Mountain Horse Training 2: Tack/Untack Both Sides

Suppose you are in the high country and need to saddle, or un-saddle your horse near a cliff-side. I don't know about you but I'm not standing between my horse and the edge of the cliff to adjust his tack or work with the saddle. Sometimes that means you have to work with him from his offside

I'm going to assume you can saddle your horse, so now it's time to work from the offside. Start as if the horse has never been saddled before. Get him on a longe line or his lead rope and run him through his routine for moving forward, backward, "Come" and "Whoa" all while standing or walking on his offside. At this point grab a bucket or step stool so you can be slightly above him on his offside. Pat and rub the horse from tail to ears all the while talking, whistling or singing to him. Gently lay across his back and slowly let your weight come to bear on his back.

Children and Horses

We get our Number One Grandson, who is 5, for 2 to 3 weeks in the summer. The great thing about grandchildren is you've already been there so you can just savor the experience. Hell, all the mistakes you were ever going to make you've already made with your children.

My first experience with a horse was when I was 11 or 12. I was shown how to saddle it, and then mount it and away we go. There was a girl who I had a crush on involved which explains some of my complete lack of sense. Fortunately for me it went well enough and my relationship with the horse has been with me since. 

Mountain Horse Training 1: Ground Tying

This post is more or less a re-post, but I've separated it out from my previous one in an effort to make things a little more coherent. When you're riding the back country, horsemanship follows some different trails. You have to assume nothing will be possible to do in the way you might normally do things. One of these is tying your horse. There just may not be room or a place to conveniently tie a horse to but you need the horse to stand still while you work with it. The solution is to ground tie the horse. It really is nothing more than having the lead rope on the ground with an appropriate command to let the horse know he's "tied."

So how do I proceed? Start at the beginning and train the horse to stand still while attended. Using a vocal command (I use whoa) and body language (stand tall just off to the side at the front of the horse) I step back and put some slack in the lead rope. If the horse attempts to move forward, I shake the lead rope with my hand clearly visible to the horse and give my vocal command.

Continue until the horse doesn't move when you are at least one horse length away. The next step is to do the same thing while the lead rope is on the ground. Drop the lead rope to the ground and give your vocal command. If the horse tries to move, hold your hand up in a stop attitude and give your command. As the horse progresses move around all the sides of the horse while he's ground tied. If necessary, go back to the lead rope in your hand portion of the training until he gets it right.

At this point you need to get the horse to stand comfortably while you proceed with other business. Ground tie the horse and do a small chore. Keep an eye on the horse with your peripheral vision and admonish it with your vocal command if it tries to take a step. Keep working on it until the horse can stand comfortably for 10 to 15 minutes without taking a step and with you at least once going out of sight of the horse. This should now be a regular part of the groundwork you do with your horse. As always at the end of the session praise the horse and give him a lot of positivity when he gets it right.

Mountain Horse Training

I've been remiss. It seems I haven't written a thing here in months and I also have failed in putting my thoughts down on mountain horse training. 

A friend of mine sternly reminded me of this recently. So, without further ado I have posted a list of things a good mountain horse should be able to do and in subsequent posts I will provide some rationale and the methods I have used to meet these requirements. As usual, this is my list and others might want to add or subtract as deemed necessary. Here we go:

1. Ground Tying

2. Tack/Untack Both Sides

3. Flapping Objects

4. Startlement Horse

5. Startlement Rider

6. Wildlife Encounter

7. Chain Saw

8. Obstacle Crossing

9. Backing

10. Sidepassing

11. Weight Drag

12. Load/Carry Saddlebags

13. Don/Doff Clothing

14. Lead/Follow

15. Firecrackers

16. Gunfire

17. New Trailer Load/Unload

18. Cross Water

19. Cross Bridge

20. Ground Leading in Harsh Terrain

Anatomy Of A Pack Saddle

Making your own tack for your horses has a big upside. It's custom fit for the horse and the quality is as good as you can make it. I made the saddle for my pack horse and it's lasted for 12 years now and has seen all sorts of rough duty. Nothing has ever failed, and I don't ever expect it to. My saddle for my trail horse was made for me by a saddle maker I know since I don't have some of the equipment needed for the job. It too is custom fit and when you ride for days on end having a saddle that fits the horse and your backside well can be a blessing. This post is about how I made a pack saddle.

The first thing you need is a sewing machine that can accept heavy duty needles and thread and go through at least 4 layers of heavy weight duck canvas. I use duck canvas because it's relatively inexpensive, comes in a variety of neutral colors, and can be made water resistant or nearly water proof. A mixture of beeswax, and linseed oil makes for a good water resisting agent or you can use a silicone based commercial product.

An Upcoming Trip

It's time for a little back country riding. The "boys" have new shoes and they are ready...

...and so am I.

This trip will probably be to see a good acquaintance of mine up near Kennedy Meadows. My normal route from Walker Pass to Big Pine Meadow is shown on the map below the break, but I'll be casting about for different ways to go so it will probably take me a bit longer. I'll probably put about 75 miles in the saddle. 

Mountain Horse Training

When you're riding the back country, horsemanship follows some different trails. You have to assume nothing will be possible to do in the way you might normally do things. One of these is saddling your horse. Two obstacles immediately come to mind. First, the off side of the horse may be the uphill side and is the only one available to you. Second, at one time or another you will have to work on the horse when it can only be ground tied. Two young ladies whose parents sent them to me for horsemanship lessons have been learning about back country riding. In the photo below you can see them doing the basics. One young lady is picking the hooves of one horse while the other young lady is offside saddling another horse while both are only ground tied.