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Working through resistance is part of every horse training journey. On Day 2 with Red, the focus was on groundwork, side passing, backing, and building softness under saddle. These exercises teach the horse respect, improve body control, and help prepare for more advanced obstacles.
Establishing Respect and Personal Space
One of the first lessons in this session was getting Red to respect his handler’s personal space. Horses naturally crowd humans when they lack boundaries, but that can quickly become dangerous.
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Keep the horse out of your bubble: You need at least an arm’s length of space. If the horse is too close, he isn’t respecting you.
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Give enough lead rope: You can’t ask a horse to stay three feet away if you’re only giving him six inches of slack.
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Correct crooked steps: When backing up, many horses veer sideways. Use your other hand on the rope to straighten their body and bring their attention back to you.
Respect on the ground sets the tone for everything else. If a horse is tuned in to you, he won’t plow over you when startled by outside distractions.
Groundwork: Circles and Backing
Groundwork builds focus and responsiveness before riding. Red practiced walking circles, stopping on command, and backing with straightness.
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Move his feet, not yours: Keep your feet planted and ask the horse to move around you.
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Switching directions: Point and wave at the shoulder to send him left or right.
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Stopping and lowering the head: Pull his face gently toward you, then ask him to drop his head for softness and relaxation.
This creates a horse that looks to you first for direction, even when under pressure.
Building Confidence with Obstacles
Obstacles like tarps and flags are perfect for testing respect and desensitizing horses. With Red, the tarp exercise revealed how far he had come:
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Approach and touch calmly.
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Reward a quiet response.
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Progress to riding over the obstacle once trust is established.
Good horses can sometimes “ruin” horsemanship by being so easy that riders let boundaries slide. These exercises ensure consistency and safety with every horse.
Side Passing and Flexion Under Saddle
One of the biggest challenges riders face is getting a clean side pass. Red showed resistance at first, but with correct timing and release, he improved dramatically.
Key Side Passing Tips:
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Start with forward motion. Always send the horse forward before asking for sideways steps.
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Use leg and rein together. Tap with the leg, guide with the rein, and immediately release when the horse gives.
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Stay soft and relaxed. If you get too assertive, the horse may stall out.
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Keep kissing and tapping together. This keeps energy forward so the horse doesn’t stop at the wall.
Flexion work—keeping hands low, locking reins to the leg, and preventing over-flexing—helped Red stay soft without stalling.
Backing Circles for Better Control
To refine control of Red’s body, backing in circles became the “homework.”
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Think of it as an octagon. Back, adjust, release, and back again.
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Over the butt rule. Pull the rein across your body toward the horse’s hip to move the hindquarters.
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Release quickly. The horse learns through the timing of release, not by constant pulling.
This exercise improves communication between rein and leg, teaching the rider exactly how to move the horse’s shoulders and hips independently.
Success Comes in Small Steps
Horse training isn’t about big breakthroughs—it’s about small, consistent wins. In this session, Red learned to:
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Respect personal space on the ground.
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Move with softness and attention.
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Side pass with less resistance.
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Back with control and straightness.
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Tackle obstacles with confidence.
By the end, Red was softer, more responsive, and far more relaxed than when he started.
Final Thoughts
Working through resistance on obstacles and side passing requires patience, timing, and consistency. The biggest lesson from Day 2 with Red is that success is a lot of small things done right. When a horse gives even a single step in the right direction, release and reward immediately.
With steady repetition, horses like Red become safer, softer, and more willing partners—on the ground and under saddle.
