Now you’re probably wondering what I mean by that, or maybe not.

When I was a teenager, many moons ago, I rode and worked at an English barn.  There was a barn up the road that everyone rode Western.  We were friends and spoke often when we met on the trail, but we kind of looked down on each other.

Really not much has changed, but in a way it has.  I knew many Hunt people who looked down on Dressage people, and Western still looks sideways at English, and visa versa.   But more and more you will see cross overs.  There is Western Dressage now.  We’ve seen top Western and Dressage riders demonstrating their versions of the same move.  Does this shed any light on a reality?  Okay so maybe a Dressage horse doesn’t perform a sliding stop, but I’ve sure seen some Western horses do “Airs above ground” to their riders shock.

My point is that teaching you and your horse other disciplines, is not a bad idea.  You don’t have to switch saddles, just ride.

Sure English riders teach their horses to move off their leg, but isn’t more fun to practice it with a set of cones set up like a pole bending course?  Yes we can work our horses at figure eights, but isn’t more interesting to work them in figure eights around two barrels.  It gives you something to base your circle on, and gives the horse something else to think about.  The light bulb comes on when there is another object to focus on.

Good Western Horseman have always posted when they were working their horses at an extended trot. Their basic position is the same as English, just the saddle is different.  They work their horses over low jumps to get themselves and their horses comfortable for either a trail class or just out on the trails.

Some English riders have a great time showing their Western friends that their horses can perform in Gymkhana classes and win.

When you drill your horses on the same thing everyday, they get bored and learn to hate their jobs.  Mix it up a little, keep what they are doing fresh.

I had a young horse years ago that I was breaking, she was extremely smart and learned immediately.  Once she learned something, like trotting or cantering in a circle don’t ask her to do it the next day, she would stop and buck you off.  So every day I had to move cones and barrels just to amuse her, and not let on that she was still doing a circle.

No matter what your discipline is, take your horse on a trail ride.  It clears their mind.

I’ve known some barrel horses that just won’t go through a gate into a ring anymore.  Sour wasn’t the word.  Riders would back them in, have someone lead them in, just short of using a blindfold to get them into the ring.  Try bringing them into a ring with other horses and no barrels, jumps, or Dressage letters, just for relaxation.  Being with a herd is normal and comforting to them.  Show them that a ring can be more than work.  This goes for all disciplines.  Give them time off and trail ride them for a while, they might come back, or they may be done with that line of work.  What I’m trying to say is don’t let them get to that point.  I’m not picking on just barrel horses.  It can happen  in any discipline.  I had a jumper who felt the same way about going in a ring. I’ve known some show horses that hated going around the ring in circles, they just wouldn’t do it anymore.  How many times can you go around, and around, before you learn to hate it.  How many times can you be drilled to do Dressage moves before you hate it.  You’re being put into a frame and never be allowed to stretch you neck down.  With Fox Hunting, a horse either absolutely loves it, or it totally unnerves them.

Now most professionals know when to back off.  A barrel racer, will not run a clover leaf pattern when practicing, they may work them at a trot or collected canter around two barrels doing a figure eight, but rarely at a run and using three barrels.  A good Hunter rider will school their horses over fences, but not over and over again, and certainly not putting the jumps up higher and higher as the horse tires.  A Dressage rider will practice all the moves, not necessarily in a particular pattern, but they will also let the horses relax and stretch.

Keep your horses in love with their jobs, and let them experience others.

If you are in a boring job, that you repeat everyday, over and over again, you know what I am talking about.  Don’t we all look forward to the weekend, a change of pace, to refresh our minds and give us the energy to go back and do the same stuff again on Monday?  Your horse would like that option also.

So if you’re an English rider, trot and then run a set of barrels or poles, just for the fun of it.  If you are a Western rider, see if you can do a Dressage pattern, it’s very similar to a Western Riding pattern.  Get a bunch of friends together and compete against each other in opposite disciplines.

Just have some fun with your horse.  Try it, you’ll like it, and so will they.