveway, and that took a few tries. Then turned right and went down the road about 100 feet; she could still see her buddies. I'm now taking her across the street and down the road in the other direction, only about 1/2 mile but she's happy to do it.
She had some trails experience when I bought her, but only with other horses. She's also a bit spooky, and there have been a few times where I just have not been able to get her past something scary, because I really don't want to school a seriously upset horse on the road, so we've gone home. (However, in these cases I did not go right to the barn, but kept her on the road, back and forth, so she knows she does not get to go into the driveway until I say it's OK.)
Working in my favor is that she's very bored of the arena, so the "road trips" are a real treat for her. I will let her graze a little when we get as far as we are going for the day, too. I'm also lucky that many things one encounters on a country road -- mailboxes, cars and trucks, the occasional bicyclist -- do not bother her. Trash cans started as Sure to Eat Horses, but she'll now pass them with just a good hard look. Walking humans are fine, but jogging humans are scary. Puddles are just worth getting argumentative over, but I can now leg yield her back and forth through them.
If we encountered anything super scary, I'd come back with another rider and horse; she is much calmer then.
The key all along has been *baby steps*. All I want from her is a tiny bit more than the last time, like 10 yards further down the road, or to actually sniff the thing that scared her the last time. She has to know that I won't let anything bad happen to her. I am lucky that she's very willing in general.
After several types of cinch changes, I need help with saddle slippage right to left. How can I get the saddle to adjust and stay in place on a round barrel small Arabian mare? It seems to always slip to the left. I'm not overweight and it isn't due to pulling over when mounting. It's very uncomfortable for both horse and rider when the saddle does not remain centered. Thanks in advance.
Like the idea of using a latigo on the left too. That sounds like it might be the solution to the saddle slippage problem. Will try that tack change and see if it helps. Already have a crupper because she has little to no withers but haven't needed it yet.
Crane,
A couple of questions:
* What kind of pad or blanket are you using? If it doesn't have much grip of its own, it's going to slip and slide around on a round-barreled horse. Toklat makes a nonslip pad (it has tiny nubs) that I like for this purpose. A saddle also will slip if you OVERpad, which can be the case when two pads are used on top of one another.
* Are you pulling your pad up into the gullet of the saddle before you cinch up? That creates a break in the smooth surface over the horse's back and also provides an air channel over the horse's back to help with cooling. Especially important if your horse has low withers that won't hold a saddle in place.
* Is your left stirrup leather stretched out from mounting? That would make you put more weight in the left stirrup in order to keep your balance when riding, which would tip the saddle to the left. Have someone view you from the front after you get on, to make sure the stirrups are exactly even. You may need to take the left stirrup up a tad.
* How IS your balance? Lots of us FEEL balanced in the saddle, but in reality are riding with more weight in one stirrup than the other. I did not know I did this until I took a lesson from Al Dunning and had him point it out to me. (For me, it's the right side--as my left leg is weaker as a result of reconstructive knee surgery, creating a compensatory habit.) Have someone view you from behind and in front as you ride. You may be weighting your left seat bone and stirrup more than the right and not know it.
* Are you able to ride in balance without pushing down in the stirrups to KEEP your balance? (Don't mean to offend you, but it's worth asking, because a stirrup-balancing rider can make the saddle tip and slip.)
* Are you sure you have the correct tree width on the saddle you're using for this particular horse? Does the problem happen with ANY saddle, or just the one you're using now? What happens when you longe your horse as she's saddled--does the saddle slip then too?
* Is your horse just round in general, or is she also carrying fat pads on either side of her withers that would contribute to saddle slippage?
Just a few of the things that come to mind.
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