This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No. 20
So much of groundwork is not only about preparing your horse, but helping you to be able to see when things don’t look right before you get on. If you can see the trouble and work through it, you can stay safer.
If it’s summer and it’s 90 degrees by 9 o’clock in the morning, many of you get by on horses that aren’t very well started. But in the fall, when it’s frosty in the morning and they’ve been shivering in the night, if you think you’re just going to saddle up and trot off into the sunset, it’s those kind of mornings that you might get bucked off.
I would like my horse to have no reaction when I toss my slicker up on the saddle. Someday I might need to tie my coat behind my saddle and I would like to be able to walk up and do that with no reaction on his part I want him to be gentle.
But first I have to pay my dues so he knows this slicker is not going to hurt him.
Back Issue Reference
EH #1 Getting off on the Right Foot with Buck Brannaman
EH #8 Flag Work on the Ground with Buck Brannaman
