Working Online And Introducing The Saddle

In the last issue we finished by introducing and correctly fitting the halter, so now we can begin to work with the horse online.

As everything we do with our horse on the ground is going to be transferred to when we ride, having a horse understand the feel of the halter and lead and knowing how to follow that feel softly is essential. How many times do we hear the saying “my horse has a hard mouth”? It’s a fair bet that same horse will be hard and resistant when we work with him on the ground. In fact it’s probably not the horses mouth that’s hard, but his attitude. So if we work online and achieve softness through the halter and lead on the ground we will have gone a long way towards softening our horse in all other areas.

Using angles to help the horse learn to lead

When teaching a horse to lead, the quickness of our release is the most important ingredient. We can stand in front of our horse slightly off to one side and take up the feel of the lead rope. If the horse resists we need to hold the feel but not pull as this will only cause more resistance. Hold the feel until the horse gives (which may only be an inch or so), and then release immediately. Timing is critical here as not releasing quickly enough means the horse won’t get the immediate reward for doing the right thing. Ask for a little more each time until your horse understands to move forward to get release on the lead. Standing slightly off to one side rather than directly in front of your horse will make this task a little easier for your horse to learn. Once your horse learns to follow the feel of the lead you can ask him to move around you in circles, between you and objects or over jumps. The possibilities are endless, only limited by your imagination.

Using the lead to improve communication to all parts of the horse.

You can use the lead and the principles of feel and timing to work with other parts of your horse. For example with an unhandled horse, you might choose to pick up your horses feet by making a loop at the end of the lead and placing it around your horses fetlock. Then you can lift the horses leg using the lead.

You can check the softness of your horse and your level of communication by standing in front of your horse off to the side a little about four feet down the lead, and ask your horse to move just one front leg laterally. Try this until you can ask for a whole circle with the hind-legs relatively still and the front legs stepping around and crossing over laterally.

Using feel and timing to help the horse yield to a feel.

When we ride we’ll want our horse to be able to move away from the pressure of our legs and hands, so in this exercise we’ll teach our horse to yield from pressure in various part of his body to prepare for when we we’re on his back.

To yield your horses forequarters, stand beside your horse with your bellybutton facing towards the horses eye. Rub your horse before you start. Stand straight and tall with energy in your body and with one hand holding the side of the noseband and the other resting on the horses neck apply gentle pressure on the nose until your horse takes a step to the side. Immediately reward the horses try by stopping and standing relaxed and giving the horse a rub. If the horse does not respond from gentle pressure you may need to increase the pressure in four stages until he takes a step. (These four stages are called phases and mimic the behavior of horses when interacting with each other).

Reward immediately and start again, asking for a little more try from the horse each time until you can complete a full circle with the hind legs remaining relatively still and the front legs walking around in a circle. If you need to go to a high phase (phase4), be sure to stop and start again giving your horse a chance to respond on the first phase of gentle pressure. During this exercise, look for the horses leg which is closest to you to step across in front of the other leg, and the leg that’s further from you to step laterally and not forward. This will ensure the horse remains in a submissive frame of mind and does not become defensive.

The same principle is used to yield the hindquarters. Stand beside your horse with your bellybutton facing the horse’s hip. Using the lead rope, ask you horse to turn his nose slightly towards you.

Using gentle pressure place your other hand near your horses flank and apply pressure until your horse step laterally. The hind leg closest to you should step in front the other one. In this exercise the front legs should move only minimally and the hindquarters should step around in a circle.

Using this method of increasing pressure (phases), we can teach our horse to move virtually any part of his body. Backing up from the nose or chest, lifting his legs, moving sideways or lowering his head are just a few.

Introducing the saddle

When first introducing the saddle you might try leaving your saddle on the ground near where you are playing with your horse. Keep him busy for a while and then let him stand and rest near the saddle. Do this several times and it won’t be long before he starts to look for the saddle as a comfortable place to rest.

Desensitize your horse to the saddle cloth by rhythmically throwing it on and off his back until he can stand still and relaxed. Make sure you can do this from both sides. While holding the lead so his head is turned slightly towards you, stand beside your horse at his shoulder and place the saddle on his back. Once again you should be able to do this from either side of your horse. When girthing your horse, be sure to reach under with the arm closest to your horse. This is the safest way to girth up as reaching with the other arm puts you in a vulnerable position.

Tightening the girth can be done in stages moving your horse around at the trot between each time. This ensures the horse will not become sensitive to being girthed and eliminates the need for stretching the horses legs which can cause pulled muscles and tendons.