06/15/2026
Show Horse to Trail Horse: First Ride Outside with Spotlight
Today is going to be our first ride outside.
Spotlight showed me on our last ride that he had an excellent foundation under saddle and no major holes that needed fixed before we safely stepped outside of the indoor arena.
So, to set both of us up for the best experience, I lunged him first in the grass near the obstacles.
As I expected, Spotlight was very distracted and higher energy. He lunged just fine with no pulling or dragging me around, but he literally looked outside the entire time he was circling me, no matter what gait he was in.
So my first task was to fix that.
Granted, he was doing the job I asked, but that lack of focus is going to be a detriment later when we encounter tough spots on the trail. I need a horse that will look to me for leadership, not one that is scanning the horizon looking for threats.
To me, groundwork is about getting your horse communicating with you. He needs to be able to read your body language and understand how to take cues.
So, I worked on bumping his nose in toward the middle as he went around me. Each time he looked away, I either changed his direction to bring his attention back to me, or I bumped his nose in.
In the end, I want a horse that is wrapped around me with both his body and his mind.
It took a while to get there, but it was not unexpected. He had already shown me this tendency in our previous sessions. I know that by taking the time now, I am setting myself up for a better first ride outside, and I am also helping him learn to focus better on future rides. Once his attention was better, I mounted up.
By the time I was riding, he was in a much better place mentally and physically. He went all around the obstacles calmly and willingly. He did have a couple of “oh look at that dog/cat/bird” moments, but I was able to bring his attention back quickly by asking for a change of direction or a circle.
At that point, we had all the signs that it was time to try an obstacle.
Now, he had already been on the obstacles during groundwork, but under saddle can be a different story. So, I always start with the easy ones.
The poles were easy peasy. The flat bridge only got a moment of hesitation.
He did sidestep a water puddle in the grass, so I ignored that for now and made a mental note to work on it later.
It is so easy to get distracted by every training issue that pops up, but I have to remind myself that today is an evaluation, not a “fix everything” ride.
He did the big bridge great until he got to the end and then stepped off quickly.
Now anyone who rides with me knows that I find that unacceptable. I want a horse to begin and end the obstacle just as quietly as they do the middle. If we allow them to step off with anxiety, we are telling them that behavior is acceptable. It is not.
If this were a muddy water crossing, I would not want him leaping out and possibly falling down or wrenching a tendon. Remember that the step out of the obstacle is just as important as the rest of it.
You are training good behaviors and good habits.
So what do I do?
I repeat the obstacle until they are more comfortable. They are usually leaving quickly because they are unsure and want to get off. So, repetition is your friend.
I will also halt right at the edge of the obstacle, before they step off, and show them that it is okay to slow down and even rest on the obstacle instead of only finding release when they get off.
Then we moved on to the water box.
I was pleasantly surprised that he went through with no worries. Well, until he rushed his back feet and slipped and stumbled all over and out of the box 😂
Remember what I said about not rushing at the end?
This is why it matters.
So I repeated the water box a few times until he was more careful with his feet and more confident about his footing.
Now for our last obstacle, the tilting bridge.
The tilting bridge may not seem like a scary obstacle, but for most horses, it is. It moves under their feet, and that just does not feel right to a horse. It feels unsafe, and a horse does not want to feel unsafe.
We had a few “oh no” moments on the bridge when it rocked. He was definitely not a fan and was not sure about the ground moving under his feet at all.
I will be posting a short reel of these scary moments on Wednesday, along with his improvement.
Then on Thursday, I will post the full tilting bridge session for the people who are interested in the training process, how we handle situations like this, and how we improve them.
Stay tuned! ⭐️
