Well we started out without normal warm-up around the property. First five minutes is bending exercises, next 10 minutes is whoa and backing up, and then whatever from there. Those are my two main focuses right now though. After this we hit the road. For almost the first 10-15 minutes there were a lot of times she wanted to turn back but I pushed her on. We reached the trail head about a half mile from home and she instantly relaxed forgetting what home was. This trail in particular runs along a shallow river up above it, and has an embankment that slopes down to the water. We rode for about a half hour down the trail and back up and then I decided to attempt to see if I could get her to go across the river. I've tried it quite a few times before but I could never get her within 30 feet of the water and didn't have any training aids to help. But this time I was on no time frame.
My thought on introducing a horse to something new is to always do it from the ground first. It helps them develop trust in their rider and helps them get through their next challenge even easier. So off I went and flipped the reins over her head. Pulling didn't do much of anything so I tried moving her back and forth in a serpentine and just getting her moving her legs forward which worked for all of 5 feet in 20 minutes. After this I made a crop from a tree branch and grabbed the reins with my right hand and used the crop with my left hand behind me tapping her on the hindquarters and butt. Within 10 minutes and a lot of "GOOD GIRL"s later we were only a couple feet from the water. A couple more taps on the rear and her feet and mine hit the water.
At this point she finally relaxed and I watched her posture relax realizing that the moving water wouldn't eat her. I jumped up on her and asked her to move forward which she did right out into the middle of the river which was all of maybe 2' deep. We turned to head down the river and rode off for about 10 minutes all while working her much the same way I do out of the water. We worked on flexing, stopping, backing up, etc. We even got into a very nice trot that ended up making her, me, the saddle, and everything else rather wet. After we got out I rode up the trail about 5' and turned her back towards the water and she went right back in. I did this about 10 times incrementing the distance away every time until I got all the way back to the trail head and turned around and went back and went right into the water again. I think I've helped her overcome this fear she had of rivers, but I guess we'll see.
Next up was the local bridge. When Nova first started training she seemed rather fearless, was never concerned about anything and nothing scared her. She led a seasoned gelding on her first ride for almost 15 miles. But since then she has developed a fear of bridges, no matter how big or small. So I went to the small bridge around the corner from our house and used the same technique as the river to help her get over it. She still needs a bit more work as the road is much wider than the trail head was so she has more ability to avoid moving forward, but we're getting there. I had her cross the bridge several times and after getting her on the bridge I worked with her on there, turning her, flexing her, etc to help her get more comfortable with it.
So anyways in a recap I was able to help Nova get over a couple of her fears today and hopefully instill some more trust into me so that when she comes to a nervous situation in the future she knows that I wouldn't take her into somewhere dangerous!
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