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10 Things To Teach Your Trail Horse During the Winter |
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by Garry Stauber |
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The winter and fall months can be maddening to some
trail
riders and horse camping enthusiasts. But the off season is a great time to train and prepare your horse with techniques to make horse camping and trail riding more successful. |
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1. Teach your horse to cross streams and creeks. This is one that practice definitely makes perfect. To have your horse cross a creek at the appropriate place and time you wish to cross can be very helpful to staying on the trail and safer. Riding in streams can be a very beneficial training technique when determined to be safe and clean of dangerous debris. "However if training in the winter realize creeks are deeper and swifter and it is safer to enter only if you can see the bottom." |
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Not all horses complete creek crossing easily.
Photo by Martha McNiel |
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2. Practice crossing small bridges of odd shapes and sizes, with water flowing loudly around. Diversity of bridge sizes, surroundings and materials is the key here. I had to cross suspension bridges and bridges with open grating for floors on my trip the length of California. Finding lots of different bridges can make the actual trip or rides more successful. |
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3. Practice picketing and tying your horse for long periods of time. Corrals are not always available at some campsites and your horse being able to tie for long periods without pawing the ground can be very helpful. Learn to tie your lead rope the safe length. |
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Planned introductions to cyclists may make future encounters more pleasurable.
Photo by Julie Green |
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4. Hobble Training can be especially helpful when camping in open country. Even when you plan to corral or picket line your horse, hobbling can be a great asset for grazing and letting your horse have a diversion from the corral. |
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Hobbling and highlining are great skills for your horse to have on backcountry trips. Photo by Julie Green |
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5.
Acclimation
to saddlebags and pulling strange things out of them can be very helpful. Pulling a rain coat out of a bag can sometimes start an unplanned rodeo. Slow introductions can be very appreciated when a rain appears suddenly and your horse doesn't add to the storm. |
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The first time you pull from your saddlebags might be safer from the ground. Photo by Julie Green |
Practice extracting items from your bags several times, and your horse will eventually ignore the noise and movement.
Photo by Julie Green |
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6. Acclimation to ruffling paper while on the horse. Having the ability to read maps and eat packaged food can be very helpful on longer rides. |
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Acclimation to crumpling paper will enable you to read maps from the saddle.
Photo by Martha McNiel |
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7.
Riding on planned trips
where you know your horse will see new and strange animals like emus, alpacas, llamas, and even common farm animals like deer, cattle and pigs can be helpful.
Trail rides and camping trips have enough
new sights for your horse
so planned acclimations
in advance can be very helpful. |
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Acclimation to wildlife should be slow and easy as to respect the wildlife's comfort also.
Photo by Julie Green
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8. Opening and closing gates while on the horse can be very helpful on most trail rides. This takes time and patience and better learned at home than on the trail. |
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9. Drinking water from strange water sources. Some horses just like their favorite feeders and water providers.
Getting them accustomed to
drinking when and where you recommend and only then can be important. |
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10.
If your horse
can do all nine of the above, then your horse is probably ready for the big jump to learn to carry a packsaddle and panniers. Sounds like you and your horse are ready for bigger and longer trips.
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In time your horses can become backcountry experts.
Photo by Martha McNiel
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Off seasons can be fun training periods. By preparing your horses at home, trips can be more enjoyable and safer. Arenas and trails close to home can be great training grounds for longer and more arduous trips. Happy Trails.
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Garry rode the length of California on horseback with a packhorse in 2003. The trip took 3 1/2 months and covered 1350 miles. Upon completion of this trip, Garry became a member of The Long Riders Guild. Now he is President of the Ohlone Riders Unit of the Backcountry Horsemen of California. He is a horse trainer and NARHA Registered Therapeutic Riding Instructor. As a member of the Wilderness Rider Program, Garry is a trained and certified instructor and spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service, National Parks Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Game Department and Backcountry Horsemen of California. He is an equestrian writer and has had over 100 articles published in 15 magazines. Garry is Chairman of the Board of The DreamPower Foundation, which provides equine therapy to children and adults with mental and emotional problems. In 2004, Garry retired from a 20 year career as an Executive in Silicon Valley. |
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Read comments or post your own comments to this article at the bottom of this page. |
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Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved. The above article is the property of the Author and may not be duplicated or redistributed in any way without permission. |
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Reader comments for this article |
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Name: m esra Time: 2008-02-10 20:02:54
Comment: I agree with you jennifer but Gary is one of those Cal Coast boys and what you see may very well be winter. I do not know where you live but most sstates have a BCHA organization and that is our packing is our thing. If we can help e-m any time.
Name: jennifer Time: 2008-02-01 14:02:55
Comment: My only question is these are all good things to train during the winter, but let's see you doing these activities in the rain and mud! LOL! These pictures look like summer months! I enjoy you articles. Judging by where my horse is at, I should be working on 4 and 8. These are items I skipped because he is mustang from the wild and I am just not strong enough to lift most gates I see on trail. I will keep on working because packing is my ultimate goal.
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