Ask The Trainer

When looking to purchase an unbacked horse, are their particular behaviours on the lunge line or in the round pen that you should look at, that can give you an idea of what the horses temperament will be under saddle

What I look at is the horse's general personality. If the horse is spooky and nervous when on the ground, he is likely to be spooky under saddle. Horses that are more relaxed on the ground are more likely to be comfortable when ridden. A horse's attitude if it is good should not change when we start to ride him. Green horses that are lunged or round penned will kick up and prance around but although they may have, a lot of "attitude" this does not mean it is a bad attitude. This also depends on who is lungeing or round penning the horse. If a horse shows signs of definite aggression or they are extremely jumpy, it could be a precursor to how they will behave when we ride them. It is important to spend the time to mentally prepare the horse to be ridden.

Most horses will not buck or bolt if we make sure they are ready before we put the first ride on them. It is also important to slowly let them get used to being ridden for longer periods. Some horses will buck when they are first saddled, but this does not mean they will buck when we get on. It does not mean they won't. How we as trainers prepare and implement the lessons we teach will have a lot bearing on how willing the horse is.

Will Clinging 2004 (c)

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