I worked on his patience training<\/a> to help his stand quietly as I operate the latch.<\/p>\n I worked on backing between cones, then through gaps in the gate and other narrow places.<\/p>\n I worked on him standing while I shifted in the saddle or did something else with my hands. In addition to spending heaps of time with our favorite metaphor, the tarp, I\u2019ve also spent lots of time working on gates with Brio. I\u2019m a firm believer that a good horse should let his feet become his riders feet. When I ride a horse through a gate, I want to open the gate, and … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/hcequestrian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/6c5d1909-4b48-421a-a203-02399c12b698.jpg\")
<\/a>I used this set up to have control over the narrowness of the space I wanted Brio to get comfortable in<\/i>
\nI worked on having him stand by the gate as it swings away from him and towards him. This is fun to do with a partner, playing \u201ccatch\u201d with the gate with riders mounted on either side. This was a particularly difficult task for him. ( There was a point where he got fed up with the game, jumped onto a plastic lawn chair and got loose…twice in one day)<\/p>\n
\nAgain, the gate wasn\u2019t so much of an issue as the aspects of his training that were lacking in his response to a gate. We worked on all of these training aspects on the ground prior to doing them mounted. The gate was a test of his skills and training and he failed. Rather than take the test again with no additional preparation, we went back to study the curriculum that he wasn\u2019t understanding.
\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/hcequestrian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/img_8564.jpg\")
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\nThe process took quite some time, and isn\u2019t perfect yet. As a result, Brio is much better at opening a gate and we can do it the way I like now. While it has taken me months of training to get to this point with the gate, the journey has given me a better riding horse with more malleability. These days we are getting about a B- on our gate test. Breaking down the skill into parts makes it much easier for horse and rider to understand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"