Trailriding Etiquette

I have two sets of rules by which I trail ride.  The first set of rules I'll detail as the general etiquette of trail riding, as how to interact with other riders in your group and other riders on the trail.

1 - Wear a helmet.  You only get one melon.

2 - Keep a distance of at least one horse length between you and the horse in front of you.  This allows for sudden stops, starts, spooks, and kicking while minimizing the odds of a horse getting stepped on, kicked, or pulling a shoe because the horse behind him jumped on his foot.

3 - If you are the leader and if you are going to go faster (like from a walk into a trot), be sure to tell all the riders behind you before you speed up.  Ask if it's ok with them so that they're not caught unawares with part of the herd taking off unannounced.  This stresses out the horses in the back. 

4 - If you are the leader and are going to slow down (like from trot to walk), be sure and raise a hand into a stopping signal and/or holler at the group behind you so that they know you're decelerating.  No one likes rear-end collisions.

5 - If there are low-hanging branches, duck under them.  Don't hold them aside or lift them over your head, because they will then crash into the rider behind you.

6 - If there are footing problems such as holes or rocks, holler at the people behind you to keep an eye out.

7 - As a rider in the back, it is your job to keep up with the group.  Unless your horse is having a meltdown and you need the others to wait for you for safety reasons, it's your responsibility to keep up with them.  If your horse walks slowly, you may need to lengthen his stride or trot occasionally to keep pace.  Don't race up to the group or let him gallop to make up distance, this stresses out all the horses to hear someone pounding down the trail behind them.

8 - When you meet other riders on the trail, generally I yield the right-of-way to whoever is going uphill.  If some of the horses are nervous and need to step off the trail to make room, respect that and be encouraging.

9 - Keep your horse's halter on under his bridle.  Bring an extra leadrope as well as your trail riding first aid kit, and keep your car keys and phone on your person.  You don't want to be caught having fallen off your horse who then gallops away with your keys and phone tied to his saddle!

10 - Never ride alone - this is a good rule for all riding, not just on the trails.  You never know when you'll need help when you ride an unpredictable prey animal.

My second set of trail riding rules are specific to riding nervous or green horses on the trail.  These are things I do to make sure they learn to love trail riding and learn how to be brave in the face of new things.  I prefer to take youngsters or green horses out with older, more seasoned veterans for their first rides to gain confidence.  Then I adhere to these rules which the horse learns very quickly:

A - If the green horse gets scared, look away from the scary thing.  If you don't know what the scary thing is, just look away from its general direction.  Bend your horse away from it, too.  He's less likely to spook at it if he isn't focusing on it.  If looking away from the scary thing doesn't work, then...

B - Get close to whatever horse you're riding with.  Often it works best if you put the seasoned trail horse in between the green horse and the scary thing.  That way from the green horse's perspective, his older friend will protect him from the horse monster.  But if not, the friend will get eaten first by the horse monster leaving green horse time to escape.  But if not, and the green horse spooks, at least he won't run into his seasoned friend and cause a wreck.  And if THAT doesn't work....

C - The green horse is allowed to trot on by the scary thing.  I don't generally allow bolting, bucking, kicking, or rearing, but if it is just too scary to deal with at a calm walk, a controlled trot is acceptable to get past the scary thing.  Sometimes the hardest thing for a green horse is to walk slowly, thinking about all the predators waiting in the shadows for him, but if he's trotting he has a purpose and something to keep his brain (and feet) busy.

D - This is one of the tricks I use later in the process, but it has worked with quite a few horses who couldn't muster the courage to go forwards past something scary.  It's also pretty fun to watch if you're not on the horse doing it.  If the green horse absolutely cannot go forwards because he is too scared (or stubborn, or whatever the case may be), and yet your only option is to go past the scary thing, I sometimes will turn them around and have them back past it.  This goes well with rule "C", because horses can trot backwards remarkably well.  So if it's the only way past that scary neon yellow umbrella, I will turn him around and he can go backwards as fast as he wants.  This works because he can go towards the scary thing with his weapons (hind feet) facing it.  Plus everyone riding with me gets a kick out of seeing him trot backwards.