Training Tip: Groundwork Ensures a Safe and Hassle-Free Ride

If your horse is fresh, disrespectful or has a bad attitude on the ground, guess what he’ll be like under saddle? Worse! Get all of the kinks out of your horse on the ground so that when you get on you won’t run into problems. Horse problems come from two causes: a lack of respect or fear, or in some cases, a combination of both. By teaching your horse the groundwork exercises in the Fundamentals Series, you address both causes. The sensitizing exercises, applying pressure and asking the horse to move his feet, earn respect from the horse, and the desensitizing exercises, asking the horse to stand still when pressure is applied, eliminate any fear the horse has. By eliminating those causes on the ground, it prevents you from having to deal with them under saddle. Any trouble you run into when you ride is usually proof of lack of preparation on the ground.