Author: Lynn Palm

It is now time to apply all the great trail training we have covered in the previous articles and do a fun activity with your horse – a picnic trail ride. If it is not picnic weather in your part of the country right now, you can use the information in this article later, when it is.

Since we’ve recently covered how to handle a potential spook from the ground, let’s consider ways to handle the same situation while mounted.

Stop before getting to the potentially spooky object and allow the horse his head so he can see it with both eyes. Once he seems to accept it, take a few steps towards it, stop, and let him look again.

In this article, I will continue with possible trail training problems by discussing the issue of the “spooky” horse. A lot of the information given in the first four parts of this series on how to prepare your horse for his first trail ride is applicable in dealing with a spooky horse and you should go back and review that information.

In the last article, I discussed ways to handle the horse who always wants to be “the leader of the pack” Another common trail training problem is presented by the horse who wants to run up from behind to catch up to the horse(s) in front of him. This is an unsettling problem for riders of any level, and I have experienced it myself. It is important to learn how to avoid this problem and understand what to do if it happens.

There are several common difficulties riders may encounter when training on the trail, and one typical problem is the horse who always wants to be in front. The horse that always wants to be “the leader of the pack” usually has experience being on trail rides with other horses, but he may demonstrate this tendency as early as his first trail ride.