Coaching your pony to cross over hurdles is best done in a managed environment with the least number of possible distractions. Horses are smart animals they can learn pretty quickly. Therein also lies a specific downside that may make coaching them more than challenging: smart animals have attitudes.

Horses would not be well placed to perform complicated and graceful Olympic equestrian manoeuvres if they were not smart. But ask anyone who’s trained a pony for dressage and did so successfully and they’d tell you one of the first hurdles they were forced to overcome was either subdue the proud animal’s attitude or meet it halfway, the latter more desirable than the former.

Your horse wants to get left alone while doing what’s required of her, although you unfortunately can’t just let her do that, unless you have already established thru a cue exactly what it is that you need her to do and how. You can teach her to place her feet where you need them, either whilst from the saddle or from the ground, but whatever cue you want her to be acquainted with, just do not forget to release her from it quickly after she responds in the correct way.

With no regard for the obstacle, you have to be decisive on precisely where you want her to cross. Being more exact helps to make it easier for her to grasp. The key thinking to remember is to always keep her eyes on that focus spot. Try applying your “go forward” cue and release her from it as fast as she responds.

If you’re focusing on the “go forward” cue, you will need to negate all other motions she tries while keeping both her eyes on the same spot as before. Move her back to the left if she moves to the right and vice versa. She’ll will keep moving her head away from the point of focus—just keep turning it back to the spot where you need her to cross. When you happen to spot her pawing or lowering her head, she’s pondering going forward, so apply your cue and reward her responsiveness if she does go forward.

When she reaches the obstacle, allow her curiosity to be satisfied by inspecting it. If the obstacle is water, just let her paw it; if it’s step ups, let her go a foot at a time; for crossovers, let her get a feel for it. The first “step” is always the most important, and if she successfully clears the obstacle then start over from the other side. Repeat till she crosses without delay to the opposite side and back. It’s advisable to work using an obstacle your pony would think she couldn’t cross in an area adequately large to make allowance for safe manoeuvring.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about stable rugs