# Minimizing risk on a young/green trail horse



## ChasingDreams (Nov 14, 2017)

I touched on this is my journal today, but after more reading and pondering I've decided it might be a good topic to get some tips and tricks from experienced folks.

My horse is 3yo, but has been handled extensively and has had two rounds of professional training. First as a two year old and again a few months before coming to me. He's well started, responds well to leg and rein aids, is gentle and has a good head on him. But, I know that no matter how good and calm a green horse might seem...there is always a chance of something unexpected happening (reading someone's account of how her son was bucked off after his colt was startled by "breaking wind")

Most threads relating to green horses seem to have a horse that is spooky or fearful to start hence requesting help in working them through the fear response. But, what about the horse who is not naturally fearful? What ways do you get your young horses ready to go out into the world, safely? (Or as safely as possible) what things do you think a horse should absolutely encounter or master at "home" before hitting the trails?

My horse is not naturally spooky. I've had him out several times around the farm, he's done a couple side-flinches and has one time done the "pause and snort" before agreeing to walk on. But, I'm not daft enough to think he will be "bomb-proof" on busy trails at 3 years old. And there is a big difference between quiet farm fields and a busy public park with mountain bikes, hikers, dogs, etc. So essentially, assuming I know there will always be some risk of a blow-up...what things would you suggest absolutely be done before leaving home, to minimize that risk? I do have some ideas, but I also value collective wisdom and know there are things/exercises/tips/tricks that I may not have thought of.

Video links also welcome if you have favorites


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## Kaifyre (Jun 16, 2016)

Does he stop well? That's rule number 1 for me with riding out. I teach all my colts the one rein stop on the ground, then in the saddle, and it's something I use from ride 1 to stop a colt, then after the first week or two I'll start to use two reins to stop, but I like knowing that if I ever get into a hairy situation I can reach down and bend the colt's head around and he'll yield his hindquarters and shut down immediately. Spooking, bucking, rearing, bolting, whatever, it doesn't matter what the horse is doing when you have trained him and yourself the emergency brake - you can shut him down. Notice I said you have to teach the colt the one rein stop - don't think you can pick up on one rein when he's in the middle of a full out bolt and he'll stop nicely - he won't, unless he's been trained to. 

Aside from the one rein stop I don't really do a whole lot to prepare a colt for riding "outside" ... although that first time I make sure it comes after the colt has been being ridden for the last several days in the arena and is going well, then I'll either ride him in the arena in the morning and the trail in the afternoon, or just open the gate after a good ride in the arena and take off. Don't let him sit in a stall for 3 days pumped full of grain and then take him out, it'll be a train wreck. Set yourselves up for success, not failure. I do a lot of trotting and loping in the beginning. I like to get a horse moving out, on a loose rein, and loping a trail for a while does that pretty well. Also I've found that horses are generally less gawky and "looky" when their feet are moving right along. 

Don't just sit there though, use bushes and rocks to teach your horse to bend around things, do serpentines around objects, find a small ditch for him to step over or jump, logs to step over, etc. Keep his mind busy and he won't be looking for things to get scared of. And keep your eyes open - I'm always looking for potential monsters. Large oddly shaped rocks are Dreams' terror. If I see something that I think my horse might spook at, I will slide one hand down the rein and hold it there, ready to pull his head around in a one rein stop if he does anything stupid. If he doesn't, great, we keep on going, but even if he does, I don't make a big deal of it. Shut him down, maybe try to get him to smell it if he's not too scared, or if he's terrified just shut him down then when he's controllable, walk him off in the direction you were going. Don't Big Deal anything scary. Just get past it and continue on with the ride. 

-- Kai


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I can’t like unless I get on the actual computer, which is rare enough for me, so I just wanted to add that Kai had a great answer. Same goes here.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I am the odd one out here in that I never rode youngsters for the first time in an arena or home fields 

I would long rein them out and about, pony them from another horse so when they were ready to ride I would just get on them and rode them out on the roads and trails. 

I never sheltered them from anything, they saw tractors, ATVs, bicycles and anything else that was around. He dogs were also a great help as they would run around the horses when they were in the barns. 

The only thing I found that they would look at first time of seeing was white line markers written on the road.


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## ChasingDreams (Nov 14, 2017)

Kai, he does stop well normally. I never have issues transitioning down either. BUT, I've haven't had to contain a bolt or panic with him yet. I assume that the one-rein stop was part of his initial colt training, but it's a good idea to "practice" it before its needed.

Good tips!


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## Reiningcatsanddogs (Oct 9, 2014)

It sounds as though you have the most important element, which is a sound mind. 

The first trail ride Oliver and I ever went on, he had been in training for two months, recently gelded and it was an eventful ride. There were 13 riders all with different experience levels and riding skills. The trails were ungroomed paths through about 1000 acres of Texas ranch and forest. 

One rider brought her beagle along. At one point he went and flushed out some Jackrabbits right through the string. Oliver had never seen a jackrabbit that I knew of but, as three of them ran around and through his legs he just calmly walked on even as the dog sounded like a dying animal with his baying and also rushed past us in pursit. 

Then there was a huge snake that also made his way right through his legs. Then we encountered a rotting carcass right in the middle of the path and some vultures that weren't too keen on having their snack interrupted. Then the last rider in the string got bucked off her horse who then bolted right past us. 

Oliver stayed calm and in control through it all. I don't think it was anything in particular that we "trained" into him, just like Foxhunter mentioned, we just never sheltered him from anything, tried to expose him to everything. He had a good mind to begin with. 

Since that first ride he has had one major spook. A flock of doves flew out right at his face as we passed a juniper by. The tree was maybe 6-12" from his face. He practically sat down on his rear before jumping ten feet sideways and doing a 1/4 turn in the air until he faced the bush. I managed to stay on but, had we been on a cliff the results for both of us would have been bad. 

I did as Kaifyre mentioned have a one rein stop trained into him (and me) which probably kept him from bolting. 

A few things that we have encountered that I worried might make for a bad response: bikes, wild turkeys (their call makes him snort and get all sorts of nervous), garbage flying out of the back of a boat being hauled down the road we were riding on, cars honking (idiots), very loud engines, hikers with walking sticks, floppy hats, sunglasses and backpacks, jet skis on the lake, tents, flags and banners, a pack of rather aggressive barking dogs, plastic bags, full sized tractors with implements...

One thing my daughter encountered was a saddle that was too loose. She fell off with the saddle, ending up under her four year old who did as he was trained and stopped, saddle hanging and rider laying there, both under his belly. A lot of horses will panic and bolt or buck but, Caspian had been desensitized to both and did what he had been taught.

Another one that is important is training the horse to stand if his legs get caught on something. Sometimes there are old barbed wire fences you don't see until it is too late. A foot tangled in one with a horse in a panic pulling against it is not a good situation. Teach them to just stop and stand when foot tangled.

Another thing is voice cues. I LOVE the word "easy". Depending on how I use it, Oliver has learned that I either want him to slow (in concert with seat cue) his gait or watch his footing (fields of rock, mud, rocky river or steep hill). 

The long and short of it, think of what you can regarding what you may or may not encounter and try to train them to it as much as possible but, in the end, a sound mind and a good trained in emergency brake are your two most potent safety precautions.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Do you have a reasonable friend with a good trail horse who is willing to go out with you as a babysitter? I think having a calm experienced horse _and rider _for early outings is very valuable both for your own peace of mind and as an example for your horse. If you don't have a friend that fits this bill, do you have another horse you feel comfortable ponying from? That can also be a great way to expose your greenie to new things with a calm example.

If you have some choices in trails or outing locations, try to pick ones that slowly increase all the new factors so every thing that happens isn't new and potentially overwhelming. 

You can practice at home obstacles or situations that may worry green horses, such as walking over weird things (tarps, milk jugs with rocks in them, etc), having things touch their legs, sides and/or stomach, get them used to you taking your coat off and on or messing around in saddle bags, etc. My gelding really didn't like the sound of the velcro straps that held my water bottles to start with, so his life because full of ripping velcro until he decided he wasn't going to die. I was certainly happy I happened to find that startle while tacking up in the barn versus in an open field!


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

So long as I know that the green horse (1) STOPS and (2) STEERS without question, we hit the trails. 

I usually like to do the first couple rides with a buddy, if possible. They are often more confident that way. But you just have to ride them. That's the only way they gain experience. Yes, provided you've done your homework on the ground, of course, with desensitizing exercises. 

You cannot possibly desensitize a horse to everything they are going to come across, but it's just about teaching them to look for you for guidance if they get into a stressful situation, rather than just spooking. 

Also, with a green horse, my mental outlook is that something WILL go wrong. I prepare myself for it. I am not ashamed to hold onto my saddle horn if I think they are about to do something. Expect the worst, and hope for the best! ;-) I just don't let my guard down in the beginning. Now, I'm not riding around tense or anything (body is still relaxed) but I am always ready to ride out a spook, or a buck, or whatever it may be, while they are learning.


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## ChasingDreams (Nov 14, 2017)

Unfortunately, most of my riding is solo...I might be able to try ponying him. Although, I think he might be more steady than my pony horses haha. I have two other horses I can use... the mare is awesome in the ring but very herd bound so doesn't go out well on her own, gets very anxious. The gelding is better going out alone, I've ridden him out a few times, but he hasn't been worked much this year besides the few times I rode him and could use a good tune up (and I unfortunately don't have the time to train him AND my own horse) Hopefully once the weather warms up, some of the other boarders will be up for a group outing so that I'm not alone the first time we hit the busier trails.

I know I want to have him encounter bikes first at home. The trails we ride are very popular with mountain bikers. I thought I could bring one of my boys down with their bike and have them ride back and forth on the drive while Chase and I work in the adjacent pasture. And then eventually, when I'm sure he's not going to blow up, maybe have them ride a safe distance ahead and behind us on the drive. And then maybe have them ride past us while we stand on the side, from both sides and the front and back. But only with enough room that they won't be in danger of a kick. The real test will be when a biker needs to get by us on a narrow stretch of trail...

And besides that, I definitely plan to set-up some obstacles in the ring and do plenty of desensitizing with bags, tarps, etc. Velcro is an interesting one I wouldn't have thought of 



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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Bicycles are very spooky when coming from behind, they are silent, often approach out of their line of vision and suddenly they are there! 

We had a lot of cyclists around us, single track lanes so not a lot of room for a spook. 

I contacted a cycle club nearby and had them post a warning on approaching horses from behind, this was to just call out, "Bike behind!" The Horse realised someone was there and rarely ever bother to spook.


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## george the mule (Dec 7, 2014)

How do you make an "experienced" trail horse? You provide "experiences"; the more, and the more variety, the better.
The only thing I would add to what Kai and Beau have said would be to go out with an experienced team as often as you can while starting out. Horses, like most of us, learn by imitation, and following an experienced trail horse thru the scary parts is a great confidence builder / learning experience.


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## Reiningcatsanddogs (Oct 9, 2014)

I thought of another thing...water bottles. Not the hard plastic reusable ones, the cheap bottles of water that you get by the case. When you drink sometimes the plastic can make that crinkly sound as you suck the water out. 

My daughter took advantage of the fact her young horse is both curious and mouthy and used to let him "play" with her empty water bottle. After he got over the initial scary sound, he'd actually play with it, seeming to enjoy being able to make it crinkle loudly. (Of course she kept an eye on him to make sure he didn't do something dangerous like tear it or something). 

Beau is right that you can't think of everything though...Ollie doesn't baulk nearly at all but there was this one encounter we had just riding on a neighborhood road.

There were some boy scouts doing an outing at a property. As we rode closer on the road, we saw two boys sitting on a rock ledge above the grade of the road. It sounded like there were elephants in the Juniper brush (spooky enough on its own merit for some horses) and then out of nowhere, two more boys ran out of the brush and launched themselves off the ledge and into the road.

Oliver was like "Mountain Lions! Run!" using the one rein stop and disengagement I was able to keep him from bolting off and get him turned around to see that it was humans. Still, it had freaked him out enough initially (instinctual adrenaline dump) that he didn't want to continue past them. I asked the boys to speak so that he would know they were humans and not bush monsters. He eventually walked calmly past. 

You can't think of everything that will happen on the trail just work to build that trust with your horse so that when you encounter surprise "Flying Bush Monsters", you will be able to work through it. Spending time with your horse doing almost anything positive will build that kind of trust.


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## george the mule (Dec 7, 2014)

I will also add that _you_ are the senior member of your team, and it is very important to your horse, and for your safety, that you maintain your composure, no matter what is going on around you.
Stay there "in the moment", be aware of the world around you, and try to see it thru your horses eyes. Act to de-fuse a spook before it ever happens to whatever extent you are able, and let your calmness and confidence bolster your horse if/when he does get scared.
Not to preach, but this is just about your most important "job" as a rider. My $.02. Steve


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

All good ideas!! Only have one to add; sometimes just taking your horse for a walk (ponying him without the pony) the first time along the trails. You will get a good idea of any issues that come up. 

Ride for a bit in the arena, your normal workout, then get off and head out for a walk. He does ok, then next time ride him after the workout.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

ChasingDreams said:


> Unfortunately, most of my riding is solo...I might be able to try ponying him. Although, I think he might be more steady than my pony horses haha.


I hear ya, as I ride alone pretty much all the time. 

Also, where I board my horses, is right along a busy highway. There are quieter places to ride, but I HAVE to ride along the highway first to get to them. 

So what I did in the beginning when my Shotgun was younger, is I would hand-walk him the 1/4 mile along the highway, until I could get to wear it was a bit quieter and away from the highway, then mount up and ride. Then dismount again when we were on our way home and lead him by the highway. This was probably more for my confidence than his, but it made me more comfortable, especially since there was a very narrow area with steep ditch (and a culvert) that we have to get through. 

Since I do do lots of ground work at home, that's my strategy with a colt when approaching an object or area where I know they might not be confidence. I get off, and lead them through it. 



ChasingDreams said:


> I know I want to have him encounter bikes first at home. The trails we ride are very popular with mountain bikers.


Where I board, the other side of the highway has a paved biking path. So there are TONS of bikes going by all the time! And heck, even I don't hear them coming up behind us sometimes, so bikes is one thing I cut them some slack if they spook when one comes up behind us. 

So again, with that idea, you could hand-walk your horse along the trails first, if you feel like you would have better control while exposing him to bikes for the first time.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

You might spend a little time walking around the horse with an open umbrella. I did this in the pasture with the horses loose. People walking with large backpacks can be a bit unnerving to a horse. Our horses were a bit alert at first but soon realized it was only me with this odd object. My husband's gelding came up to inspect and upon discovering the object was nylon he followed me around licking the thing. He had a thing for nylon. He'd lick a nylon coat too. He must have loved the smooth texture.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

I started a 3 year old last summer. Put 13-15 rides on him. Didn't want to overdo it with a young horse. But I definitely want him to understand his job before he gets to be a big strong fully grown horse. Besides riding him, I took him along for a lot of ponies with my other horses. 

My colts get to run alongside their mares the first summer, I want them used to Logs, Rocks and streams long before I ever get on their backs. So when I actually do start riding them, we are working on what I want and not fussing with "I'm scared of water" and other nonsense.

I ride them a LOT by themselves. They need to develop courage and self-confidence. and following a group of horses does not build that.

We did a couple round pen rides and then headed out for a trail ride. This video is from my Gopro on his first ride. He did blow up. I was asking him to cross a half buried culvert. He was shying a little at the shiny steel pipe and just as he started to cross a ground squirrel ran out and the colt blew. He was ready to cross the pipe, But thesquireel was too much. We did 4-5 bucks, I pulled him around with a one rein stop and gave him a moment to relax and we were off and going a again. You'll notice I avoided the Bridge for his first ride and made him get his feet wet. If he is going to blow I'd want it on a bridge.


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## ChasingDreams (Nov 14, 2017)

@Painted Horse that's great... he did awesome with those bikes! Hopefully my first encounter is as uneventful. 

I didn't see the blow-up you mentioned in the video though? Unless I missed it lol


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## charrorider (Sep 23, 2012)

There are things one can do to minimize danger on a green horse. But all I've ever done is just make the horse comfortable with me, to look at me as if I were its dam. I ride Arabians, who have a reputation for being "spooky" and I ride them in narrow wooded trails, where deer, turkeys, or at other smaller animal can jump out of a bush in front of us at any time. They do the 'jump-n-freeze' and it doesn't go any further. But there is a man around here who's a third generation horseman and trains horses. He doesn't sell his horses as 'trail horses' until they have 200-300 miles of trail on them. I guess there's nothing like wet saddle blankets.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

Good to see you, Painted Horse! Thanks for taking us along. Your young horse did well! 


Charrorider, I have an Arab/Saddlebred mare who does the jump&freeze. Sure beats a rodeo.


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## charrorider (Sep 23, 2012)

Dustbunny. We, as riders, can help the horse by not screaming, puling tight on the reins, squeezing with our legs, etc. My late Annie would spook at a butterfly, or a lizard. It was amazing how suddenly she would change directions. I just used to joke with her and tell her, "Annie, one of these days you're going to dump me on my butt."


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

The blow up was not on that video. I just grabbed what was already on youtube.
I just uploaded the video with him blowing up . It's at 1:30 into the video. So just scroll forward till you find it.

You'll notice, That I didn't get all upset at him. Stayed calm and he calmed right down and proceeded to continue the ride. You'll notice I didn't press the issue with him, letting him return the way we had come to calm down. At the very end of the video, ( Which was 10 minutes later) we did cross that same pipe. This time he barely hesitated.

Another thing to point out. I take young horses on trails with lots of brush. I want them to focus on staying on the trail and not be thinking about having lots of space to run off in. With lots of brush and very defined trail, I find it's easier to keep them focused on moving forward. They don't want to get off the trail and have to fight all that undergrowth.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Painted Horse said:


> You'll notice, That I didn't get all upset at him. Stayed calm and he calmed right down and proceeded to continue the ride. You'll notice I didn't press the issue with him, letting him return the way we had come to calm down. At the very end of the video, ( Which was 10 minutes later) we did cross that same pipe. This time he barely hesitated.


It's amazing how many people would have said you "let the horse win" when you allowed your worked up horse to turn away from what was scaring him and backtrack to regain his composure. Its nice to see the video evidence that there is another way than to keep struggling at the problem spot. I suspect I know which technique the horse would pick..


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Nice videos Painted. 

A confident horse enjoying his start in life. 

Those horse eating squirrels are a real pain!


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

phantomhorse13 said:


> It's amazing how many people would have said you "let the horse win" when you allowed your worked up horse to turn away from what was scaring him and backtrack to regain his composure. Its nice to see the video evidence that there is another way than to keep struggling at the problem spot. I suspect I know which technique the horse would pick..


I was 5 minutes into this horses first ride. That's not the time to worry about who is winning or loosing. 10-15 minutes later we doubled back and crossed that same buried pipe and it was no big deal. Now with 15-20 rides on him. I'd probably spend more time getting him to cross the pipe if he ever refused. We've gotten past that first ride spookyness where he felt like he was on edge the whole ride.

You have to choose what the more important battle is that you want to win. I let him turn and not cross the pipe, That was the small battle, At that time in his first ride, being calm under saddle and keeping his feet moving was the larger battle.


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

ChasingDreams said:


> So essentially, assuming I know there will always be some risk of a blow-up...what things would you suggest absolutely be done before leaving home, to minimize that risk? I do have some ideas, but I also value collective wisdom and know there are things/exercises/tips/tricks that I may not have thought of.


For me the #1 thing before you tackle any new thing like trails or anything else, is making sure you can easily move those hindquarters both on the ground and under saddle. Until you can do that without problems, you're not going to be able to ask a horse to stop in a moment of panic because you don't have that basic step down. I can't look up videos at the moment, but if you want to send me a pm to remind me I can send you links when i get home.


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## ChasingDreams (Nov 14, 2017)

my2geldings said:


> For me the #1 thing before you tackle any new thing like trails or anything else, is making sure you can easily move those hindquarters both on the ground and under saddle. Until you can do that without problems, you're not going to be able to ask a horse to stop in a moment of panic because you don't have that basic step down. I can't look up videos at the moment, but if you want to send me a pm to remind me I can send you links when i get home.




Thanks for the advice! I have done a lot of groundwork with him, hindquarters was one of the first things he mastered. Under saddle he still needs some work with leg cues, he just doesn’t understand leg pressure all that well yet. He does have a good one rein stop though, I’ve used it a few times. Any good links to transfer fore and hindquarters yields to the saddle are appreciated


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