Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hello Angie,
First you need to desensitize the horse to having his tail messed with. I
do that with all my horses in their pens until I can grab the tail at
anytime and ask them to move forward and pull me around the pen and I
lean back hard. After I'm confident that they will not kick I start
tailing on trails but I always start with a tired horse and with somebody
walking ahead of me on a narrow trail and not necessarily up a hill. The
idea is to get the horse used to dragging me along behind on a trail or
wherever while pulling on their tail. Another good place to practice is
walking into a vet check. Once the horse seems confident and will walk in
the lead or alone with me dragging along on his tail I will start on
hills. The problem with hills is if the horse has not been previously
schooled he will just keep turning sideways on the hill and drive you
nuts. The other thing is to pick the right hill and trail combo at first.
Not too steep a hill and a narrow brush or bush lined trail where the
horse cannot turn easily helps. I use a 10ft long single reign with
scissor snaps and I remove it from the bit and connect one snap to the
halter and the other of course goes with me back to the tail. If you stay
connected to the bit (or whatever you normally use to ride) then every
little tug will make the horse want to turn or stop and now this will
drive both of you nuts. 
I have found that a familiar place is also a good place to practice. I
have a 150yard distance from the wash rack to the tree where I tie my
horses for trimming, saddling and treats. There is the usual scarry
trailer, flagpole, neighbor's truck, etc. along the way but the horses
know there are goodies at the tree and will try real hard to get there
while I drag along behind on their tails. Good luck,
Don Huston


At 06:55 AM 7/3/2007 Tuesday, you wrote:
> Hi - can anyone give me pointers
> on how to train a horse to tail?  I can be reached privately at
> tracetribute at yahoo dot com. 
>  
> Angie Fura 
> Trace Tribute
> 25/55 
> www.tracetribute.com

Don Huston at cox dot net
SanDiego, Calif