Learning to descend the hill
Posted by Irina Yastrebova on Monday, October 22, 2007 07:29 PM
When I first went hacking on Rory I mistakenly assumed she knew how to climb down a hill. And I got myself into a dangerous situation
when we descended a steep one. She wanted to run and didn't really know what to do. She got scared and nervous. I got scared too, because
she felt so out of balance I thought we would topple over. I had to stop her anyway I could and I didn't like doing that.
For the next few rides I took her to less sloppy hills and I slowed her down and even stopped her before things got out of hand. She started to
walk downhill slowly and in balance. Today was our fourth hack and I took her to the steep hill to see how she does. She didn't disappoint me.
On a loose rein she flexed her haunches and climbed down like a cat. It felt great, she was in complete balance and control over her descend.
If you absolutely have to descend a steep hill and you do not know how your horse will perform dismount and walk her in hand.
It will be much safer for both of you. When you are teaching your horse to climb down choose downhill that are faced away from the barn.
You will eliminate a possibility of excitement and inattentiveness..
Happy riding...
|