Training Tip: Horse is a Basket Case Around Other Horses
Question: My horse rides great on the trail when it’s just me and him, but when I try to ride with other people, it’s a wreck. He gets super nervous, and at times, I feel like I can barely control him. What can I do?
Answer: It’s common for horses to ride well on the trail by themselves and get excited and ignore their riders when they’re in a group. When you get two or more horses on the trail, they have a tendency to want to race one another and get reactive. The more horses in the group, the more each horse’s prey-animal tendencies come out. When you’re on a well-trained trail horse, this isn’t a problem, and it’s even fun to be on the trail in a big group. However, on an inexperienced horse, you’re just setting him up for disaster.
Personally, I don’t ride a horse with others on the trail until I’ve taken him through the entire Fundamentals Series in the arena and on the trail. At that point, I feel that I have enough respect and control of the horse and he knows how to use the thinking side of his brain on the trail so that if we did come across trouble, I’d be able to easily get his attention on me.
When I first introduce a horse to riding with other horses down the trail, I do so by riding with just one other person, who is on a well-trained trail horse. Ideally, this horse is a veteran trail mount—he’s relaxed, dependable and has no vices on the trail. The worst situation would be riding your horse on the trail with a horse that’s spooky, disrespectful, bolts, rears, snatches grass, jigs, etc. His bad behavior will rub off on your horse. You want to set your horse up for success by choosing a good role model for him. Once your horse is comfortable riding with other horses, then you can ride out with a badly behaved horse, and while that horse is a basket case or badly behaved, it won’t affect your horse because you’ve spent time teaching him to use the thinking side of his brain and have established a solid foundation of training on him.
When your horse rides well with one other horse, slowly introduce him to group riding. Before you ride in a group, your horse should be happy to follow, lead or ride beside another. First, ride out with three other horses. Then four, etc. Don’t go from riding your horse with one other horse to going on a 60-horse trail ride. That’d be like taking a kid from the kiddie pool and throwing him in the deepest end of the pool and wondering why he half drowns. Always keep your horse’s best interests in mind and set him up for success.
The problem you’re having with your horse is happening because you don’t have enough control of him and aren’t giving him direction. If you follow the steps I outlined to introduce him to group riding and he gets nervous and reactive on the trail, then be a leader for him and give him direction. Ride him in a series of serpentines or hustle his feet in a few circles. Get his attention away from the other horses and back on you. When he’s settled down and focused on you, then put him on a loose rein and ride off. Any time he gets nervous, put his feet to work. That’ll work off his excess energy and show him that every time he gets nervous and tunes you out he has to hustle his feet and sweat. It won’t take many repetitions of that for him to realize that it’s far easier to go down the trail calmly.
It basically comes down to this: If you don’t give your horse direction on the trail, he will find something to do with his energy. I guarantee what he finds to do won’t be your idea of a good time.
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