I took Ranger out this afternoon for a training ride. We worked on his gaits, neck reining, controlling his hind and front quarters, backing, stops, and general paying attention. How do you like my training arena?

I found an old abandoned gravel pit not far from where I keep Ranger. It makes a great place for me to work on his mountain trail skills as well as his control skills. So far he’s been impressive. He is extremely sure-footed, quite strong, and very athletic. There are a lot of places to work on steep ascents and descents and the terrain is quite rocky, which will toughen up his hooves. There are also a few long ascents on which I can work on improving his strength and endurance. It’s the perfect training arena for me.

I have been working on keeping his attention focused on the trail ahead of him. He is still suffering from a bit of buddy and barn sour-itis, so I find him often looking in the direction of home and veering off in that direction without a cue from me. When he does that – and I mean even the slightest look in that direction – I pull him into a tight circle with pressure both on the bosal and leg pressure, and sometimes with a touch of the spur. He’s doing a lot better now. There are few things I like less than a horse that is constantly wandering from side to side on the trail, because he’s trying to look toward home or his buddies. I don’t mind a horse that looks around a bit, as long as he stays on the trail and going the direction I point him. I very much enjoy riding a horse that is interested in the trail ahead as much as I am and worries as little about the trail behind him as I do.

I used spurs on Ranger for the first time today, to see how he would react with them. He surprised me by showing that once upon a time he received some good training, probably only 30 days or so when he was two or three, but good training nonetheless. I found that he responded to cues with the spurs that he hadn’t quite figured out just with my heels. Not that he wasn’t responsive with my heels, just that he didn’t recognize what I wanted and it was like teaching him from the get-go. With the spurs he quickly started remembering his former training and I was able to get him to move his fore and hind quarters very well, much better than if I were just starting to teach him. It will still take a bit of work to get him to pick it all up again, but it was obvious he was remembering things from former training. That was a pleasant surprise.

We also worked a bit on trailer loading. I have started working on that at the end of every ride. Seems that he is more in a training mind-set when we get back than when we start. After the ride, once I load him into the trailer I feed him a little and let him rest while I brush him. He is beginning to be much less resistant. I think another week or so will have him walking into the trailer unassisted, which is what I’m looking for.

On the trailer training, I found the resistance-release method works best with him, particularly since I have no helpers. With his halter on and a 12′ lead, I may work on yielding his hind quarters and doing a few other simple exercises to get him focused on me, paying attention, and being obedient. Then I will walk into the trailer, expecting him to simply follow me in (I have a 4-horse slant-load). When that doesn’t happen, from inside the trailer I put fairly heavy pressure on the lead, but not enough to make him want to pull back, and kiss to him, which is my “move” cue for him. Within a couple minutes he will get tired and take a step forward. When (not “if”) he takes that step, no matter how small, I immediately release all pressure an give him a scratch on the forehead and a pat on the neck, without allowing him to back up that step we just gained. I then repeat the process as many times as necessary until I have him stepping into the trailer. It takes patience and persistence. You cannot release pressure until he complies, even a little bit, or you will defeat the training. Also, as the training progresses I require a little more compliance each time, on his part, before releasing pressure. I don’t want him to learn that minimal effort is all that I require.

One other thing I learned today about Ranger. He is so short-coupled that when we are ascending a steep trail, I have to pull my heels back and up out of the way or my spurs will hit his stifles. He really pulls those back legs up under him when he’s ascending. Never had that happen with a Quarter Horse.

Today’s ride was a nice one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Temperatures were in the 40s and no breeze at all. It was nice. Ranger and I are starting to figure each other out and his training is progressing well.