Horseback Riding 101

Lesson 4: Beginning to Ride: Walk and Halt

When in doubt

Halt. Just halt. If you are afraid because of something the horse is doing or because you are doing something you think might be wrong, or if something in the environment is frightening you, halt. It is always a proper response in order to assess a situation, ask for help or even dismount if your fear or the situation seems overwhelming. There are even times to dismount and leave the horse to his own devices. For example, if a sudden hailstorm comes up and the horse is too tense for you to handle and walk back to the barn, either mounted or leading, dismount and remove the bridle if you can (if not, tie a knot in the reins, making them really short, and lay the reins on the neck, shut the gate to the arena or door to the indoor arena, and run for help. The horse will take care of himself. They have been, for thousands of years. He may even jump out to head for shelter under a tree or in an aisle.

Mind, this is an operation for EXTREME cases. Ordinarily, you would not want to leave a horse unattended for any reason. They are valuable animals, and they are living beings, and we have a duty to protect them insofar as we are able at any given moment.

I used the hailstorm example because I experienced something similar. I had already ridden and was taking the 23-year-old gelding I was leasing back to his stall in the far back aisle of a very large riding academy. Halfway there, he began to be very jumpy. Despite being a Thoroughbred and having raced in his youth, he was a kind, calm old boy even when I had him cranked up to jump courses. So I was at a loss. He was seriously jogging me down that aisle, although I was shanking him pretty hard with the reins. (Shanking means to give a good hard tug to the lead rope attached to a halter, or a lesser sharp tug to the reins on a bridle so the bit won’t totally demolish the mouth.) I was talking to him calmly, stroking his mane when I could and generally thinking quiet thoughts. But still, he was a mess. I got him around the corner to his aisle and as I was using my free hand to open his stall door, he whirled and kicked the aisle wall hard with his hind feet.

Yipes! I literally tossed him into his stall and slammed the door. He quieted almost immediately, enough that I could run in and dared to quickly loosen the throatlatch on his bridle—I left the noseband attached---and slip it off his head and get out.

Within a minute, huge hailstones began hitting the metal roof, and I knew he had heard it coming miles away when I hadn’t, and it had frightened him and he wanted the security of his stall. He stayed calm while it passed, despite the terrific din. He was safe in his stall, as he knew he would be and had tried very hard to get there very fast.

Had I been on him when he began acting that way, I’d have dismounted. Had I been alone and unable to control him in the arena without danger to myself and no one to help, I’d have hopped off, pulled the bridle off just as I did, and shut the door to the arena, or, if I had been in the outside arena, the gates. He might have jumped out and made a beeline for his stall, but I would not have been in danger, and neither would he, really.

As it was, I left the saddle on him until after the storm had passed. Then I got him out of his stall, removed his saddle, groomed him, gave him his favorite oats and honey granola bar, and life went back to normal.

Another ‘when in doubt’ maneuver, one for the more benign sort of difficulties, such as loosing your balance a little, or if the horse breaks into a trot because you ask him too hard to walk (and as you practice, your legs get stronger and you may unwittingly do that), is grab mane. Just reach up, keeping the reins, and grab a hunk of mane in front of the saddle. The horse won’t mind, and you’ll be much happier solidly in your seat than wobbling around and miserable.

And we did talk about the halt, right? If you are seriously upset for any reason, even if your instructor is yelling at you to go on, halt. Just halt. If your instructor is too insensitive to deal with real concerns—or even what to him or her might seem imaginary ones—then halt and consider, in fact, finding a different instructor who will deal with the realities that everyone’s path to riding competence is different and worthy of respect and consideration. A simple halt might cut the instructor sheep from the goats, to your good fortune in the long run!

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