One of my biggest, most giganticus pet peeves with show horses is most of them have no ground manners whatsoever. 1.30m jumper, worth 80 plus grand but walks all over you, leaves you behind without a second thought, or runs you down for the closest feed tub. That, in my books, is totally unacceptable in any case and is something that needs more value in this industry. If your horse won't stand nicely for you and walk nicely beside you while respecting your space, why in the world would they respect you doing anything else at greater speeds or with you on their back?
In horse training, it's the little things that matter. And ground tying is a wonderful little thing that can make a HUGE difference everywhere you go with your horse!
It takes a lot of patience and calm persistence, but it pays off in the end. Worth every second of training, I promise!
So where do you start with teaching your horse to ground tie? It's easy. Start where you would normally have them stand for grooming and tacking up; ie cross ties, tie post, etc. But this time they are only attached to you, not to a solid object. Just hang your lead over your arm and get to work grooming away. For the first little bit you'll have a salsa dancer on your hands but stay calm and quiet, and use subtle cues to keep moving them back to your "grounded" spot. Each time they stand in that spot without thinking about moving or shifting their weight, reward them with praise and treats! Don't have too high expectations for them, so you won't lose your cool, but have the aim at them learning where their grounded spot is. And as long as they are in it, they get some positive reinforcement for being so wonderful! Your first few cracks at it will show a learning curve and while it may be super frustrating at first, keep calm and keep it positive so they'll catch on to the happy place. After about 3 or 4 sessions you should start to see some wonderful improvement, and you'll be able to start moving around them while they stay grounded.
From there, just work at it every time you bring your horse out to play. Don't rely on cross ties and tie posts to force your horse into standing, work at teaching them some mental control, patience and discipline! This works out great later for liberty work, it also acts as an immediate precursor for training your horse to respect your space and walk beside you calmly. You might not know it, but by deciding the terms, asking your horse to follow your lead of standing where and when and then rewarding that action; you are becoming a confident leader for them. And the benefits of that are never ending. Ground tying can become a useful tool to have at shows, clinics, schooling trips off property and for just hanging around the barn; whether it be to prepare your horse for tying, needing to leave your horse with a "non horsey person" to walk a course, or maybe because you forgot something on the trailer; a horse with patience and the know how of when and where to stand is an invaluable tool!
All 3 of my boys have learned to stand during grooming and tack up, as well as "wait around while mum gets her life together" before we play or ride. But none are so perfect as my Johnny bear. Given I've had the most time to perfect his ground tying, he is a prime example that ANY horse can learn to ground tie. When I first got Johnny he used to step all over me, he'd panic at the smallest things and even cross ties made him super nervous. So I started small and over time he's become a very patient man; and braver because of it. He is to the point where I can leave him ground tied in a field to go get something I left on the side lines and he'll wait patiently for me to return; he won't even bend down to nibble grass until our session is over. Now THAT, is respect.
Just for fun, I made a silly video of him ground tied during our grooming session the other day. The arena was very loud and he was not impressed with the storm outside, but he still stood like a gentleman while I groomed away.
Now come on, tell me you don't want a horse that stands so wonderfully (and is so handsome) while you work away?
Til next time...
Make good choices and play with your horses!
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