One of my favorite tools to use for a “spooky” horse is a good ol’ bag of cans and a lasso. When I feel like I’m hitting a wall while riding a horse that just can’t seem to stop overthinking about everything around them, i try this approach to give them something else to think about. I can get a horse to be pretty resilient in a lot of different areas but sometimes a stick cracks in the wrong direction in the distance and your horse can’t help but spook as their natural flight response kicks in. This specific Friesian is only 6 years old, which makes him about a 3 year old in quarter horse years; I have to give him a lot of grace and patience as he becomes more confident and soft while riding & working with him. He’s meant to be a trail horse and it’s my job to do my absolute best to make him as safe and broke as possible for the owner.
Things I make sure a horse knows BEFORE I ever use this type of exercise:
1.) The horse has to understand pressure, and how to move away from it, not into it when it’s scared. This also ties right into correct lunging and moving away from pressures from the ground.
2.) This is a big one, the horse has to completely understand my space and safety bubble on the ground. Even if something is scary, they better know how to spook AROUND me, and not over top of me.
3.) I personally NEVER tie something that could be scary to a horse unless they’re beyond dead broke, but even then, it’s a rare instance that I’m tying anything to a horse besides a lasso/saddle bags/hanging bridle/etc. In this instance, I never attach the rope to the saddle, it’s always looped over the saddle horn or across the saddle, so in case the horse does come unglued and starts running scared or blind, I’m able to easily flick the rope off to avoid an accident or getting the horse hurt. It’s a fine line in this exercise of knowing when to push and when to back off.
4.) I make sure I’m comfortable with a rope and the weight of the can
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✨Echo is slowly growing up✨
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Echo “Learning the Ropes.”
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Sometimes you’ve just gotta stop and let the wind blow back your hair ✨ 😆🥰
