You don’t need to have a big fancy obstacle course at your disposal to introduce your horse to a lot of the obstacles he’s likely to encounter on the trail. Most obstacles can be made fairly easily and inexpensively. You just have to put forth a little effort and creativity.
For example, you can use a wood pallet to simulate a bridge, PVC pipes or landscaping timbers as stand-ins for logs, you can dig a trench to get your horse used to stepping into and out of gullies, or you can let the hose run in the corner of your arena to create a puddle or muddy area to work your horse. Obstacles don’t need to be elaborate to teach your horse to use the thinking side of his brain when confronted with a strange object; you just need a consistent approach.
One of the simplest and best scary objects you can introduce to your horse that will allow you to practice most of the skills required for getting your horse across any obstacle on the trail is the plastic tarp. Teaching your horse how to cross over a tarp gets him used to stepping onto an object that moves and makes a noise. Anytime your horse will respect and trust you to move over something that moves and makes a noise, it’s a great sign that he’s using the thinking side of his brain.
