When riding horses, it can be quite difficult to judge how the horse or pony will react to the traffic on the road. Unless you are fairly experienced with that particular horse and are aware of all his reactions, there are a few little ways you can adopt to get him used to traffic when riding out.
Your main objective is to move your horse’s attention away from the vehicles and fully onto yourself. Distracting him from his concentration on vehicles approaching from the front or behind will help him adjust his viewpoints and place more of his trust in you as the rider.
Horses and ponies can spook themselves and dance around in the road or worse, bolt, simply by tripping up from lack of concentration. You need to be aware of where your horses focus is because if he is fixated more on his surroundings, he will more than likely ignore your commands and startle himself.
To help break your horse or pony’s concentration from his surroundings and distract his attention from the vehicles on the road you can occasionally tweak the reigns and gently squeeze with your legs to increase the pace and move him into a fast walk. This will help him remember the fact that you are there and giving commands. If he is paying too much attention to other horses and ponies in the fields, you can gently tap his muzzle with your crop.
It is amazing how fast horses and ponies learn if they are taught right. Horses are sensitive to your emotions and so it is vital that you do not get angry, frustrated or scared when teaching. When communicating with your horse when riding him on the roads, it is important to talk to him in a calm but firm pitch, which will demonstrate authority and make him listen to you rather than watching the vehicles.
Keep his attention on you when you are riding by not allowing him to choose his own steps on the route. If you want him to walk over a certain spot in the road that he usually tries to avoid, ride with authority and precision to ensure that he does what you want, where you want and when you want. Listening to you rather than focusing on the vehicles or the neighbouring horses will help him respond to your commands more.
If you are at the first hurdle of walking your horse or pony on the road rather than riding them out, it is crucial that you use a bridle rather than a head collar. This will help you gain more control over him just in case he happens to spook at a vehicle.
A common answer to dealing with traffic when viewing new horses for sale is they are bomb proof. The only way to validate this claim is to watch him being led and ridden out a few times before considering buying him. Watching him out on the roads will let you get a feel for his reactions and whether or not he is sound enough or needs more training.
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