Our Introduction to Mountain Trail

 

 

I'm a big fan of cross training no matter what discipline the horse I am working with is intended for. I find it incredibly beneficial to teach them different skills and disciplines and to expose them to new things. I did everything under the sun with the little mare I had before Joe. I bought her to show Western Pleasure, and in the 17 years I had her with her we barrel raced, sorted cows, did cowboy mounted shooting, countless parades, trail class, western riding, hunt seat, and spent 5 years on a rodeo grand entry team. I was once told that by doing that I was a "jack of all trades but a master of none". What I ended up with was a very confident all-around horse that has gone on to make a great kid’s horse. Joe was bred for Western Pleasure, turns out he's a kick ass archery horse and confident trail horse who loves to work cows and go for gallops at the ocean. I'm always looking for new things to engage his brain and keep him from shutting down, which he does when he gets bored.This past Saturday we added "Mountain Trail" to his list of skills and things he seems to enjoy. I left the arena that day even more in awe of my horse and his level of trust in me and his ever-growing confidence.

Mountain Trail course practice was held at the same arena that we haul into for cow sorting. They set it up a course once a month for a no pressure, no competition chance to try out their obstacles. Joe thinks nothing of walking across bridges on the many trail systems we ride on, but I've never considered asking him to walk across a teeter totter or some of the other obstacles we encountered on Saturday. This was the first time either one of us had seen any of these things. When I walked to the arena to sign up the first thing that caught my eye was a huge bridge at the end of the arena. I don't know the name for that type of bridge, other than "holy shit that's a scary looking bridge". It had solid ramps on either side to get on and off it, but the middle section had wooden slats on a cable system that moved. It bounced under the weight of whatever was walking across it. The ramps to get on an off it were higher than all the other bridges, maybe 2 feet? My first thought when walking up to get a closer look was, "we might not be ready for that today". I checked out the other obstacles, the teeter totter, a series of boxes, 2 pole obstacles, several back throughs and a bridge on rails that slid when you walked across it. There was plenty for us to play with, even if we decided to forego the scary bridge. I have to tell you; the pictures don't do this thing justice. It looked much taller in person!

 

 

 I walked Joe into the arena with his natural horsemanship halter and lead and a pocketful of treats. My goal was to introduce the obstacles to him in hand before tacking him up. Riding over them would only happen if I felt he was confident enough in hand, it wasn't a requirement for the day. After walking around for a bit and checking in that I could move his hips, shoulders and back him up from a distance, we headed over to one of the boxes. Joe walked right up to it and put a front hoof on it, then climbed on with all 4 feet and stepped off the other side. We tried a few more boxes, I found it fascinating and not surprising that if he approaches an obstacle too fast, he drops his left shoulder and drifts to the left, just like he's done for years under saddle. I made it my goal to have him take each obstacle one step at a time, there was no reason for him to rush. When he would get his back feet on the boxes, I would ask him to whoa so he would stand on it for a minute with all 4 feet. He had no problem hanging out and relaxing above me. I sent him through the pole obstacles a few times, it was great to see him engage his brain to figure out where to put his feet. We work over railroad ties at home, but they are nothing like the huge, raised poles he walked over on Saturday.

 

While we were in the arena, I watched the other participants; being new to this I was looking to learn from others who knew what they were doing. I kept an eye on the teeter totter and saw how handlers would put their foot on the end of it to make it safe and inviting for their horses to step on. I saw several horses start to walk across but jump off the side when the teeter totter tipped down and the other end hit the ground. When it was free, I walked Joe over to it and used my foot to hold it down like I had seen. Joe willingly stepped on and I asked him to slowly walk across one step at a time. He paused for a few seconds in the middle, balancing the teeter totter perfectly level. Now came the big question, how would he handle it coming down on the other side? I again asked him to move forward one step at a time, being sure to keep myself in a safe distance if he should decide to jump off. Joe took the next step and the teeter totter tipped down, on the next step it hit the ground. Nothing, no reaction at all from Joe other than to continue down it one step at a time as I had asked. That's when I think I first started to tear up. My horse had just walked across a moving platform without question and without fear, he did it because I asked him to. We did the teeter totter a few more times, including a few without me holding the end down for him. The only obstacle left was that ominous bridge at the end of the arena.

 

By this point I had seen a few horses cross it successfully both in hand and under saddle and several other jump off the side when they first felt the wooden slats swinging underneath them. Joe was a little unsure about the height of the ramp at first. He put both front hooves on and stood there for a moment. I asked him to take another step and he climbed up, adding his back feet. I again asked him to take it one step at a time, having no idea how he would react when he placed his hooves on the moving slats. Just like the teeter totter it was no big deal. He stopped in the middle to look out the end of the arena to see if maybe his cow friends were out there. A few well-deserved treats later I asked him to continue on to the other side. We went over the bridge a few more times before I tacked him up, each time he walked across it like it was no big deal.

 

Our ride was uneventful, I rode him in my western saddle and the natural horsemanship halter. Joe took on each obstacle with the same confidence that he had in hand, I mostly worked to stay the heck out of his way. We started with the easier obstacles as we had done in hand, working out way up to the big bridge. He hesitated at first coming off the downside of the scary bridge, it was a bit of a step and I think he was a little unsure how to do that with me on his back. I kept my eyes up and grabbed on to the horn, anticipating a big jump down. Joe carefully stepped off the edge, no jump needed. I teared up again while patting him on the neck. We had just crossed the bridge that I had totally psyched myself out about just an hour earlier. I rode him across it two more times before calling it a day. I was on his back for maybe 25 minutes, we never went faster than a walk. My horse carried me over a series of bridges, a teeter totter, a bridge that slides on rails and a bridge that moved when he walked across it. It was time to get off before I did something to screw it up.

I thanked the organizers of the event before loading up and heading home. They plan to host a few more practices this spring and are looking to re-book the clinic they had to cancel going into Covid. We were back on the road headed home by 11:30am. I left there totally in awe of my war horse and his continued increases in confidence. I also left with a few things I want to work on at home, like improving our back up in hand and under saddled. After our drive home, I swear Joe stepped off the trailer a few hands taller, his confidence level at an all time high. He walked into the barn with a bit of a swagger in his step, ready to tell everyone about the adventure he had just returned from.