Taking Your Horse Out On The Trail

Day 15 Confident Rider Challenge

Taking your horse off your property can be scary. And riding your horse down a trail, well that can be even scarier. Especially if you have never done it before. Enter exhibit A: Ethan. I have officially owned Ethan for 3 years now. And in those 3 years, I have never taken him on the trails that are right at the back of our property. I know, that’s a sad, sad thing. But that all changed today.

I have been working Ethan every day in the area he and I are both used too. There is nothing that alarms him. It’s the same arena every single day. And one thing that I have been wanting to do is take Ethan on the trails behind our house. So today, I decided to do it. I stepped out of my (and Ethan’s) comfort zone and took him out to the back of our unfenced property.

I thought about it, and he is very responsive to his halter, and to me. He respects my space, and he is easy to redirect with a task if he gets nervous. And we both needed a change of scenery. So instead of going to the arena, I opened the gate and we went out back.

Baby Steps Lead To Courageous Steps

At first he was concerned, because he has never gone out that gate before. Even though its right next to their back pasture, it was like he had never been here before.

My husband and I have been working on clearing a path down to the trail. And there were a couple of things I noticed as we made our way down that made me a little nervous, but I think I was overthinking things. Ethan didn’t seem to mind too much as he made his way down the little hill.

And when we got down to the open area of our property, and the trail I let Ethan nibble on the grass as I decided what I was going to do with him. He wasn’t flighty, or spooky. He was just curious. He listened to everything I asked him to do.

He didn’t get pushy or disrespectful.

He listened to me and did as I asked.

Walking On The Trail IS Fun

And after a little bit of groundwork and lunging I decided it was time to go further away from home and go down the trail. And Ethan handled it like a champ. He did give a few looks hear and there, especially when he saw something he hadn’t seen before.

We walked about a ½ mile away from our home, did some bending exercises and some backing up before we went back toward home.

And then when we got to a nice open area, we did some more lunging and circle work.

And then he got a moment to relax and enjoy some of the grass. He didn’t call out to Frisby once. Even though Frisby was calling out for his missing friend. And he walked back home calmly, like he had done it a hundred times.

And even though he did incredibly, and this would have been an excellent stopping point, I decided to make him work a little more. We went back home, and I made him work on trotting and cantering on the lunge line for about 15 minutes before we ended for the day.

The biggest takeaways I got from today were; it’s fun to do something different, my horse does trust me to look after him, and having a plan of what to do with my horse.

We Are Always Learning

Yes, we could have done the same thing we always do which is go out to the arena and work. But right now, I want to push myself, and my horse out of our comfort zone. I want to see what he will do and challenge him to see how he reacts to new situations. This is easier done from the ground, in my opinion. Which is why having access to trails is incredible.

Not only did we do something different, but I reached way out of my safety zone. And everything was ok. Nothing bad happened, and Ethan got a little bit of experience leaving home.

Taking Your Horse Out On The Trail

So hopefully this makes sense to you. Hopefully you are able to take your horse to a new area, and do some groundwork. And if you have been working with your horse every day, and you are able to go off property, you will see an improvement. I also think you will so just how beneficial groundwork really is. And if you are not sure of the importance of groundwork, check out this article. It should help clear things up!

Daily Challenge

I am sure you know where this is going…Today I  want you to take a big step out of your comfort zone. If you can take your horse off your property, do it. If you have a trail system, or dirt road you can walk your horse, take him for a walk. If you have been working with your horse every day of this challenge, I would be willing to bet he will be just fine. But if you are to nervous to take him out of the confines of his barn area, try to find a new place that you can take him to work. Get him out of the same area, and try something different today!