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This is how we train a fearless trail horse!

198K views 298 replies 164 participants last post by  DragonflyAzul 
#1 ·
It seems that every time I come to this site, there are 2 or 3 or even more questions about training a trail horse to go anywhere and everywhere the rider points its head. Since this is what we do for a living, I thought I would try to explain what it takes and how to go about it.

We have trained nothing but trail horses since we got too old and are in too poor health to train cow horses and reining horses any more. We always rode our cow horses out and they were perfect trail horses and we sold the horses that would not make competitive cow horses as trail horses for many years - about 35 or 49 years anyway. Now, that is all we can do.

It does not take age. We have had MANY 2 year olds that would go anywhere you pointed their heads. I have sold 3 year olds to novice riders that are still perfect trail horses 10 years later. [I got 2 e-mails just last week from people that bought horses 3-5 years ago and keep me up on their adventures. Both of those horses were 3 year olds. ]

'Almost' any horse will make a good trail horse. Some super paranoid, exceptionally spooky horses will always need a confident rider, but I have not had a problem making a good trail horse out of anything. I have made good trail horses out of many spoiled horses, but that takes a lot more skill and riding ability than what many people have. Obviously, the nicer the prospect and the better the attitude, the easier it is to make a nice horse for any purpose. We raise our own prospects for their trainability, good minds and easy going nature. We think novice riders should have that kind of horse because they are 'user friendly' and 'low maintenance'. Those are inherited characteristics.

Horses with 'big motors' like TBs and race-bred QHs and high strung horses also require more rider skill, but they cover a lot of ground and are really more suitable to those wanting to do endurance and long hard rides. If you wanted a vehicle to go fishing and hunting in and drive into the back-country, you would not buy a Corvette or a Ferrari would you? Those 'hot' horses make really fast mounted shooting horses and the ones with speed make barrel horses and other timed event horses. They just require a rider with greater skill.

Here are the best tips and 'rules' I have for making a good trail horse:

1) Obedience is NEVER optional. A good trail horse is nothing more than a horse that does everything 'right away' that a rider asks. Absolute and quick obedience -- 100% compliance without an argument should be the goal.

2) Your job (as the rider) is not to let your horse look at everything new and decide it is OK. That is your job. You should NOT show him that there is nothing to be afraid of. Your job as an 'effective' rider is to teach him that he needs to trust YOU and ONLY YOU -- not his natural instincts. It is your job to teach him to pay attention to his job (doing whatever you ask) and not his surroundings. Your goal should be to teach him to ignore anything he 'perceives' as fearful.

3) I NEVER let a horse look at things, examine things, go up to new things, 'sniff'' things or any of that. If you do any of these, you are teaching to stop and look or sniff everything instead of go on down the trail. The habit I want to reinforce is to go past or through anything without stopping to look at it. If I tell him it is OK, I want him to accept that without questioning me. You can't have it both ways. He either has to become the leader and figure out everything for himself in his time-frame (for some horses that is never) or he has to let you be the leader. I am convinced that I am smarter and know what I am doing and I know where I want to go and I don't really need or want his opinion at all.

If you let a horse look at things, then you are teaching him to be afraid of everything that is new and telling him that things should be looked at instead of ignored. You are not telling him that it is OK to go right past it. I want a horse to ignore everything but me. You have to remember that whatever you let or ask him to do (like checking things out) is what you are teaching him to do. Do you want a horse that is afraid of everything and stops at every new thing he encounters or do you want a horse that goes everywhere you point his head without questioning you? Remember, you just can't have it both ways.

4) When a horse starts to hesitate and starts to show fear, 'ride hard and fast'. Go faster, cover more ground, ride off of the trail and in the roughest footing you can find. All of these things get his attention back to his 'job' and back to you and off of whatever he thought was a big wooly booger.

5) Never ride straight toward something that you can go around. If a horse is afraid of a big tree stump, do not ride him straight toward it. [You are just setting his up to stop and back up. Remember, you are trying to make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult and setting him up to stop and back up is not doing that.] Ride past it several times while taking his attention away from the stump and keeping it on you. I like to use 'leg yielding' exercises. I will ride past an object with his head bent away from the object and my leg pushing his shoulders and ribs toward the object. I watch his ear that is away from the object. I know I have his attention and respect for my leg when that ear stays 'cocked' back toward me. I will go past the object, switch my dominant rein to the one nearest the object, will reverse directions TOWARD the object (I never let him turn his tail to anything he fears) and I will leg yield back past it again using my other leg to push him (bend him) toward it. I will go back and forth again and again until he walks right on by without looking at it or veering away from it -- just goes straight on by like it isn't there.

We help a lot of riders get past their fears on the trail. When you have an apprehensive rider that is possibly more fearful than the horse, you cannot expect that person to project a confident 'git-er-done' bold demeanor to the horse. So, the rider has to learn how to ride past their fears, focus on a place way past where they are and ride with determination to that place. You want to concentrate on getting to a place that is far beyond the object that the horse is trying to focus on. If the rider is looking at a 'booger', you can bet that the horse is going to be looking at it, too. Many people 'spook' worse than their horse. They are looking for scary objects down the trail before their horse is. If that is part of a rider's problem, they need to learn to ride far ahead of where they actually are.

We do not spend a lot of time trying to desensitize a horse. A lot of people find this strange. Let me tell you why we put so little faith in this exercise in futility (and why I never post on those threads). You will never be able to duplicate everything that can scare a horse. Even if you did, they would encounter this obstacle in a different place on the trail and it would be different to them anyway. You train a horse to listen to you and you train a horse to ignore anything new or scary. You train a horse to go forward when you ask -- no matter what is in front of them (one of the reasons I keep harping on 'good forward impulsion' ) and you train a horse to depend solely on you. You make all of the decisions and they are happy to comply. The more you take the leadership role, the less they think and worry. That is how you make a good trail horse.
 
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#70 ·
A great trail horse is worth it's weight in gold! A good rider is too :) My gelding is generally great about going through, past just about anything so when he does stop and snort, I start looking. He's become our rattlesnake spotter in the last year! Your method does make a lot of sense, Cherie :)
 
#72 ·
Key point here is that the respect for rider leadership MUST be established before going out where the fear level is raised. If the horse questions your leadership in peaceful familiar surroundings, that lack of respect will be escalated "out there"! To be safe, develop that responsiveness and respect at home, then begin working past the boundaries of the horse's comfort zone. I love Cherie's post!! right on! We have to remember that a horse acts badly with his human either through disrespect or fear and it is our job to discern which is taking place. I believe Cherie is saying that if the horse has a proper respect for us as leaders, that respect will translate into trust and the fear factor will be put into place under that trust. The horse may be afraid but because he respects and trusts our judgement he will be more willing to "do it" afraid. Think of the herds in the wild: they follow the lead brood mare and don't even hesitate about following her because to leave the herd would put their lives in danger.
 
#76 ·
Key point here is that the respect for rider leadership MUST be established before going out where the fear level is raised. If the horse questions your leadership in peaceful familiar surroundings, that lack of respect will be escalated "out there"! To be safe, develop that responsiveness and respect at home, then begin working past the boundaries of the horse's comfort zone. I love Cherie's post!! right on! We have to remember that a horse acts badly with his human either through disrespect or fear and it is our job to discern which is taking place. I believe Cherie is saying that if the horse has a proper respect for us as leaders, that respect will translate into trust and the fear factor will be put into place under that trust. The horse may be afraid but because he respects and trusts our judgement he will be more willing to "do it" afraid. Think of the herds in the wild: they follow the lead brood mare and don't even hesitate about following her because to leave the herd would put their lives in danger.


i was told once and it has just stuck with me "you dont let your car make decissions on were u r going,so dont let your horse, keep in the drivers seat"...i think of that when my mare thinks she'd like to make her own decissoins, when her and i first started out i wasnt so good at driving :), but now after time she trusts me and me her, makes a world of differance
 
#73 ·
Serendipitous: In response to your post about your horse and the barbed wire...this is a case of knowing your horse. We had a BLM mustang my daughter rode and he did the same thing one day on the trail but it was so out of character for him that my daughter did examine the trail ahead and there was a rattler coiled up just a few yards ahead on the side of the trail. This mustang had lived in the wild for two years of his life and knew trails so it was, this day, a case of mutual trust. He warned the rest of the riders of the danger ahead and they went on and had a great ride. So knowing your horse is a big part of it. We had an Arabian who was the Sunday ride; he was so watchful, he'd step carefully over a dark line in the path and we could drop the reins on him and just trust him for a safe ride. He was an awesome trail horse! He was watchful and careful where his feet went but never spooky or balky. He loved to get out. Those are the true pleasure horses who take care of their riders... then there are others .... lol... who make us work for it.
 
#75 ·
cherie, luv'd your post!!!! we do alot of trail riding and ive seen people let their horses pick the pase and check out everything, i just pass them, but have noticed they r the ones that need help x-ing any and all water, slash piles ect...i guess i didnt realize my mare and i blow by it cuz im not scared of it so eather should she be :) if she hesitates i just move her forward i guess i never thought to much about it or why...i can see it now, your so write!!!
 
#79 ·
Cherie,

I really want to thank you. Almost since I got my horse two years ago, I have had confidence issues while riding her. It's been an ongoing struggle, one I've thought about giving up the more we go along, and I almost did give up this summer and sell. It may not have been a necessarily bad thing to "give up", as she is a lot of horse and I have had a lot of grief over her in the past years, but I felt like if I gave up with her, a horse without vices, honest, willing, and brave even if she is a bit hotter, I'd be giving up on myself and any ability I have to ride and work with horses.

And then you posted this, and I have read it more times than I can count. The combination of this and the skills my new trainer is giving me gave me the confidence to say: "Ok, I think I can start riding her again."

I've been taking her out on the trail every day I can. She is not perfect, a lot of stuff has to do with her 'new-ness' to it, but even when things aren't going exactly as I would like or had planned, I still find success in my rides. Not because I need the tips you posted to handle her, but because the tips you posted give me the confidence to be able to honestly tell myself: "It's alright, I know what I'm doing. I can handle this."

So I just wanted to thank you, again and again. Thank you! I know I'm not miraculously cured of my unconfidence; I am likely going to have some days where I slip back to my old thinking, but so far, I have met nothing but success and I'd like to say that at least part of it is your doing.

-C.P.
 
#80 ·
Two things you said Cherie were super helpful to me. The one about working the horse in tough terrain. I sort of assumed there was not much I could do on our narrow wooded trails when my horse gets spooky and his mind is anywhere but on me. I rode him the other day, after much time off, and he is generally a bit spooky anyway, plus it was a cold day. As soon as I felt him the littlest bit tense up, off into the woods we went. I mean scrambling up steep, down steep, with lots of tangled brush and trees. Circled anything I could find. Instead of thinking I needed a smooth open road to work on I relished the rougher terrain. Second helpful part was riding in my mind, way past where I was actually going. Kept us more forward for sure. You know, I could tell my horse was enjoying the ride and was very relaxed and so was I. I think the best trail ride we have had yet.
Thanks for your well written, informative, detailed post!

 
#82 ·
Thank you so much!! This post has been extremely helpful in building my confidence as a rider. I just purchased my very first horse, an 8 year old TB. He is an ex race horse; however, for the last 2 years has been an english/hunter lesson horse. I actually have been riding him as my lesson horse for the past year and a half. Now that he is mine, I would like to start going on trail rides with him; however, I have found that he is a big chicken and spooks at random things (also has never been taken out of the property). I am hesitant to actually ride him out around the neighborhood and have only taken him on lead walks after our work outs, or lessons.
The other day started really well, we walked half way around the stables and into an open field. Houdini noticed 2 other horses being walked and after getting his attention back on me, we started walking back. The other horses began to follow and I think the sound of them following got Houdini nervous. He started slightly whining and I ended up circling him around me. Since he is my first horse, I'm not exactly sure what I should when he acts like this. I first just made him stop circling me, and walked him to the side where there was grass and such. It seemed to work and calmed him down and got his mind off of them.
I really would like to just try riding him around the neighborhood, I feel I should be able to control him better riding him as long as I'm confident enough. Or should I keep walking him to get him used to it? From Cherie's post it seems that I should just take him out as long as I remain in control. Any suggestions?
Thank you!
 
#84 ·
Thank you so much!! This post has been extremely helpful in building my confidence as a rider. I just purchased my very first horse, an 8 year old TB. He is an ex race horse; however, for the last 2 years has been an english/hunter lesson horse. I actually have been riding him as my lesson horse for the past year and a half. Now that he is mine, I would like to start going on trail rides with him; however, I have found that he is a big chicken and spooks at random things (also has never been taken out of the property). I am hesitant to actually ride him out around the neighborhood and have only taken him on lead walks after our work outs, or lessons.
The other day started really well, we walked half way around the stables and into an open field. Houdini noticed 2 other horses being walked and after getting his attention back on me, we started walking back. The other horses began to follow and I think the sound of them following got Houdini nervous. He started slightly whining and I ended up circling him around me. Since he is my first horse, I'm not exactly sure what I should when he acts like this. I first just made him stop circling me, and walked him to the side where there was grass and such. It seemed to work and calmed him down and got his mind off of them.
I really would like to just try riding him around the neighborhood, I feel I should be able to control him better riding him as long as I'm confident enough. Or should I keep walking him to get him used to it? From Cherie's post it seems that I should just take him out as long as I remain in control. Any suggestions?
Thank you!
I had a nervous horse too and i was thinking i should just find everything i could to get him used to scarey things. But i read articles about eventing and they ALL say there is nothing better than getting your horse OFF or OUT of the property. That's the real deal and you know what? they're so right. It's life outside the farm and it doesn't have to freak them out. I also used what Cherie suggested as far as leg yielding them past things they're scared of to get their minds on something else. And i've learned sniffing things gets you into trouble. a mare I had was allowed to do that and every single time we passed a boulder she would stop asap even at a canter. It caused me on my gelding to fall off as i was behind the mare when she decided to hit the brakes. Not smart and not safe.
 
#85 ·
I'm so glad I found this post, I have been riding a horse that has been spooking a lot, & this gives me some ideas on how to handle it. He is a retired standardbred harness racer, & I'm sort of retraining him to ride. I would love to get him on trails, but lately he's been spooking at everything. He does the spin & bolt thing, & I'm really quite scared of falling off, I haven't fallen off In a long time. I think partly it's because he's basically stuck In his stall until I come ride him ( he's not mine), & has forgotten what the outside world is like. He was a racehorse, so it's not like he hasn't been around a lot of different things. But I'm thinking part of it is me, I'm not always confident enough, & his spooking makes me nervous, I sometimes lose the reins when he spins so quickly, so that doesn't help. I have try & work on that & try some of Cherie's techniques, I don't want to get so scared that I can't ride him! The strange thing too is that he trips a lot when I'm riding, but every time he spooks, his footing is just fine! So far at least, I'd hate for him to trip while he's bolting.
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#89 ·
Excellant post! This is very much the thought of my trainer. They can think something is scary, but I am the boss and the boss says move on anyway. Also, he never "trailer trains" a horse. He teaches solid leading skills. If he wants to lead a horse into a hole in the ground to China, they will follow, because they are solid in their leading.
 
#90 ·
Your trainer is right. We also never teach loading as such. They are all trained to lead -- period. If we want them to step into a tiny dark trailer, they don't hesitate. When the rider or handler says "Go forward!" it means go forward right now. When a horse has been trained to do whatever the rider / handler says, there just are NO problems. Obedience is not optional at our house. Respect is not optional -- ever!
 
#91 ·
I know that this is an old post but agree that if your horse trust you he will go where you put him know matter how scared he may be.

To prove my point I have a nine year old TWH that I have had since before he turned two years old. I broke him myself and have spend many hours on him and we have covered many miles of trails. A couple of summers ago I was riding in the Tenn. mountains with a group of women.

I usually take the lead because my horse is always find with being up front and doesn't usually shy from anything. While we where riding through this wooded area on the back side of camp. My horse started snorting loud and his head and ears where up and he stiffen up. My friends horses refused to move, several where rearing up and turning around and running the other way. My horse hesitated and I told him to go on that it will be alright and touched him w/ my spurs. He went on snorting the whole time, ears up very tense. I wasn't going to let him get by with acting up and we went passed what ever it was that was upsetting him and the other horses. I was proud of myself for not letting him get by with it.

When I got to camp with the others, everyone asked did I see that black bear? No, I didn't. I was so determine that I was going to make my horse do what I said that I didn't see the bear. My horse was trying to warn me but I didn't listen. I am lucky that the situation didn't turn out different but I learned a lesson. Yes, my horse trust me but I need to trust him too.
 
#92 ·
I don't agree....my horse has never disrespected me and I have done a lot of parelli training with him. When I take him out on the trails and he sees something he is unsure of, I walk him to it and let him know that it's not going to hurt him. This is how you teach them to not be afraid of it. Think about it if you make your horse run away from whatever he is afraid of when it comes down to a bad situation where he sees something and you don't his natural instinct is going to be to run and if your not ready for it you or someone with you can get hurt. I always have shown my horses it's ok to check out what he is afraid of that way the next time he sees it, he wont get spooked. Now my horses trust me to the point that if they do see something they are unsure of they stop and turn there head back to me and put their nose on my foot as if they are asking me "is it ok" and I pet them say it's alright and they then walk on. It's better for your horse to let you show them something is ok then to make them run from it. They will gain your trust way better. Think of it as your kid, if you child is a afraid of something are you going to tell him or her to run? Or show them that it's ok.
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#93 ·
I didn't see once in any of her posts where Cherie told us to make our horse run away from what it's scared of. If you are ok with allowing your horse to stop and look all the time, that's up to you. Cherie was just giving us another way, to teach our horses to go by whatever they're scared of without stopping or batting an eye.
 
#94 ·
4) When a horse starts to hesitate and starts to show fear, 'ride hard and fast'. Go faster, cover more ground, ride off of the trail and in the roughest footing you can find.

Right here....it says to ride fast which teaches them to be afraid the next time he sees that object, which leads them to run. And as far as taking him in the roughest footing you can find, ill count on a broken leg. This to me seems assinine. But that is my personal opinion and how I was taught by many different trainers.
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#95 ·
I interpreted #4 as when a horse starts to get anxious and "sull up", not as it being afraid of any particular object. We've all been on the horses that, the farther away from home you get, the more and more tense and anxious and fearful they start to become - just at the situation in general and being taken away from home and its buddies, not because one particular thing is scary. This is when riding harder and faster really helps, as it gets the horses mind on moving forwards and back onto you. I utilize rough footing when a horse is being a real fool, but you're right, I am more careful so that it doesn't hurt itself.
 
#96 ·
I love this post. Very informative and IMOP You are absolutely 100% correct.

I expect obedience from my horses, dogs, and kids. I think what you said about confidence in the rider sums up most problems. Someone has to be the leader of the pack/herd/family and if you let the horse/dog/kid choose they are probably going to choose them, they always think their smarter.

Thank you for the post!
 
#99 ·
Yup!!

Same is true on the ranch. If I am running across rough pastures, crossing steep gullies and crossing the water in the bottom of them so that I can 'head' a bunch of cattle trying to get to the brush or trees, I am not going to pet and cajole my horse to go where I want him to. He is going to go because that is where I pointed his nose and asked for 'forward'.

Stopping and / or looking is NEVER an option for me. This is the riding and training style that I use for ranch horses, personal trail horses and for Police Horses. It is sure what I would also want for a cross-country horse. Stopping and checking out a solid fence while I was perched up there in a forward position is not what I would call 'acceptable'.

Horses go into smoke and riots, over huge fences they cannot see over, and into fast flowing water they cannot see the bottom of because they are ---

1) COMPLETELY OBEDIENT

2) COMPLETELY TRUSTING

This has always been our goal and it works very well. These horses are not being treated 'mean' or are 'mindless robots'. The people that think they are have just never ridden one. With our goal of complete obedience and complete trust, we get a horse that has 'no worries'. He KNOWS we will take care of everything. Nervous, un-confident, spooky, 'refusing' horses are most of all 'worried'. As a prey animal, they are supposed to be worried about them and the horses behind them when they are the leader. When you are the right kind of leader, they are not worried about anything. They are like the foal that blindly follows its mother into the swift river. The horses at the back of the herd are not worried about anything. They are following their trusted lead-horse.

I did not ride very many trail horses in groups of people until I figured out that the horse in the lead acts much differently that when that same horse is in the middle or back of the bunch. I have commercial trail horses now that are two different horses. They ride one way at the front of the pack and completely different in the middle or back.

This is why we train trail horses out by themselves. We want them to learn to trust their rider rather than the horse in front of them. It is often times more difficult to train a horse that has followed on a trail than one that has never been on a trail and is taken out by himself from day one.

The trick is learning to be that kind of leader.
 
#100 ·
This is why we train trail horses out by themselves. We want them to learn to trust their rider rather than the horse in front of them. It is often times more difficult to train a horse that has followed on a trail than one that has never been on a trail and is taken out by himself from day one.
Amen.

That's why, as soon as I learned the trail layout at the barn where I board, I started taking Calypso out by myself instead of always going with someone. And even when we go with others, I take turns leading so that Calypso doesn't freak out when she finds herself with no rump to follow. I also avoid riding nose to tail unless the trail demands so. As soon as we break out into a field or a pasture, we move away from others sideways and forward.
 
#102 ·
One of Cherie's posts describes step-by-step how she trains the "obedience & trust" into a horse, & that I find to be just "taking the time it takes" gradual development of the horse's trust by inching closer over time to the object (she said it can take 2 hours of going back & forth), so this is same as approach of the "relationship" folks. Cherie also said that she'll listen to her horse if it refuses to proceed on trail, giving snake experience as an example, so this is also same as approach of the "relationship" folks.

The bottom line is trust in the leader, & it's really not a matter of training trust into a horse; trust is earned, by showing consistently that one is trustworthy.

How does the alpha get that unquestioning, instant obedience? By being the best leader/making the best decisions.

Humans do well to remember that horses are aware of dangers that we aren't, "out there"; thus we are handicapped in our judgement & must listen to our horses.
 
#109 ·
The one thing in this post that I question is this: Humans do well to remember that horses are aware of dangers that we aren't, "out there"; thus we are handicapped in our judgement & must listen to our horses.[/QUOTE]

See I don't believe that is very accurate. Yes, horses can be very tuned in to their environment but don't forget there are horses being put down every day because of that hole in the ground they didn't see or the snake bite they never saw coming. My point is that they are not magical creatures, they can be just as fallible as people when it comes to risk assessment.

Also I don't understand why it keeps being insisted upon that we must listen to the instincts of a horse more than our own intellect and powers of reasoning. I don't understand why when we, as thinking, rational people who understand that an umbrella for example is not a threat, should be expected to put a horses mindless panic of an object it has absolutely no concept of, in the driving seat. This makes no sense to me. I am the leader because I know that that wrapped stack of hay is not a threat. I am the leader because I understand that an umbrella, flying plastic bag, dog barking behind the fence, are not threats. I am the leader because although I can't see it I know that that grunting sound is coming from a pig in a shed. Why would I let a horses irrational fear take charge?

I have established the role of leader by overriding my horses fearful instincts time and time again and she has never come to harm and now leaves the decision making to me very happily.

At the end of the day a horse doesn't have to understand what the hell that flying ghost thing was, they just have to trust that you as the rider KNOW it is not a threat.
 
#103 ·
Seventeen years ago when I found my then 8 year old QH mare, she is now 24 years old, I promised her verbally that I'd never ask her to doing anything to cause her harm. There had been a few times I nearly pushed that promise to it's limit. When we first became each others our first outings were on our country roads where we live. She tested me twice by spooking at nothing more than large rocks on the roadside. I just ignored the spooking and rode on as if nothing happened. After the second spook she never did it again at anything. That is the gospel truth. However, she never lost her spirit and was always ready for our next adventure with ears perked forward. When she felt good she would literally "ask" me to let her have a short lope by giving a small buck that never unseated me. I didn't want to lose that essence of her personality so I did let her go at a lope for a short distance. She always came back to me with no problem when I took her back to a walk.

Building a bond and trust with our horse is the most rewarding experience ever. Before I ever rode her we spent a lot of time on ground work and back to Basics 101.
 
#104 ·
Great post. One of the worst times I ever got bucked off was when a feed sack blew under the legs of a green horse I was riding. Now I desensitize my horses with a sack tied to bailing twine. It might not desensitize the horse to everything but if the horse does spook he will probably not spook as bad. Everybody does things a little different and it doesn't mean that what someone else does is wrong. What ever works. People are often too rigid in their ways and they lose out. For the most part if you have control of your horse's nose you have control of his mind. Ok. So which is it 35 or 49 years?
 
#106 ·
Great post. One of the worst times I ever got bucked off was when a feed sack blew under the legs of a green horse I was riding. Now I desensitize my horses with a sack tied to bailing twine. It might not desensitize the horse to everything but if the horse does spook he will probably not spook as bad. Everybody does things a little different and it doesn't mean that what someone else does is wrong. What ever works. People are often too rigid in their ways and they lose out. For the most part if you have control of your horse's nose you have control of his mind. Ok. So which is it 35 or 49 years?
@eliduc: Doing the math my QH Mare is 25 this year in March. My birth year is the other part of my username. Needless to say, I am an old-timer.
 
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