11/10/2025
Courage. Where do we find it?
Chief is becoming a trail horse. He does not become one on his own.
What does it take, to make a solid, courageous trail horse?
Many people underestimate trail horses, and place them below performance horses on the scale of ´most valuable´.
I cannot disagree more.
A trail horse is by far the most valuable horse we have.
A trail horse must be courageous, experienced, mobile in all directions, handy (easily moved in all directions), and steady.
How are these fun horses created?
We have to have these traits too!

We have to share our courage, share our experience, share our mobility, and share our willingness to develop these, to become handy and to help our horse to develop these traits and their trust in our leadership.
Is this an easy task? Hell no!

It is often scary to be out with an inexperienced horse in all sorts of weather, in all sorts of occurrences, with a zillion spooky elements around. This is not a sport for sissies!
How do we drum up the courage to get out there and do it?
We have to remember how much fun it is to ride out. To encounter life together with our horse! Draw upon our experience, and use these memories, these feelings, to motivate us into new ones.
This is another reason why inexperienced horses need experienced riders.
Our knowledge in the fact that things go well way, way more often than things don't go well, to pull our minds back to business and away from the land of ´what if´...
What if I fall off? What if he bolts? What if he bucks? What if he won't go? What if I can't be courageous? And this goes on, and on, and on, and on...
To bring ourselves back from the Land of What If, just breathe.
Breathe in, and raspberry out, like your horse when he ´blows his nose´, the sound we love to hear, give this sound to you both.
Breathe, and remember all of your preparatory work.
You have worked diligently in the arena, your schoolroom, to get your horse experienced in the technicalities of being a riding horse.
They are fluent in your legs with turning right, turning left.
They are fluent in your reins to aid their front legs to work together with their hinds. They understand slow down and whoa and ´Let's go!´.
They can walk out and trot, if your arena has a good size, you have already cantered with them.
They can move sideward, backward, and have become manueverable.
If you have a solid riding horse, you have had them out and about with you on your riding trails. This has given them knowledge of their surroundings and experience with most of what usually happens in these areas.
If you don't have a solid riding horse to help you give him experience, you have led him and been solid for him. So he knows how to walk over your bridges and through your creeks and ditches. He is used to going uphill and downhill with your saddle on. He knows these feelings with his saddle and without and he trusts you to be there for him, and to give him time to look, to smell, and to take his time putting his feet just so, in his way, so he has confidence to move with you.
He is ready. You are ready. You open the arena gate. You ride through. This is broadening both of your comfort zones. Riding out that gate is a big event. Use your time, make sure you give him time to see what he needs to see, to blow his insecurities out his nose, but ride out that gate. Ride down that lane, far enough to feel that he is worried, he is out of his comfort zone, but he is not going into fight or flight. Press him a bit further than you want to.
We usually quit before we need to, so push on down to your mailbox, just a bit further than you reckoned was ´far enough´ when you were at the gate. Stand and pet him, and turn him back toward the gate.
Turning back toward the gate is a test. This is when many inexperienced horses will want to choose how you are going back to that gate.
Turn back toward the gate, but make a small circle here, maybe 2 circles, and feel that it is you making the choice to actually Go back to the gate, and it is you deciding how you are going there.
A good idea now, is to stop before you go through the gate, and even back up a step. You can also dismount here, if you like, or ride on through the gate and keep riding for a round or two, then dismount. This has been a good experience for both of you, and now it is time to let him be. It was a good session.
Tomorrow will show you how good the session was. Riding down to the mailbox should feel a lot different tomorrow.
You dont need to push him past the mailbox if you dont want to. You will however need to remember the turning back to the arena gate routine, because that test will be there for a very long time, no matter where you are when you turn back.
Becoming a solid trail horse takes a lot of time. A lot of experiences together, before the turning back part is ´nothing´.
Horses want to go back home, back to their herd, and often get ideas of Needing to get home, back to the herd, either when you turn back or when they think you should turn back.
This is where Chief and I are now.
We are moving further and further away from the classroom arena and his herd, and that is a big test.
His confidence is building.
When we made it to our next destination goal, this gate, he had overcome a lot of fear. Our first ride through water. Our first ride through the busy area between the barns and workshop and where we park tractors... this is such a spooky place for horses, even experienced ones. There is so much always going on and it is always different. Equipment is moved constantly, projects are being worked on. It is a superb training ground. Why, this area is the test of all tests! And Chief passed 🎉

He knew he passed. He was proud of himself. He had an entirely different stature when we walked back through this gauntlet. And when we got back to the arena gate, he strode through it. He owned the place. He was oozing with a new-found confidence.
He had overcome his fears and found his courage.
Guess who else had to do this? 😅 Me! I had to help him the entire time. I had to be there with all my courage, with all my experience, the entire time.
If I lose my courage when I am with an inexperienced horse, the outcome will be different. This is why it is crucial to be well prepared when helping a horse to become a solid riding horse.
Mentally prepare, know what you are doing, because there is no thinking time. If an inexperienced horse is pushed beyond his courage, he can ´flip out´ and you need to know how to handle him. This is another post, for another time, but is why experience leads inexperience and is the recipe for success 🌟
Until next time! Happy Trails 🍂
