Young horse won't walk

From: Mary

Dear Jessica, I've been following your advice for years with my older gelding Rumor, and I feel that we have a very good relationship now even though we got off to a fairly rocky start (I was new to horses and he was an abuse case). I was having all kinds of trouble with him and was about to give up on him four years ago when I discovered HORSE-SENSE, and you saved us. Now I can do anything with him and he is very sweet and loving all the time, so thank you for making this possible for us. Rumor will be with me until he dies and I hope that doesn't happen for a long long time. But now I have some new problems with a new horse, so I am finally writing with a HORSE-SENSE question of my very own. Here is the situation I'm in. Two months ago, I was given a three-year-old gelding named Barney. He is big and sweet and I think that he could be a nice horse for me someday, but we are not off to a very good beginning. I know that three years old is young for riding so I am just riding him for about twenty minutes every other day, in our pasture which is a little bit hilly but pretty nice footing and it's about four acres.

My problem is that when I ride Barney, he will walk for a few steps, then he wants to trot. When I make him walk, he walks for just a little bit and then he tries to trot again. This makes me nervous and I end up holding the reins tighter and shorter which I know is not good. I try not to fight with him but things are getting pretty tense between us since I obviously can not allow him to trot, he needs to walk and that's what I've asked him to do. If he won't do what I want at the walk, how can I expect him to do what I want at the trot? So I need your help to make Barney walk. My neighbor says I ought to use a twisted bit and jerk it hard whenever he trots so he'll learn to take me seriously. I know that would be wrong, but I don't really know what my other options are here. Please help me again, Jessica!

Mary

There are a lot of reasons for a horse trying to trot instead of walk. In this case, I think you can cross "deliberate disobedience" and "ill will" off your list. Instead, consider the possibility that Barney, like any other young horse trying to balance his constantly-changing body, is simply unable to walk well in a hilly pasture whilst carrying a rider.

Horses that feel unbalanced will do whatever seems likely to improve their balance and security. When a horse feels unbalanced, he feels endangered. The solution to feeling unabalanced at the walk is: TROT. The solution to feeling endangered at the walk is: TROT. Barney is just doing what feels right and natural to him.

If you spend a few days watching young horses move around rough terrain on their own, you'll notice that they don't walk at a consistent, even pace. They walk a few steps, slow down, speed up, slow down, put their heads down, stretch their necks out, and, yes, TROT whenever they feel the need to do so to restore their balance. And that's without riders! When you add a rider, the young horse is going to become unbalanced much more quickly, be much more unbalanced, and stay unbalanced much longer - unless the rider is very able and experienced, and secure enough to ride the youngster on a very long rein, allowing it to use its head and neck for balance, as nature designed the horse to do.

At this point in his training and in his development, it's not a question of him doing what you want him to do at the walk, it's a matter of allowing him to learn how to carry himself AND YOU at the walk and trot. That's quite a job in itself, and in these early days, you shouldn't be demanding about precise steering or consistent speed - or even maintaining the same gait at all times. When he loses his balance, which he is likely to do very frequently, he'll trot. If you accept this and ride it without grabbing at the reins, you'll be able to bring him back to walk without fuss or fear on either side. But to do this well, considering your own fear, you should probably look for an enclosure - either an arena or a large (60' wide or larger) round pen - with safe fencing and safe footing (more about this later). If you know there's a barrier that will cause Barney to turn, you won't have to worry so much about where he will go and what he will do if he loses his balance and trots.

Twenty minutes every other day sounds like a fine program for your three-year-old, but you'll both be happier and more comfortable if you can bring yourself to let him have all the rein he needs to walk comfortably. If he has a longer rein, he'll be able to balance himself and walk for longer periods before losing his balance and needing to trot. Also, when he does trot, why not just let him trot? It's easier for him to maintain his balance under you if he's trotting, because at the trot, his head and neck are steady instead of constantly moving. At the trot, YOU can set your hands on his neck, stop worrying about following his head, stop feeling guilty about shortening your reins out of fear, and just allow yourself to relax and stay balanced in the saddle so that Barney will have a chance to stay balanced under you.

One more thing - when you get nervous and you shorten the reins and hold them tight, you are probably also holding your breath and gripping with your legs. This is a fairly effective way of TELLING a horse that you want it to trot! Barney may be doing his very best to give you what he thinks you want - and what he thinks you want may be what you're ASKING him to do (although it may NOT be what you would like him to do). If your brain is thinking "walk" and all of your body language and balance is saying "Barney, TROT!", Barney is going to trot. So whenever you wonder why he isn't doing what you want him to do, give him the benefit of the doubt - and check your own balance and signals, so that you can be sure that what want and what you're asking for are the same.

Your neighbour's method will do nothing but create a very unhappy, sore horse that will quickly learn to hate the whole idea of being ridden. That's not the way to handle a horse. Ignore your neighbour's advice, or smile, say "Thank you for sharing", and THEN ignore your neighbour's advice.

If you're still not comfortable with Barney's lack of ability to maintain a good, steady walk, consider riding him in a smaller, flat area of your pasture, or, preferably, an arena or large round pen - even someone else's arena, if you don't have a suitable enclosure. It may seem silly to trailer a horse some miles from home just so that you can ride him in an arena, but if doing that will allow you to relax and let Barney move forward comfortably on a long rein, do it. The two of you will build a much more successful partnership if you begin with kindness and understanding instead of nervousness and grabbing at the reins - so even if you're looking at half an hour of driving to get somewhere and ride for twenty minutes, it will be well worth the extra effort of getting there and back.

Take it slowly, keep things pleasant, and good luck!

Jessica

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