Puddles... OMG Puddles!!!

Try think of hacking out as the perfect time to build confidence.

Try think of hacking out as the perfect time to build confidence.

On bridleways or farm tracks I’d always ‘aim for puddles’ and ride them with passion and determination. Strange I know, but I was adamant as It’s just one of the ways you can really help your horse to trust you as a rider. If he knows that you’re in charge and make the decisions and that those decisions will ‘be OK for him and will be safe’ then he’ll be much happier.

Where there’s any doubt as to who’s in control, that’s when he’ll be worried and unhappy. He could nap, spin round at a crisp packet in a gust of wind and you could end up on the deck. Horses are flight animals after all. Just the same as riding into a trakehner cross country fence; would you prefer to know he’ll jump it because he trusts you? Or that he might just put in a dirty stop and you’ll end up in the ditch?

Confidence builds confidence, and puddles are perfect as confidence builders. Riding past pigs, jumping little ditches, logs and riding over those dreaded ‘big leaved weeds’ are other things I’d used to go out of my way to be able to experience and work through with every competition horse I had. Be the boss, as it’s far safer that way!!