Anyone have any ideas for getting a horse to relax on trail? I'm getting hoarse singing to him! He's an anxious horse that I've been leasing from a somewhat passive/nervous owner who never rode him outside the ring. Folks at the barn say I'm wasting my time and that he'll always be that way. But He's been going well with me in the ring, and I've started hand walking him around the trails, but he's really jumpy. I've taken him out with a quiet lead horse, but he manages to even work the quiet ones up. I'm not sure if it's a wide open spaces fear or what. Anybody have experience getting a horse used to the trails? Have you ever had a horse that never became a good trail horse? Any ideas or just keep plugging along?

Does the horse want to turn and go back to the barn at all? I have had a couple of horses who were not necessarily anxious but really wanted to go back home. You may also look into "sacking out" the horse. John Lyons and Pat Parelli have some good information on doing this. You want to do it safely because the horse may become frightened but they get used to and calm down. You don't do anything to harm them, just get them used to things like plastic bags and other stuff that seems scary to them. One of the best ways my horses learned to calm down was just from being around a lot of commotion. Taking them to the fairgrounds during shows and just letting them hang out really calmed them down. The farm animals at my boarding barn helped a lot, especially the pygmy goats. The more they get out the calmer they will become.

I train a lot of horses to trail. You have the right idea in taking them out with other horses.

Do you just walk or do you work on trail? If you can work, it will take his mind off the stumps, bunnies, etc.

Remember - he has a nervous owner. It's going to take him a while to calm down!

I'm trying to get an ex racehorse used to trail too. I think the feeling of being out in the open frightens her (she drops a shoulder and spins when reacting to stuff). She was boarded in a commercial riding school barn and from being at the track is used to noise. But the trail flips her out. (Bunnies, like someone said! Yesterday it was a hawk.) I introduce trail work slowly with a horse like these (as we really don't have many quiet trail horses at our barn. One sets off the other and it's a domino affect out on the trail!) I like going out alone to start, horse in hand, and AFTER a long ring session. So she's tired already. Or I start trail work in the summer when it's hot then by the time winter arrives, she should be pretty comfortable. Then again, I think that there are some horses that never really have the mentality to become trail horses. We have a 24 year old TB at our barn who just isn't good on the trail even though he's only serviceably sound. That being said, I think you can plug along and keep reintroducing it and sooner or later she may become a good trail horse. The ex racer I'm working on trails used to bolt, lunge spin and bolt and hop in this really weird semi rear. Now she shies in place and I don't punish it, I just press her forward. But like someone else said, you're working against the horse's training with a fearful rider. That's going to hinder your progress as the horse looks to the rider for confidence. Maybe you can work out a relationship with the other rider where she agrees not to ride him on trail while you're working with the horse.

Ah...pygmy goats...they used to be a nightmare to this horse but he's good with them now. On the trail, he doesnt try to run home, he just looks at everything and shies constantly from any movement, even branches swaying in the breeze. Rio, can you describe sacking out a little bit more? I don't have any experience with natural horsemanship but I think it may help this horse in particular. (So would a new owner, but hey, I'll take what I can get.)

Sacking out is really pretty easy. One thing to expect is that the horse may freak out a little, but it is okay. The best place to do this is in a round pen. There are varios ways that people have achieved this. I like the Pat Parelli way.

Basically, with his way you start with a lunge line and you just swing it back and forth by the horse. For some horses, this is scary and they may back away. You just act like its no big deal and keep on swing. Start slowly at first and get faster. Some horses don't like you to even wiggle the rope. Keep in mind that you haven't even touched them yet. Linda Parelli, Pat Parelli's wife, has a great story of the first time she did this with her horse. She was wiggling the rope for hours. I don't think your horse is this sensitive. After they are comfortable with the swinging then you start to swing it around their legs, then over their back and over their head. Go slow and work on each section until the horse is comfortable and stand stills. You want them to stand still before you move on. Soon you will be able to swing the rope all over the place and the horse won't even flinch. Then you can start to introduce scarier things like plastic bags, blankets, feed sacks, anything you can think of. Start slow and let them sniff and snort. Then rub it all over their body. Slowness is key and you will want to watch their reaction. If they react take it away, turn your back and pretend like you are playing with it. Make no big deal out of anything. Your horse will start to wonder why you aren't paying attention to them and will come to you. Then you will slowly start over. This is something that you can do every day. You just want to get them used to everything that you can. Some horses are so sensitive and others could care less.

I had a mare that would spook herself with her own tail. A friend of mine tied a feedsack to the saddle with a can and rocks inside and lunged her until she got used to the sack. She freaked out a little and it probably looked more dramatic than it really was, but she was ten times better. We would leave the feedsack hanging by the roundpen so that she would get used to it and not spook. This method is quite a bit different than what I described, but it works too. Like I said, we used to go to barrel races and tie the horses up and watch our friends compete. The horses would stand all day and get used to all the other horses and racket and standing tied. This did wonders for them as well.