Teaching a horse to go through narrow spaces

Teaching a horse to go through narrow spaces

The exercise I want to talk about will help you guide your horse through tight spaces without moving. Horses are claustrophobic by nature and when led or led into a narrow space, they may panic. The “referencing” exercise will be a handy tool to help your horse overcome his fear of narrow spaces, as well as other “spooky” objects. With this exercise, I teach horses to enter the horse carrier. This exercise will also come in handy if your horse resists and struggles with the halter putting pressure on the area behind the ears, prompting him to drop his head down.

You can start learning using a fence or fence. Give the horse confidence starting at a distance of about 4,5-6 meters from the fence. Stand facing him. The horse should be facing towards your shoulder.

Hold the lead 12 meters away from the carabiner with your knuckles on top. Hold the whip in your other hand as if you were shaking someone’s hand. If you send the horse from right to left, you need to hold the lead in your left hand and the whip in your right.

Ask the horse to walk between you and the fence, pointing with the hand holding the lead up high in the direction you want the horse to enter your makeshift corridor. You must act through the halter. Ideally, the horse should yield to the pressure of the halter and immediately move forward. If he doesn’t, use the whip – lift it up and rhythmically tap the air against the horse’s neck to create pressure and encourage him to go forward. One two three four. If the horse doesn’t move forward, start touching it with the whip. One two three four. If the horse is still in front of you, touch its head and neck to force it to move towards the fence. Once she’s facing the fence, touch the girth area to create forward movement. Continue pressing rhythmically, increasing the pressure on every fourth count, until the horse is moving forward.

As soon as the horse moves forward, release the pressure immediately by lowering the whip to a neutral position along your body. Continue pointing with the lead to guide the horse forward.

As soon as the horse’s tail passes in front of you, lower the hand with the rope to the navel. Then go to the horse’s tail and wiggle the whip to move the horse’s hindquarters to the side. Always step with the foot on the same side of the body as the whip. This will encourage the horse to move his hindquarters away from you so he will turn and look at you with both eyes. If the horse does not retract his butt when you swing the whip, you can touch it to him.

Once the horse has mastered this exercise, you will no longer need to use the whip, because as soon as you look at his bottom, he will remove it and face you. But in the beginning, if you step towards the horse’s hip, creating more pressure energy with the whip, it will be easier for the horse to understand what you are asking for.

Reverse the roles of your hands by shifting the whip and lead to opposite hands (the whip must be passed under the lead). Then point upward with the hand holding the lead to ask the horse to return to the fence. If she doesn’t move, touch her with the whip. Touch the air first – one, two, three, four – rhythmically. If the horse doesn’t move, touch it – one, two, three, four. Rhythmically increase the pressure until the horse steps forward. As soon as she does this, immediately release the pressure from the whip and bring it down to the ground. The only time you don’t increase the pressure is when the horse is already feeling uncomfortable. Just keep applying the same amount of pressure until she gives the correct answer.

When the horse’s tail passes you, move the hand holding the lead to the navel, and then take a step towards the tail. Simultaneously shake the whip to ask the horse to remove his butt.

Gradually reduce the distance between you and the fence until you are only 1,2 m from it. Try not to take a long pause between each set when you send the horse through the “corridor”. You need her to walk between the fence and you, remove her butt and immediately go back in the other direction.

Clinton Anderson (source); translation Valeria Smirnova.