Horse Training

As spring approaches, I look forward to being able to work with the horses more. I mentioned in my previous post about possibly joining the Jackson mounted patrol. Some of you may be wondering what is involved in such an endeavor. Volunteers for the patrol become liaisons for the police and the community, and help reduce officer overtime hours for special events such as parades and high traffic events. Volunteers are equipped with radios and are the eyes and ears of the sworn duty officers. Volunteers can direct traffic, answer questions, be on the lookout for problems such as accidents, fights, drunks, etc. The key to the patrol is well trained horses and riders who work together as a team. Horses need to be calm in any situation involving crowds, noise, vehicles, and unpredictable situations. The volunteers and their horses go through 40 hours of training in the spring, and must be certified each year. Horses and riders learn to ride in formation, which is the key to controlling an unruly crowd.

The heart of the training involves desensitizing the horse and rider. Typically, obstacle courses such as the one Heidi has set up each year at Hansen Horse Ranch (where Amigo boarded when I moved here) are used that simulate a busy environment such as one may experience during a parade or downtown event. After a summer of training Amigo on Heidi's course, he improved dramatically and by July 4th I rode him into downtown Driggs amidst the crowds and traffic.

Horses have relatively poor eyesight compared to their other senses. Their depth perception is especially poor, so that any solid contrasting shape looks like a deep hole to them. Anything flapping in the wind could be a threat. They are also frightened of things that are not found in their usual world. A well thought out obstacle course and training program can help all of this. Just about any object can be used, but to be considered should be safe for the horse and rider. Typically items used include construction cones and delineators, old tires, tarps laid out on the ground or flapping in the breeze, ropes, ribbons, balloons, anything bright and flappy, water noodles, barrels, mail boxes, water boxes, landscape timbers, and pallet bridges. Anyone can build a course in their own pasture or corral if they have a little room. There are also several resources available on the web from the experts. Let the horse live with the stuff, it helps acclimate them. In fact, getting a horse to walk over a tarp can be so difficult, some people resort to feeding the horse on the tarp. If he is hungry, he will eventually walk on it to eat, right? Patience is the key. It took me several days before I could get Amigo over Heidi's painted pallet bridge (he would do a normal unpainted bridge). It took several more days when she added tractor tires and ropes, and about a month to get him to walk over a tarp. It took several months to get him to walk through a water box. Experienced trainers can get it done quicker, but I am still learning.

By contrast, horses have very sharp ears and noses. They are by nature afraid of smoke and loud sounds, or anything acute to these senses. If you live in a rural area where shooting guns and burn barrels are legal, you can get a good jump on these things. Take your old molded hay or cardboard and put your burn barrel up wind of the corral. Get them used to smoke. Eventually you can put the burn barrel in the corral and ride the horse through the smoke. Same thing with guns and fireworks. Start with a small fire cracker or 22 pistol blank and fire them off while the horse is feeding. Eventually it will get used to the loud sound and not flinch. Then move closer and work your way up to a louder gun. Once the horse is completely used to you firing off guns whenever, you can employ a brave friend to hold the horse while you fire a small caliber firearm from the saddle. Never fire over the horse's head because of percussion. I guess now would be the time to mention that anytime you introduce something new to a horse, it is best done while leading the horse (unmounted) and in an enclosed area. If you lose the horse or are thrown, at least it isn't running in the road (I should follow my own advice on this one).

This work isn't only for horses that will be used on patrol. Desensitizing training can be beneficial to ANY horse, because you never know when the unexpected will happen. This is especially true on trails. If you happen on something your horse won't do or doesn't like, you either have a fight on your hands or you are turning back or going around (which is sometimes not possible). You never know what you may encounter, and a prepared horse is a safe horse.

The point is that ANYONE with a little room and a little patience and horse sense can do a lot of this work on their own. I was lucky because at the last two ranches Amigo was boarded, four wheelers were used a lot to feed and clean. It is very helpful if a horse is used to small motorized vehicles such as you might run across on National Forest land or county roads. When I am riding roads, I frequently have more problems with smaller, slow moving vehicles than with larger faster moving vehicles, opposite of what one might think.

You can even start colts with desensitization. The Hansens worked with Smooch sinch he was a six month old and now as an unbroken two year old, he will lead over any of the bridges or tarps or obstacles in their course. The foundation is there, and I can't wait until he is three or four and ready to be a horse to see what his potential is.

Part, or much of the reason I want to join the patrol is to learn more about this stuff. Wish me luck if I am lukcy enough to be able to join this year.

Out and About

I finally got out on a ride yesterday after being socked in for so long. We've had a warm spell, so I spent half the week removing snow from in front of the corral and trailer (where all my tack is kept in the tack room). There is now a snow chute carved out about 6 feet high and 12 feet wide leading from the driveway to the corral gate, and a two foot high snow step up through the gate to where the horses are kept. It doesn't make for an easy exit / entry for the horses, that's for sure. I did my best to shoo the other two off while I led Amigo out, which is a trick in and of itself trying not to get run over by a horse who basically has to jump his way down off the step. And of course monkey see monkey do so here comes Sara out right behind, I almost got run over twice. At least my attempt to block her from escaping down the chute was successful, but she climbed out and tried to escape along the outside of the corral. She didn't get far before she got herself stuck, so I slammed Amigo back in the corral and coaxed her to turn around and follow him back in.



So onto the ride. I can't cut through the fields anymore because of the snow, so it's down the highway for a mile until I get to the next county road. The highway was clear albeit wet so ok to travel on, otherwise I wouldn't have attempted the ride. And I would have liked to pony the mule along, but I'm not sure how she handles traffic yet so she stayed back. I have to say at this point what a wonderful horse Amigo is. It is not every horse that you can hop on fresh after a long winter and ride calm down a highway without working out in an arena or round pen first. Horses tend to build up anxiety and energy when cooped up for too long (not to mention mine are fed alfalfa, which is high in protein and gives them a lot of energy) and some are downright uncontrollable. So a few anxious moments aside to start off with, traffic didn't bother him at all and he didn't bat an eye when a big rig passed from behind with his jake brakes on. A bus load of tourists coming back from Yellowstone must have been wondering what the hell this guy was doing riding down the highway in a snow storm. I also have to say the drill tech shoes on Amigo are a marvel. He is a sure footed horse to begin with, but with those shoes on our confidence didn't waiver once on the icy patches. It is easy for a beginner to panic when a horse starts slipping and sliding, but if you let nature take it's course, the horse will right itself (it does have four feet after all) and keep on going. It wasn't much of a ride. I had planned on doing a 6 mile loop, but I guess I wasn't thinking and when I got to Reece Road there was a sign that said "end of winter snow removal" and sure enough, it ended. So a 6 mile loop turned into a 4.5 mile double back. It was a nice ride, warm and snowy. Kind of picture perfect, however I would have liked to see some wildlife. Oh well.



Speaking of wildlife, it's been a hard winter for them around here. I can't recall how many road kill I've seen so far. At this rate the moose population will be hurting this spring.



Speaking of spring, I am considering joining the Jackson mounted patrol this year with either Amigo or Sara. I'm not sure yet. I am not confident Amigo can make the 40 hours of training without going lame, and I'm not sure Sara has the level head for it. I don't have the trust in her yet that I've developed with Amigo over the last year. Plus I would have to board one of them in Jackson for the spring and drive over there several times a week for the training and certification. Like I said, I'm not sure yet but it is something I'd like to do.



That's all for now. March will be a slow month, but I'll try to get back here to write something.

Nothing

I have nothing to say except that my camera broke.