A buddy sour horse during a trail ride can be aggravating, as well as potentially dangerous. If the lead horses takes off, your horse could follow, taking you somewhere you and your horse can't handle, or maybe at a speed you are not comfortable with. Many horses find it difficult to resist the temptation to take off with the others. It is a natural instinct for them to follow the herd. This is how horses in the wild avoided danger. If one horse goes to break away the others say, "Something must be up; I will go along and ask questions later." Although you can hardly blame them for their behavior, you don't have to just live with it, either. I'm going to tell you about a fun little game I play at all my horse-and-rider clinics which can help with this problem.
"The game," as I call it, is especially great for kids. I always use it for the 4H clinics I conduct. It is really simple, yet before they realize it, the kids have spent a lot of time in the saddle. Obviously, the more time spent in the saddle, the better rider they will become.
You'll need a fairly large arena to play. The actual arena they will later be showing in will be perfect. All the riders get in a single-file line around the arena. Everyone goes around the arena at a nice controlled walk. On my cue, the lead horse will begin to trot. They will trot all the way around until they reach the back of the line. At this time, and no sooner, the next horse -- or the new lead horse -- will begin their trot. After everyone is successfully controlling their horse, you can move to phase two. Phase two, if you haven't guessed, is exactly the same, except all the horses will proceed in a trot and the lead horse will LOPE to the back of the line. That's it.
Right now The Game may seem too simple to be of any use. As easy as it sounds, you would be surprised how many horses have a hard time with this. Especially if you get several anxious horses all together, their nervous energy is very contagious. If these are 4H or show horses, this is an valuable tool to get your horse used to riding in close quarters with several other horses. For the horse that may get startled by something coming up behind them, this is great practice for them, too.
So the next time your 4H group gets together or just you and some friends, give The Game a try. You could end up having many hours of fun in the saddle, while teaching your horse the self-control needed to make your next show or even trail ride more enjoyable.
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