Horse obstacle courses are a very popular past time for many professional and recreational horse people. Not only can it be a fun time for you and your horse, but it also develops confidence in both of you.

You may wonder why working your horse through obstacles causes this to happen?

Horses by nature are flight-fight animals. Their natural born instinct is to run from anything scary. This poses quite a problem when a horse is with a human, so we must help the horse learn how to stop reacting instinctively to situations and think through them instead.

When you work a horse through an obstacle course you are asking him to not react in fear but to instead think about what you are asking him to do. The more you expose your horse to a variety of obstacles and help him work through it in a calm and confident manner, your horse will begin to think more and react less, making him a much calmer and confident horse.

Humans also benefit from working through obstacle courses with their horse on the ground or in the saddle. You can learn how to really listen to what your horse is telling you and learn how to communicate better with him. You can improve your timing and cues which will lead to even better communication and connection with your horse.

(free photo from Canva - https://www.canva.com/ )

“You can never rely on a horse that is educated by fear. There will always be something that he fears more than you. But, when he trusts you, he will ask you, what to do when he is afraid.”  – Antoine de Pluvinel

~ Saddle Up