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This is about SAFETY not a how to!

3K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  QOS 
#1 ·
Long but serious...please share as my goal is to keep one rider from beining enjured this weekend...maybe you can too!

Unfortunately it has come to my attention that a lot of riders and or horses are not prepared to safely trail ride. This year I have ridden several times with some different folks who, although experienced horsemen, have had serious accidents. One horse went over a steep embankment (survived with minor injuries), rider bailed just in time but buddy sour horse tried to follow his buddy down. One rider’s horse tripped while galloping in uneven terrain, and two riders injured while trying to cross water, one is still in intensive care. Additionally, I’ve been around several other incidents that could have spelled disaster but luckily no one got hurt.

Although these are the ultimately the “riders/owners” fault, I asked myself are there any common denominators that are causing these problems. Remember that these are experienced horse people who have had these problems. On the other hand, my wife how has been riding for less than a year and her horse who was not an experienced trail horse, accompany me our weekly trail riding trips and she has never had a problem and she and her horse actually show off a little bit and she has become confident in her herself and her horse to travel across even the roughest terrain, and we have a lot in NM.

Common Denominator = horses were not prepared for trail riding in rugged or new terrain.

What caused this and how my wife and I got over/through/around these mistakes.

1st mistake = Owner/rider not educated/knowledgeable:
Horse owner does not have enough knowledge about what it takes to safely ride on new/ rugged trails.
My solution; I educated myself using a lot of info on this site like, http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/how-we-train-fearless-trail-horse-99776/ . Knowledge for a horse comes from training… learning that he can to it and that it’s ok. *Note: most people on this forum are knowledgeable or trying to gain knowledge. It is the people who aren’t on this board that need this info before they ride out on the open prairie or mountains!

2nd mistake = Owner thinks he has knowledge or thinks any good horse can trail ride:
Owner doesn’t train horse specifically for trail riding and assumes since the horse is great in the areana, can ride around the local trails, cross the same log and creek a couple times a month his horse is ready.
My solution; the more I learned the more I sought to learn….try to learn by knowledge and other people’s experience.

3rd mistake = Owner has knowledge but not enough and/or lacks experience AND thinks any good horse can trail ride:
Owner and horse get in over their head….go from basics to advanced without incremental steps or owner has info but has not passed knowledge/experience on to horse. For example horse crosses blue tarp in arena and doesn’t flinch when green tarp is waved in front of him. Horse freaks out over blowing bag on trail and won’t cross narrow brook in meadow. What does it take to make a good trail horse…TRAILS and lots of them. Start slow and go longer and harder as you and your horse gain experience.
My solution; Boarded my horse at ARA (http://acaciaridingadventures.com/) where horse and rider were trained by experienced trainer who specialized in extreme trail riding. Used this info to train my wife’s horse.

4th mistake = Horse not in shape or ridden enough.
My solution: We ride horses at least 3 times a week on trails/by roads even though we have plenty of trails, and in town. Ride each horse at least once a week by himself. What does it take to get a horse in shape...miles and lots of them!

At some point you have to learn by your own experiences...start slow and keep challenging yourself and horse ever so slightly.

For safety’s sake, before you go on any extended/serious trail rides please ensure that you and your horse are ready!

What a horse must be able to do to safely trail ride (safe for himself, his rider, other horses and riders):
· Have a solid foundation in the basics, how to go forward calmly at the walk, trot and canter, how to stop, back up, turn on the forehand and the haunches; and leg yield
· Load unload in trailer with little encouragement
· Tie out to trailer and on trail
· Handle normal issues at trailhead, cars, other horses spooking, bikes, hikers, ect.
· Ride out / back safely with little encouragement (He must be able to safely ride back alone)
· Be able to ride in a mannerly way with unfamiliar horses even when they are acting up or nervous
· Cross normal obstacles with relative ease (water, bridges, inclines, logs, animals, bikes, 4 wheelers, hikers, ect)
· Ride on roads and in traffic if needed (sometimes the road is the quickest way home)
· Rider must know how horse reacts when/if spooked. At worst should spook in place…if he bolts leave him at home.
· Be in good shape for the distance covered.

What a true trail horse (fearless trail horse) should due to be safe in all situations (at least one horse in the group should be able to do all of these tasks at a high level).
· Obedience, does what he istold and horse listens to rider and ignores anything new or scary
· Load unload in any trailer
· Tie out quietly for extended periods of time both at the trailer and on trail
· Be in great shape and should be able to cover more ground than what is called for
· Remain calm when all hell breaks loose (Looks to rider to get him out safely)
· Cross all possible obstacles even if new (narrow bridges, confined spaces, fast or deep water, aggressive animals, unusual noises, load dirt bikes )
· Willingly ride out / back alone without his buds (He must be able to safely ride back alone)
· Ride with unfamiliar horses even when they are severely acting up or nervous
· Ride as trail lead or drag, go where other horses won’t
· Ride in towns, parades, on or along roads without spooking
· Know what he’s doing and should like it…He’s going on a trail ride and he should know what to expect.

Remember every ride is a training ride so if you see and obstacle on the trail or around the barn take advantage of it….you might need to cross it for real later.

Happy Trails….and please be safe!
 
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#2 ·
Let me add...if you have an experienced trail horse, TRUST your horse. I ride a lot off trail and I know if our lead mare stops, it is because there is something unsafe ahead. She's kept me out of more half buried old cattle barb wire fences than I can count.
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#3 ·
PaintHorseMares,

The more experience your horse has the more you can TRUST his judgment…and you should trust his judgment.

On one occasion my horse was following the lead horse when all of a sudden he stopped in the middle of the trail and refused to go forward….as I began to apply pressure a bear jumped up and ran across the trail and into the forest. Lead horse jumped around… rocky just watched and started moving forward again like nothing had happened. On another occasion after visiting his favorite watering hole Rocky refused to go forward…even after applying pressure. This was on an easy trail that we frequently ride on. Since this area has both Bears and Mountain Lions…I realized he sensed something and we turned around and rode on some other trails heading in the opposite direction. Next time I rode there he acted like nothing had happened. Obviously something was there that he found very threatening. I trusted his judgment and avoided a possible incident. Oddly, my sons horse who was on his second ride in the mountains and was still green and skittish never flinched...because he didn’t have enough experience to even realize the threat of danger!

by the way, my horse is a Paint....you can see him at: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-conformation-critique/he-aint-perfect-but-hes-mine-224282/
 
#5 ·
Very good post
I think there is too much of a 'well we only trail ride' attitude amongst people
Cheries post that you quoted laid out really well how important it is to train a trail horse - its no less important than training a horse in any competitive sport because you are at a lot more risk the moment you venture out of that arena or any other enclosed area.
We were watching Mark Rashid at a clinic last year when he openly berated the owner of a horse because she thought it was OK to drag it out of a field once a week and ride it all day long on a trail ride then wonder why it didn't ever want to be caught.
 
#7 ·
We were watching Mark Rashid at a clinic last year when he openly berated the owner of a horse because she thought it was OK to drag it out of a field once a week and ride it all day long on a trail ride then wonder why it didn't ever want to be caught.
Mark was very disrespectful then IMO.

Some people don't have a silver spoon to feed them and the only time they have to ride is on the weekend....because they work....have kids....church...or other responsibilities that requires their time.

I only ride on the weekends, except for when I'm on vacation. My horses are always ready to go, load in the trailer without issue and go all day in the mountains, and then do it again on Sunday. They've been out 20 weekends this year.

My horse is "just a trail horse", because that's all I want her to be.

Is my horse perfect? No, but neither am I.

You get out of it what you put into it. I wish I had time to ride everyday but I don't. In the mean time, I make do with what time I've got and often don't do things I need to do in order to do what I love, and that's ride my horse on trails in the mountains with my wife and friends.
 
#6 ·
I dunno... To me it seems as though there's quite a bit of "can't get there from here" in that list. Sure, a perfect trail horse should be all of those things, but how do you get there without taking the horse out on trails to get experience? Some things you can arrange, or simulate, but how do you desensitize a horse to bears, mountain lions, low-flying military aircraft (all of which we've encountered in the last year), or other unpredictable stuff in a controlled environment?

Take trailering for instance. When I first started riding Ellie, a bit over a year ago, she did NOT want to get into the trailer. Had to have her on a lunge line running through the tie bracket inside the first few times. Gradually she got better, 'til now I almost think I could just say "Ellie, get in the trailer", and she would. But if I had waited until she was at that point before trailering out, she never would have learned that riding is fun, and I would have missed a lot of rides, and opportunities for training (both of us) on other trail stuff.

And how do I train her to load in any trailer, when we only have the one?
 
#15 · (Edited)
Take trailering for instance. When I first started riding Ellie, a bit over a year ago, she did NOT want to get into the trailer. Had to have her on a lunge line running through the tie bracket inside the first few times. Gradually she got better, 'til now I almost think I could just say "Ellie, get in the trailer", and she would. But if I had waited until she was at that point before trailering out, she never would have learned that riding is fun, and I would have missed a lot of rides, and opportunities for training (both of us) on other trail stuff.

And how do I train her to load in any trailer, when we only have the one?
Do what you did for the trailer on all of the trail riding things a horse needs to do. They don't have to be perfect...just safe...you have to know how they handle/react to things and constantly improve. Riding with experienced horses helps. Your right you can't just wait till they can do everything perfectly...they have to learn from experience. Sounds like your doing exactly right with you and your horse.....I was targeting folks who don't ride their horses on trails much and then take them out to the mountains and expect them to be great trail horses.

I live in an area with a lot of trailers ..... so I asked some neighbors if i could load my horses in there trailers and they said yes...so I rode my horses over and practiced...i used approx five trailers and it took about five times before they would just jump in any trailer....then took my horse to a friends to ride and he jumped right in their trailer.....but horses being horses didn't want to load in my trailer when we got back...ugh!
 
#11 ·
I agree...we have 20 acres that my horses have full run of and they are all in great shape..i can take my mare after really light riding all winter and hit the trail in the spring and not miss a beat..we ride all day too, stop for lunch and go, my mare still meets me at the barn when I whistle regardless of how far out she is, she loves it!! I too am a weekend worrier :D riding that is done during week is usually tune up or fine tuning..
 
#12 ·
We feed and groom our horses twice a day, so even though we're not riding them during the week we still spend a fair amount of quality time with them.
 
#13 ·
Takes lots of time and effort getting a horse trained for the trail. Lots of miles. Biscuit and I rode 530 miles year before last and only 365 last year. This year is pretty pathetic but we are getting there. I am not having the trouble catching in in the pasture anymore because like my buddy said - you have to be smarter than the horse. I show up with the trailer and Biscuit is like "uh....dang...I'd rather stay here with Sarge and eat grass". Now I walk down to his pasture - he can't see the trailer and he is a happy camper and loads like a dream.

Working on making my horse a top notch trail horse - he skittered at two 4-wheelers yesterday and went into giraffe mode. Had I not just had surgery I would have stayed on. I got off and walked him. I may have to take him to my cousin's and let her hubby ride around the pasture on their 4 wheeler to get Biscuit over those jitters. I try to always listen to my horse when he goes into giraffe mode...dang...is it a snake, hogs, a dog? I listen and trust him and he is trusting me.

Love all the "what it takes to make a good trail horse". It is not for all horses or all riders!
 
#16 ·
my husband has a friend who's wife has "barrel horses" and one "trail horse" that in the 8 years I've known them have not left their small dry lot areas. every year they'd take the one they called the trail horse out to use to pack his bosses hunting party into a very rugged area over hear to hunt and every year that horse would blow up....then they would all be so surprised! :? these are not my friends, the wife years ago made it clear she felt she and her well bred horses were better then me and my lowly trail horses....I informed her what I thought of the neglectful treatment she gave to her well bred horses with the lack of exercise she gave them and their inability to exercise on their own...We don't speak :lol:
 
#18 ·
I had the opportunity to walk Biscuit up to a 4 wheeler! They were heading right for us and Biscuit was going into giraffe mode. The boy on it stopped the engine and I told him Biscuit was a little afraid. Biscuit scooted over to the other side of my cousins horse. Once the machine was off I walked him up to it and gave the two kids on it a treat to give to Biscuit. I thought it was a great training opportunity for him to see that 4 wheelers don't have to be chasing him! The more a horse can be exposed to different machinery or situations the better. You never know what is going to pop up on a trail! Could be hogs, dogs, alligators, heavy machinery, backfiring vehicles, a walmart bag! Biscuit isn't really skittish on the trail thank God!
 
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