Double S Mustangs

I want you to imagine riding your horse along the side of the road, and you come across a piece of hose, a shiny can or plastic bag, it does not matter what the object is, just a “thing” and cars are driving by too fast on the road, you don’t want to try to navigate through traffic, or dodge a trash bag whipping in the wind; but instead want your horse to calmly walk over the offending item without balking, shying or jumping into traffic.

Working hand in hand with desensitization to flapping objects and loud noises, are ground obstacles (e.g. tarps, pallets, hoses, etc) and it is essential for safe riding. Getting your horses used to miscellaneous ground obstacles might seem like overkill; really, in what situation on the trail will you need to cross a tarp, or when will my horse need to walk through pool noodles? But it’s not about the obstacle, it’s about the confidence to cross the unexpected with minimal stress. So is that trash bag waterfall really necessary? 

I usually start with a just a railroad tie, or a cavaletti pole. Most horses are fine with walking over these and quickly build confidence, trust, and feet awareness. Then I move onto plywood sheets, tarps old mining belting or pallets (these are good for working with an up step and trailer loading) but you can use whatever similar items you have laying around. You can use this method while either in-hand leading or riding. Take your horse up to the item in question, if your horse wants to put their face down to feel and analyze the object, let them. Next you’ll get their feet moving, don’t ask for forward motion, just side to side. If you’re leading, you will be walking to the left and right quite a lot; your single goal here is to keep them from walking around your obstacle in a circle. While using the back and forth motion they will start to feel brave, and take a small step towards your obstacle. Stop and let them feel or move it around, if they lose focus and begin looking off at their mates across the corral, or the birds in the trees start moving their feet again. If they place a foot on it or try to paw, again let them do it and wait, let them find their way to mental safety or acceptance by licking & chewing to get their dopamine hit, but be prepared, they might decided to just jump over it and you don’t want them to land on you. Continue with this exercise until they will cross it both ways without a second thought.

Remi still hates tarps but will cross over them now. I started out letting her touch it with her vibrissae, or lips and it would crinkle a little bit and she would spook back. Once she was fine with touching it, she started pawing it. The first time she did, her hoof caught on it and she pulled it back, but the tarp came up with her. She was unprepared for that and started backing up, only to have it catch more on the back of her pastern and chase her. After that little episode, it took a couple days before she would try to approach it again. We had to start at -50 and work back up to zero. I gave her time and let her finish with a victory after each attempt. My advice when you are starting out is to make sure your tarp does not have any tears in it from working with other horses (thanks Ruger for chewing on it, that boy will put anything in his mouth). 

Now Remi crosses all sorts of things. She steps up onto stacked pallets, through tire mazes, into puddles, and jumps into trailers. Each time you can get them to conquer something, it will build confidence for new and unknown obstacles, “oh” they will think “that last thing didn’t kill me, maybe I can check this thing out”. They won’t actually say that because horses don’t think they same way humans do, but you get the picture.  Some horses are prone to spook, so once you learn what your horse has a tendency to do, you can be better prepared. Usually working them through something different and difficult will push the thrush hold of each spook further and further way, like the pain thrush hold in human. Maybe your worst pain was when you cut your arm open but then you break a bone. Now when you are asked about your “worst” pain level you have something new to compare it to, and the pain you are experiencing might have been a 8 before you broke your arm but now is only a 5.   

I used the exact same method on my thoroughbred filly Thaya, born domestic, her Reticular Activating System (RAS); how horses receive input from their surroundings: sound, sight, touch and emotional feel. Is already tuned low, she is less sensitive and less things will startle her, compared to say, a 10 year old mustang that has never seen humans. When I started in-hand work with her, she did not even bat an eyelash at tarps. “ok” I thought, lets see what will phase you, I had her carrying a tarp on her body, while walking over a hastily made obstacle course with bridges, tire moats, stone and log fields, bag waterfalls and plastic covered tunnels the same day.  The only thing that she paused at, was the tunnel, 30 seconds later she was through. Her RAS was so low she did not care about anything touching or flapping at her. When I started riding her, I found that the small down slope on the edge of the farm challenged her. When you are riding your horse, you do the same thing as on the ground. Split your reins so one is in each hand and low next to the withers or shoulders, keep it wide. Then apply leg pressure to one side and move them back and forth, let them put their heads down and discover as many times as they want, if they lift it up and lose focus, start moving their feet again. Repeat this exercise until they step, then walk across etc. Keep your patience and focus on what you are asking, start with small things and make it a game, “can I get the tip of the hoof to touch or move forward?” your horse will thank you later.  

My mom and I took Rose and Remi to the local fair ground not long ago, which happens to be next to a fishing pond and small creek. When we were working on getting them to cross the water Rose got a little jittery, to say the least. Earlier I had mention to my mom before we started, that she should be prepared to move out of the way if Rose decided to jump. Now my mom, Brenda has been working with horses for 40+ years and taught me a lot of what I know today, and sometimes she gets a bit cocky. About 2 minutes into the exercise Rose darling committed wholeheartedly and jumped about 3 feet into the middle of the creek and almost directly on top of my mom. A bit of chaos ensued, a lot of water was splashed around, and there were some frantic shouts from my mom, and uncontrollable laughter from me, before Rose decided that this wasn’t fun and she didn’t want to be in the creek after all, and promptly ran back out.