Building Confidence: Groundwork is GREAT.

I think one of the biggest concerns for plus sized riders, right after 'being too heavy to ride' is getting hurt - particularly if you are a middle aged or older and have realized that you don't bounce so much anymore as splat.

Some of the health complications with being plus sized (and I am not even talking morbidly obese here) really bring to the forefront the worries. For example, though I don't worry much about myself (except that I hate falling and used to bail off of a horse the minute that it started to get a little naughty, which Bronwyn has "unlearned" in me), I worry about my father. He has an old back injury and I worry that his centre of balance will be different and less effective than it used to be. It seems like recovery from injuries are longer for plus sized people.

Though there is no surefire way to avoid getting dumped or hurt on horseback, I am a big fan of groundwork as a good way to work on avoiding it in many cases.

A lot of people think of groundwork as merely a stepping stone in the process to preparing a horse for riding, and only in that context, I have found ground work to be an excellent tool for many other things.


- > Of course, a horse can never NOT benefit from longeing or ground driving as reminders about their cues in the saddle. With my own horses, I am always 100% sure that they know what the verbal cues mean from the ground so they can translate to the saddle. This means a cluck the clues for upward transitions, downward transitions, and complete halts. I like knowing that these are really deeply instilled in a horse before I ride (especially the "whoa!" so that if, for some reason, I am incapacitated or something happens that I no longer have control (ie drop a set of split reins or something), I can still get a response even if the horse does not have seat signals down pat.

This was useful earlier this winter when I dropped one side of my english reins riding Bronwyn bareback in the snow, in the dark. She got a little scared and no doubt would have continued - if I had done a one rein stop and pulled her around, I probably would have fallen off myself, so I gave her the "Whoa" command, and voila... nice, square, FULL stop.

- > Spook proofing! You are at a much safer advantage, if you are an aware horseman, from the ground when introducing your horse to things that may scare them on the trail or in you day to day rides and adventures. The more things you introduce a horse to, fortunately, the less scared they are of the next new thing, and eventually, you have a three year old that bravely and confidently walks out of a barn, into a county fair with huge rides going, music and loudspeakers blaring, hot air balloons firing close overhead and children running underfoot.

One of my favourite things to do is go to the local dollar store and buy as many "scary" things as I can find. Hula hoops, tarps, noisemakers, cap guns, and ribbon-shooting pop guns are some of my favourites. I am known to love bringing home new "toys" to expose my horses to. I also saw, once upon a time, a fantastic set of CDs with parade noises and the various noises a horse would encounter in various situations. If anyone has a link to that or Google skills that are marginally better than mine, I'd love to see a link to them in the comments! I thought they were great and think it would be awesome to invest in some of them this winter!

- > Ground work, especially prior to a saddle session, can give me a really good idea of where the horse's head is at, mentally. Should I be looking out for spooks on this ride? Would we be better off in the arena or confined riding area today, or is a trail ride an option? I guess I am most interested in all of this because I have been routinely dealing with green horses for the last ten years. In fact, I haven't owned a "broke" horse in that long! If I can work on things that, at least for the time being, are going to be acceptable to the horse's mental capacity that particular day, I stand less of a chance of getting dumped, and that, my friends - is a very good thing.

- > Frequent ground work really helps you know whether your horse is off. When you use it as a tool often enough, you really get to know your horse. There is a constant debate about green rider plus green horse equals black and blue, and I generally agree with that point. With that said, I think there is a great deal of benefit to a horse and rider relationship if the rider doesn't immediately get on and spend all their time riding but instead spends a lot of time on the ground, watching their horse and learning what their normal way of going and behaviour is. You become so in tune, at that point, that you know whether your horse really needs to be longed or if he can handle just a quick turn or two around on the longeline, or if they are off or minimally unsound.

Add to all of this that you can teach your horse things from the ground that will truly benefit you as a plus sized rider - for example, to sidle up to a fence or large mounting block and stand still... patience and appropriate behaviour in situations that might be found to be scary (ie getting tangled up in a rope or things blowing against the horse's legs).

I have found that ground work and play (since I don't just do things related to saddle work, I also clicker and trick train/play with Bronwyn) truly cement the bond you have with your horse and how well you are able to read them and gauge 'normal' or irregular behaviours in them and how quickly you can assess a situation that might get you injured.

There are absolutely no cons to spending time on the ground with your horse and I truly believe that is the making of a true horseman, and not just a horseback rider. I think more people should become interested and well versed in reading horses and their behaviours and mindsets before mounting up - a ton of accidents could be avoided this way.

Winter is a great time to get this done if you don't have a place to ride indoors or aren't able to balance the equation of dressing warmly but still being able to ride.

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Right now, we are getting a crazy amount of wind and snow. I sure wish this would all go away so I could get some riding done - I am definitely envious of you out there with indoor riding rings and heated barns. Take advantage of them with me in mind! :)