Training Tips

QUESTION: I am asking for your advice on a problem that I am having with my mare for the first time. I have been going out on trail rides; my mare will all of a sudden turn around and go back in the opposite direction. If I try to turn her back around to go the direction I want, she starts to clamp down on the left side of her bit. I normally circle her on the left side until she releases pressure, and then I release. Then I work on getting her supple again by flexing her. The problem I am having in the area that I am staying is there are canals on both sides of the road where she has done this. Any advice on this would help. I will be at this place with the canals for another two weeks before I head home. Thanks.

REPLY: Yeah, that's a tough one when they pull those kinds of stunts in areas where you can't easily or safely bend them or work on the hind quarters because the area is too narrow or has steep drop-offs on either side. What might work when she does this is to simply stop her with a two rein stop, and then back her up, making the right thing easy, the wrong thing hard. Most horses don't like to go backwards for long and will choose forward instead when given the choice.

Let me direct you to a link on my web site to show you how to teach your horse to stop with the two-rein stop in case this is something you want to work on/refine:

Stopping Horse With Both Reins - The 2-rein stop when you can't do a one-rein stop safely

And this link for working on backing up in saddle:

Backing Up in Saddle - How to teach the backup in saddle

Work on that away from the canals area so you have it down solidly in her foundation. Then, next time she pulls the exit act out there, stop her with the two reins, then back her up. Then pause and let her think about it. If she turns to exit "her way," repeat until she figures out that the easy answer there is: go forward in the direction you are asking.