Ground Work With Horses 2.0
With this challenge drawing closer to the end, I thought it would be good to revisit the importance of doing groundwork. Or ground work with horses 2.0 version. An important lesson I have learned thanks to Ethan, you can never do enough ground work with your horse. If your ground work is solid, your riding will be better. If you have done a lot of ground work with your horse, you will earn his respect, in time. When you’re having problems in the saddle, you need to go back to the basics, and do more ground work with your horse.
Why Ground Work?
Ground work with your horse is the first step to getting in the saddle. If your horse does not respect you from the ground, do you honestly think he is going to listen to you when you are up on his back? Let me answer the question for you, no, your horse won’t listen to you. And I can rephrase that, if you horse doesn’t trust you, he will not listen to you. Your horse is a herd animal and along with that, he needs a leader. You will be your horse’s leader. If he doesn’t respect you how will you be able to lead him?
By working with your horse on the ground you will help him, and in turn help yourself into being the best rider you can be.
Improving On What You Already Know
If you have been haphazardly working on your ground work, now is the time to getting more serious about it. Spend even 5 minutes of your riding time working from the ground before you get into the saddle. If there is something your horse is struggling with under saddle, a lot of times you can fix this by working from the ground.
This will help you to be able to actually enjoy your time in the saddle even more. It isn’t fun to have your schooling session turn into a battle of wits. So one up your horse, and get your lesson off on a good note by having a good ground working session before you even climb up into the saddle.
Ground Work Exercises
If you aren’t sure where to begin with ground work. I highly encourage you to watch some of Clinton Anderson’s videos on YouTube. He is a very gifted trainer that makes ground work easy and fun. And to get you started, here are some ideas that i have learned from watching him.
Desensitize
Get your horse used to your tools. The clinician style rope halter and 14 foot lead rope are fantastic tools for all of your ground work activities. I love the rope halter so much, I have not put a regular style halter on my horse in over 8 years. The stick and string is helpful too, because it acts as an extension of your arm, allowing you to reach your horse at a safe distance.
To desensitize your horse to the tools you need to literally throw the rope at your horse and beat the ground with the stick and string while your horse stands there with a bored look on his face. You also need to get him sensitive to the tools, and then after he does the right thing, you desensitize him again by rubbing him with the stick and rope.
Sensitize
Your horse also has to be sensitive to the tools in order to learn from them. So this may mean giving him a whack with the stick to keep him out of your personal space. This doesn’t mean you are beating him with the stick, that would be considered abuse. However, when he crowds you, or makes it unsafe, or is not listening to you a touch of the stick can let him know you mean business. A horse is a lot bigger and more powerful than a human, and he needs to learn respect for his human. That is what these tools will help you to achieve with your horse.
The knots on the rope halter are strategically placed to put pressure on sensitive areas when they are applied. And they also release the pressure the moment your horse gives the desired response.
There is a balancing act between sensitizing and desensitizing your horse. As a horse person, your job is to make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult along with learning the right amount of pressure to apply, and when to give the release.
It is a lot easier for me to see the different exercises being done, so here is a list of my favorite videos that I like to watch over and over again when I am looking for ground work exercises for my horses;
Having your horse stand still for mounting
Why to use a 14 foot lead rope
Training a rescue horse part 3
Training a rescue horse part 5
Each of these videos have been so helpful for me, and hopefully you can get some use out of them too.
Day 28 Complete
Well that was a close one for me. I try to have my posts out in the morning, but that didn’t happen today. I was still able to get it done though, so crisis averted! Don’t forget to do your plank exercise and cross of day 28, because you did it!
Try Something New – Day 27 Being A Better Rider
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