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"Horses That Kick On The Trail," from my FREE monthly newsletter

From the Trail Horse Training Series:

"Have you ever seen a red ribbon tied to a horse's tail? What does that ribbon mean? It means "Stay away from me. My horse will kick your horse."

Does that make you mad? Maybe it should. You've gone to a lot of time and trouble to train your horse, to teach it that it is never okay to act up or kick somebody else's horse – but the guy next to you with the ribbon skipped the whole process. The days you worked on gaining control over your horse, he spent going to the movies. You put in the hard work it takes to build a safe horse; they skipped the process entirely.

How about I take a rope and throw it at that red ribbon? Their horse might kick and it might buck. And it might make the rider turn around and say "What the devil did you do that for?" And I might just answer 'I'm telling your horse's butt to stay away from the end of my rope.'"

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From John Lyons Trainer Keith Hosman

Trailer Training Horses
A Downloadable Book

A sample from Day 4:

"Along this vein, a neat trick I learned from John and Josh Lyons is something you can do when you reach the point of being able to load "almost" the whole horse. More often than not, your horse will load "most of himself" the first times he plants all four feet within the trailer. He's in, but his butt is sticking out just enough that you can't close the door. To overcome this stalemate, begin placing the horse in the trailer for one second, then unload the horse and allow it to stand outside (nose pointed in) for another 59 seconds before reloading. The next time the horse goes in for two seconds, out for 58. Continue like this until you've build to a full minute. This helps because it really stokes in the horse the idea of "Let me just get on, already!" It also helps quell fear: Just as when you put on the saddle or mount up the first time, the horse has no idea if this is a "forever thing" so it's a good idea to slowly build toward your goal. When you've reached a minute and the horse is simply standing inside the trailer, calmly, go ahead and close the butt bar and trailer door, then open it again right away, pause and unload the horse. Put your horse back in for two minutes, off for one, on for three, off for one, etc. Get your horse on there for ten or twenty calm minutes and you'll be on the road, so' to speak."

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Available Downloads:
"Stop Bucking"
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"Round Pen First Steps"
"Trailer Training"

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"Please Don't Say JUST a Trail Horse"
By Bonnie Martin

Is trail riding the activity you best enjoy with your horse? If so, you are like the majority of horse owners in the U.S. It's a wonderful way to get out and see some country you might not be able to see from car or foot, plus it gives us a chance to have something fun to do with our horse once it has been well trained.

A common problem I see with many horse/rider combinations is that the rider seems to feel that "just" trail riding doesn't require a horse with much training. I contend that trail riders should be mounted on horses that have as much or more training as other horse endeavors require. Think about it. When you go out on a trail, you never know what you might encounter-it might include traffic, backpackers, rough terrain, strange animals, or a slew of other things that the horse might be not see elsewhere. You may be traveling on trails well away from road access and have only the horse to depend upon to carry you safely.

If you are mounted on a horse than only knows go and hopefully whoa, you are basically at the mercy of the horse to see you safely through the ride. You are not as safe as you should or could be. What happens if you need more than just go or whoa? It's not unusual to be in a situation on a ride where your horse might need to back up, move its body around an obstacle, turn around in a tight space, or even sidepass.

For starters, trail horses need to be comfortable enough not to get upset if their feet get tangled in brush or vines, need to respond to your request to move their body away from a tree that could knock your knees or head, be able to jump fallen trees that may block the trail, and not be worried about branches that may slap at them or be trimmed and fall on them. They need to be comfortable walking down banks, into water, and walking up steep inclines without rushing. A good trail horse is not dependent on the horse in front of it to set its speed or direction. There are many times when a rider needs to act independently of what the others are doing.

There are some horses out there that handle the trails basically without any guidance from their oblivious passenger riders and follow along doing what the others do, but there are many more good horses that need some rider guidance and help to make the ride enjoyable. This is where it is the human's responsibility to make sure that they have the training themselves to help support the horse in whatever situation comes up. "Just trail riding" should involve as much prior thought and training as showing, distance riding, or any other activity that someone might want to do with their horse. It's not an excuse for sloppy or non-existent horsemanship, and people should be proud to say I'm a trail rider-leaving out the word "just"!

Bonnie Martin and her husband own Gemara Farm Foxtrotters located in Barnesville, Georgia. They currently have nine fox trotters of their own and practice natural horsemanship in training them. Bonnie enjoys coaching others in natural horsemanship, doing a little showing, and especially enjoys trail riding. There are usually some fox trotters available for sale. http://www.gemara.homestead.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bonnie_Martin
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Next, I'd Read:

Recommended articles featuring the methods of John Lyons:

• Horses That Kick On The Trail
• Rider Checklists
• Ready for Your Next Spook?

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