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32 / Sport and Trail Magazine
popular item in Mountain Trail shows/challenges these days is to get off and onto a dismount obstacle in the water. Here on some tips to be successful and some tips from a judge perspective. riders have an obligation to protect our horses to the best of our ability. Over the years I have noticed that some riders have horses who go along for years without any serious injuries while other riders seem to have horses that are constantly hurt or always are sustaining injuries or have some sort of health-related issue. As the years have flown by the facts begin to add up and I realized that there is a common thread for both groups of horse owners and why one group of horsemen seem to have a higher rate of problems. First these are all general facts for all of us who have horse understand that a horse can injure itself out of the blue without any reason that we can find but I am talking about is lowering the odds that your horse will sustain injuries from the discipline of Mountain Trail.
Dismounting and Mounting from a Rock in the Water
By Mark Bolender
water. Here on some tips to be successful and some tips from a judge perspective.
The first skill that you must master is to have the horse walk into the water with boldness and confidence. If they are not comfortable in the water they will want out. So make sure that the horse is water broke.
The second skill that you need to master is having the horse stand when it is asked. This sounds simple but it is the number one problem that I see. While judging the National Mountain Trail show in Italy at the Verona horse show in November the greatest problem that getting off and on the rock was the horses would not stand where and when they were asked. You need to train the horse that when you ask it to stand that it means to stand NOW. Once that skill is established you can walk into the water and stop next to the dismount obstacle. Practice having the horse stand next to the obstacle while you are on it. If you need to get a magazine and read a page to allow the horse to relax then do it. We are always in such a rush that we never have time to teach the horse to relax. Once the horse is content to stand for a few minutes without moving then ask the horse to move forward and walk a circle around the dismount obstacle. Do not try to ride a small circle at first and do not allow the horse to touch the obstacle. Often this will hurt the horse and then it will be afraid to get close to the obstacle later on. Once the horse will walk a number of circles around the obstacle in the water in a nice circle without stopping then end the training session. The next training session should be to walk the horse into the water without stopping and circle the rock and stop. Now begin to work on having the horse stop parallel to the dismount obstacle. Once it is content to stand parallel for a few minutes at a time then proceed to walk a nice circle around the rock. Do not try to get a small circle at this point. You only want to have nice smaller circles around the rock and a horse that is content to stand parallel to the dismount obstacle. When the horse is content to stand parallel to and walk around the obstacle then end the training session. The next session should have the horse to walk a small circle around the obstacle without a change of speed or a consistent cadence. That means the horse should not stop but move forward in a nice manner. At this point the horse should be walking into the water without stopping and stand next to the obstacle where and when asked. The horse should then be able to walk a nice tight circle around the rock and stop where it was asked when
BUILDING CONFIDENT TRAIL HORSES
ONE OBSTACLE AT A TIME
to deal with an adverse situation or skills to
navigate a new obstacle. The question now is
how riders get the skills to lower the risk of
injury.
While judging the National Mountain
Trail show in Italy at the Verona horse
show in November the greatest
problem that getting off and on the
rock was the horses would not stand
where and when they were asked. You
need to train the horse that when you
ask it to stand that it means to stand
NOW. Once that skill is established
you can walk into the water and stop
next to the dismount obstacle.
Practice having the horse stand next to
the obstacle while you are on it. If you
need to get a magazine and read a
page to allow the horse to relax then
do it. We are always in such a rush that
we never have time to teach the horse
to relax. Once the horse is content to
stand for a few minutes without
moving then ask the horse to move
forward and walk a circle around the
dismount obstacle. Do not try to ride
a small circle at first and do not allow
the horse to touch the obstacle. Often
this will hurt the horse and then it will
be afraid to get close to the obstacle
later on. Once the horse will walk a
number of circles around the obstacle
in the water in a nice circle without
stopping then end the training
session. The next training session
should be to walk the horse into the
water without stopping and circle the
rock and stop. Now begin to work on
having the horse stop parallel to the
dismount obstacle. Once it is content
to stand parallel for a few minutes at
a time then proceed to walk a nice
circle around the rock. Do not try to
get a small circle at this point. You only
want to have nice smaller circles
around the rock and a horse that is
content to stand parallel to the
dismount obstacle. When the horse is
content to stand parallel to and walk
around the obstacle then end the
training session. The next session
should have the horse to walk a small
circle around the obstacle without a
change of speed or a consistent
cadence. That means the horse should
not stop but move forward in a nice
manner. At this point the horse should
be walking into the water without
stopping and stand next to the
obstacle where and when asked. The
horse should then be able to walk a
nice tight circle around the rock and
stop where it was asked when you
asked. A stop means just that. No
moving of the feet for as long as you
ask.
So we now have a horse that will walk
into the water and stop at the
dismount obstacle in a relaxed
manner on a loose rein. It is now time
to get off onto the dismount obstacle.
Here is the procedure that I want to
see. Grab the rein and tip the nose
slightly to the left and then grab the
mane with the left hand. Grab the
saddle horn or front of the English
saddle with the right hand and then
swing your right leg over and step onto
the dismount obstacle. The last step
is to then take your left foot out and
place it upon the obstacle. Stand for
a few minutes and pet the horse and
then remount the horse and let it stand
there for a few minutes. The session
should end at this point. Now we will
come back and repeat what was just
done but this time we will ask the
horse to walk around the rock and stop
parallel to the obstacle while you
dismount. Now you need to teach the
horse to walk around the rock without
stopping or maintaining a nice
cadence while you stand on the
obstacle. Once they are relaxed and
consistently stopping parallel and on
que then mount back up. The mount
up should be just in reverse of the
dismount. Grab the mane with the left
hand and rein while tipping the nose
slightly to the left while grabbing the
saddle horn or front of the saddle.