The Tale of Two Pals

Why "Playing" with your horse is Important

This week was so beautiful! There was barely any wind, just a blue sky and some serious sunshine! I took advantage of this weather at one of my riding lessons on Thursday night. 

You might see these photos and think, Well why would I ever want to make my horse do that? Well here is why. 

(Jessica & Allegro on top of a large mount of dirt) 

Picture this, You are out riding with some friends on a beautiful summer day, as you go through the trees your horse is finding his way around the stumps and you are having a blast. Then you come across this little creek. Your horse has never been ridden through a creek before... but you think what the heck. Everyone else goes through no problem but your trust mount takes one look at the water and says NO THANKS! You push and prod, then after 10 minutes you pull as you're standing in the water saying "look how nice the water is!" But no luck. 20 minutes later your group decides to give up and take a different route. (Yes I am speaking from experience).

Now I am not trying to say that you can prepare your horse for every possible situation, But there is something you can do. Develop Trust. 

The thing about building trust, is you also need to have respect. For by this time Jessica has taken 1 month of lessons where she has been catching, grooming, doing groundwork and riding, all the while earning the respect of the horse she is working with. 

(Pictured here is my student Jessica encouraging Allegro to go through a trench) 

When we came out here, for the most part Allegro was happy to do everything that we asked of him. He crossed the bridge, he trotted over poles, went through the trench, But when she asked him to do a little more? He said no thanks! After some guidance and a lot of persistence, applying the things that she had learned in her previous lessons, she was able to get him through. 

The reason that this kind of activity is an important part of your riding and training, is that you are giving your horse the opportunity to say excuse me, for all I know there is a pit of rattlesnakes in that trench and I DO NOT want to go down there... To which you respond, Well there is not, now toughen up and get through it. In my experience, if you have laid the proper foundation, you will find yourself with a horse who will do anything for you! 

It took some convincing, But  Allegro did get in the water, and we had an absolute blast!  This was a first for us both and I am so lucky to have such a willing partner that makes riding fun! -Lindsay