Training Tip: Take Your Horse’s Backing to the Next Level

In the Fundamentals Series, we teach our horses four methods of backing up on the ground. Each method of backing is designed to teach the horse a different concept and is important to building a solid foundation.

You’ll often hear me say that the better you can get a horse to back up, the more responsive he will be in everything else that you ask him to do. A respectful horse backs up with energy anytime you want. If you don’t back your horse up, he will get pushier and more disrespectful.

Once your horse has mastered the four methods of backing up in the Fundamentals Series and has completed all of the level’s groundwork exercises, you can increase the challenge by teaching him the Intermediate Series lesson Outback Exercise. In the Outback Exercise, you’ll teach him to back away from you without moving your feet. If you can back your horse up without moving your feet, you’re establishing even more respect and control.

The goal of the exercise is to back the horse away from you in a perfectly straight line without ever having to move your feet. He should respectfully back away from you when you wiggle your finger at him, with the belly of the rope never leaving the ground. Then you should be able to draw him back up to you by gently combing the lead rope through your hand.

Not only does the Outback Exercise teach the horse to back away from you off the lightest amount of pressure possible, but it also teaches him to come forward anytime he feels the slightest pressure behind his ears. A lot of horses want to brace up and pull back when they feel pressure behind their ears. This exercise will improve the horse’s drive (moving away from you) as well as his draw (coming to you).

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