The Picketing Option
From Camp to the Wilderness
By Nancy Slater
2 Star Parelli Instructor
ACTHA Monthly | 40
Wouldn't it be nice if you had a safe way to keep your trail horse overnight when you go camping in the wilderness? Picketing is an option when there are no stalls, pens, trailers, or trees to tie to. With a prepared horse, it can be a great way to keep him contained.
For those of you who practise the Parelli Natural Horsemanship Method, you'll have a jump on the prep part. In Level 2, one of the exercises is to lead your horse by a foot. In
Parelli, horses are taught to learn new habits and skills to get them more in a thinking frame of mind instead of defaulting to prey instinct. In the Parelli Program, patternizing horses to respond VS react, helps them become partners. Also, knowing if your horse is a natural left brain or right brain horse will help with training him. Left brain horses are more calm and sometimes dull, requiring motivation, while right brain horses are more spooky and sometimes bracy, and require extra time to think. No matter what your horse's Horsenality is or what you do with your horse, try to prepare him for worst case senario, and your journey will be a smooth one.
To prepare your horse to picket, it helps if you have him haltered and contained in a safe work area like a round pen. Put another soft, thick lead rope folded in half around a front foot and rub the rope back and forth, up and down, as a friendly massage. If your horse has trouble with the farrier or being touched around his feet and legs at all, you have a lot of friendly massaging to do!
Use a Carrot Stick training tool to rub his legs and keep your distance. Panicky prey animals do not picket, so this must be a non-issue. STAY SAFE AND
USE CAUTION.
Start again, and now you can add a steady increase of pressure on the foot rope if the horse doesn't respond, just making the horse uncomfortable enough to be thinking about how he can get relief. If he leans towards you or steps forward a little, release your pressure immediately, smile and rub your horse.
You need to be focused on providing comfort and discomfort. There can be no confusion: If the horse gives, you give.
Nancy