Teaching a young horse to navigate a new obstacle often triggers one of two instinctive responses: either they stop and refuse or rush through to get it over with. Both reactions offer valuable training opportunities, especially when a horse hesitates or tries to evade the challenge altogether. In those moments, a patient rider can guide the horse through the task, helping build both trust and confidence.
Practice Patience
To me, training and building confidence both come down to repetition. But there’s a fine line. Patience and repetition aren’t the same. Too much repetition can overwhelm a horse or create resistance.
Allow your horse to work at his pace early on while gradually guiding him toward a more relaxed and trusting response.
Remember, you need to be his leader. If he gets fast when he’s nervous, you need to go slow. If he gets tense, you need to be
more relaxed.
Encourage Forward
When a horse tries to evade an obstacle, like a ranch trail log, by backing up or going to the side, I like to wrap my legs around the horse, take ahold of his face, and stay there until he goes forward. Eventually he learns his exit is by going forward.
If he’s scared of logs, every single time he takes a step toward the log, I give him a break to let him know that forward is our only exit. Whenever he finally gains the confidence to go over the log, I relax, give him a pat, and go around to do it again. It’s about building those repetitions in a positive manner. Sometimes it takes days, but soon, the horse learns that logs are the happy place and it’s not a big deal.
Deactivate Launch Mode
If you’re going over logs and you feel your horse leap or charge through the obstacle, that tells me he’s not listening to your cues and is trying to be the pilot. To avoid that, I like to incorporate some backing up into my routine.
For example, if I have a horse that likes to charge through the lopeover logs you might see in a ranch trail class, I will lope him to the log, then, as soon as I feel him rush or tense up, I softly stop and back him up.
When I pick up my hand a few inches, but don’t squeeze my legs, that’s the cue to my horse that he should come to a soft stop and start backing off my hand. Now I test how responsive he is to my cue. If I go to my hand and he ignores it, I know he’s paying more attention to the object in front of him and not what I’m asking him to do.
Once I stop and back a horse up, I will ask him to walk a good distance down the arena, turn around, lope off again, and up to the log.
Remember to be slow in your cues. If you’re quick in your hands, your horse is going to respond quick, which can cause frustration. Your job as the leader is to let your horse know you’re taking control and that he needs to trust that you’ll keep him safe.
Instilling confidence while offering correction, especially with young horses, is always a challenge. But when a horse begins to look to its rider for guidance and responds willingly to cues, that’s a sign the training is heading in the right direction.
Logan Pluhar is the assistant trainer at Bud Lyon Performance Horses in Whitesboro, Texas. As a youth rider, she earned the 2012 AQHYA Reining World title. During college, she received accolades on the Texas A&M University Equestrian Team. She also earned the 2022 AQHA Senior Ranch Riding World Champion title and was named a 2024 AQHA Emerging Leader.