Zen Horse

Opening and closing gates is an opportunity to improve your horse’s responsiveness and respect.

Opening and closing gates is a great training tool. If you are one of those people who gets off their horse to open a gate, I encourage you to instead use gates as an opportunity to improve your horse’s responsiveness and respect and your confidence as a rider.

To open or close a gate horseback, your horse must be able to side pass, back up, yield their hindquarters, be patient in a fairly claustrophobic situation, and be respectful and responsive to your cues. In fact, opening and closing a gate is a good test of how well-trained your horse is.

If you can’t open and close gates horseback, it is a big indication that you need to work on your horsemanship fundamentals.

This is not to say that you should just be able to hop on your horse and open or close any gate. Depending on the situation, most horses get nervous performing this activity, which is why you should first break it down into steps.

If you can successfully side pass, yield the hindquarters, and back up under saddle, then you’re ready to open and close gates horseback.

Remember, if you don’t feel confident opening or closing a gate horseback, don’t put yourself in a potentially dangerous situation.

However, once your horse is respectful and responsive to your cues, opening and closing gates is a good way to “check up on him” and a great gauge of his overall respect and training level.

Clinton Anderson's

Tip Of The Week

Clinton will be in Ogden Utah on Jan. 17-18th

Happy Trails,

Danna