Summertime means more time spent out on the trail. But sooner or later, you’ll come across an obstacle your horse isn’t too sure about. Do you know how to handle those spooky situations? In this article, we’ll walk you through how to safely approach intimidating trail obstacles, like water crossings, to keep both you and your horse confident and secure.

Having control of your horse’s feet is key to staying safe on the trail. When your horse is unsure or spooked by an obstacle, not having that control can quickly turn into a dangerous situation. That’s why I like to simulate trail scenarios at home, so I can work through them with my horse in a calm, controlled environment. 

Of course, even with plenty of practice, things can still go sideways once you’re out on the trail. That’s where the right approach makes all the difference. These tips will help you navigate tricky obstacles safely while building your horse’s confidence.

I’m fortunate enough to have a water ditch nearby that I like to use when teaching my horses to go over obstacles, but work with what you have. A few puddles in the arena after a rainstorm? Perfect. Start there. These tips can also be applied when a horse is worried crossing a bridge or walking over a downed log, too. 

Step 1: Give Your Horse Time to Process

When dealing with a horse that’s scared of something, you want to try to make the scary thing the best deal for your horse. That means if my horse is scared of the water crossing, I might make her work a little harder away from the water by walking and trotting circles, and bending her both directions. However, before I go straight to schooling on my horse, I’m going to give her the opportunity to look at what’s scaring her and see if she will give me control of her feet to help her get over that fear. 

Here you can see that my horse is distracted. I’m looking straight ahead where I want to go, but my horse is more interested in what is happening at the water crossing to our left.

Step 2: Forward, Pause, Reward

I’m going to gain my horse’s attention and get her focus back on what I’m asking her to do, which is go into this water crossing. I ask for just a couple of steps forward and then let her pause as a reward. I like that even though she is unsure of the crossing in front of her, she trusts me, and when I ask her to walk forward using my legs and voice, she takes a few steps forward, even if there’s some small hesitation.

Step 3: Lots of Reward

I want to set my horse up so that she feels successful and starts to gain confidence with this obstacle. Because she has now reached the water, I’m going to give her a pet to reward her and let her know that there’s nothing to be worried about.

Step 4: Keep Your Horse Straight and Between Your Aids

When I’m working with a horse that’s fearful of an obstacle, the biggest thing I want to remember is that I need to keep my horse between my legs and my reins. If she thinks about dodging out left or right, the last thing I want to do is let her turn her butt toward the scary object. As soon as it gets behind her, it’s going to get scarier. Even though there’s still some hesitation as she walks toward the water, she’s responding to my hand and leg and not trying to escape. 

Here she’s leaning into my left leg, so I’m going to ask her to move off it so that she can get straight. Once she’s straight, I release the pressure, so she learns that straight is the only answer. 

Step 5: Let Your Horse Look

My horse is starting to get curious with the water we are approaching and even wants to reach her nose down to take a drink from it, so I’m going to let her. One of the biggest mistakes I see riders making on a trail is holding their horse back to the point to where they can’t look at what’s around them. If my horse doesn’t have the opportunity to look around and see what’s by her, how is she supposed to gain the confidence she needs to be successful when I’m out trail riding?

Step 6: Set Up for a Confident Second Try

Once I give my horse the chance to look around at her surroundings, I ask her to walk back forward so that I have control of the feet again. I’m going to get to a flat surface above the water crossing and safely turn my horse around so I can approach the water again. This time I might try to get some more forward motion. Because I need her to find her footing, I’m going to give her her head and sit deep in my saddle, and think about going forward and straight through the water. 

—H&R—