A blog that focuses on our unique program that teaches natural horsemanship, heritage breed conservation, soil and water conservation, and even folk, roots, and Americana music. This blog discusses our efforts to prevent the extinction of the Corolla Spanish Mustang. Choctaw Colonial Spanish Horse, Marsh Tacky, and the remnants of the Grand Canyon Colonial Spanish Horse strain.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Quick Tip #24 Parting the Waters
Training horses to be comfortable in water can be very difficult. There are many trainers out there that would be happy to sell videos to teach a multi-step method to make a horse "want" to cross water. I have no interest in trying to convince myself that I am a better person for acquiescing to what the horse "wants" to do. I am only interested in showing a horse that he will not be injured by doing what I asked and helping the horse loose his fear of the unknown by making it known.
Our horses spend a great deal of time in deep mud and heavy water. A horse that has not been shown that water is no threat is a horse with very serious limitations. My best success in dealing with this problem is to simply lead the young horse through the water while I am on a calm, experienced horse. Sometimes we do this alone, sometimes with a group of riders. It seems to work a bit better with a group of riders, provided that the riders all are experienced enough to remain calm if the young horse show fear.
For much of the year we have a section of woods path that is submerged for nearly half of a mile. At the conclusion of calmly riding through that water with many other horses water ceases to be a problem.
It is that simple--make herd dynamics work for you as a trainer instead of trying to over come them.
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