Halter Obstacle Ideas

[ManyMinisFarm]

What are some obstacles for halter obstacle? Also any tips on training a horse for these obstacles would be greatly appreciated!

 

[amysue]

Bridges, teeter totter, flower boxes, side passing or backing thru poles, cones or barrel mazes or weave poles, ground tieing in a hula hoop and walking through a shredded shower curtain. Use your imagination but keep safety in mind. Work slowly with your horse to get him to trust you that the obstacles are not scary. Practice at home with things like ground tieing, spook resistance training and get him to become bomb proof towards seemingly scary things like tarps or plastic bags or shiny things. You never know what challenges you might face at a horse show and the goal of halter obstacle is to make it a challenge. There are some good books out there with ideas for obstacles and with photos from actual shows that can get you started. Have fun.

 

[paintponylvr]

Also you can check out the halter obstacle info where you can show your horse thru video on line and compete. They post a pattern every month or so (?) - can't remember. You can utilize those for training.

Also besides the things already mentioned - set up a line of step in posts or stakes w/ the ever present plastic grocery bags attached. If breezy at all, they will move around - teach your horse to go forward and to back up thru them. The little "spinners" that the $$ store carries also make good obstacles - to walk around to back between, to weave thru.

 

[CheckTheBarn]

Happy to see this question asked so I can follow the suggestions too!!

I am currently working on setting up a practice area for Boomerang and I to use to get better as a team for this class.

So far I'm doing:

Cavalettis

Hoola Hoop for pivots and ground tying (ALSO WILL PRACTICE WITH TEMPTING BUCKET NEARBY LIKE THEY DO @ NATIONALS)

Garden stakes with pinwheels and fake flowers attached

Bridge (one raised wood, one tarp with flower boxes along edges)

Teeter totter

Pole obstacle for backing thru and sidepassing on

Tarp/shower curtain cut up and hung up to walk thru

Raised narrow plank (I don't know why this obstacle is so hard for us, he KNOWS how to do it, haha)

Clearance halloween spiders and ghosts with flashy eyes and animatronic movement

I think that is all my limited imagination has come up with so far.......

Any other ideas are welcome!!

Now my challenge is that I have a yearling and two year old who have never done this, so I have to learn how to TEACH them effectively.......

 

[Sandee]

Spending lots of time with your horse and always remaining calm and patient enables you to gain his trust. A bit of practice with the obstacles and Loads of Trust are the keys yo a good obstacle horse.

I've worked with my mare since she was a baby and have her total, complete trust. I have been able to present her with obstacles that she's never seen before ( opening an umbrella in her face) and she just looks at me like some bored teenager saying "here we go again", sigh! Lol

 

[ManyMinisFarm]

Thanks for helping with obstacles, yall are great!!

 

[amysue]

Check out the books by Jennifer Garrett. I think star lake tack sells them. They are very informative and easy to follow.

 

[Max's Mom]

One obstacle that hasn't been mentioned is having the horse walk through a heavy duty plastic pool with water in it or a "pit" with plastic soda or water bottles. You could make a pit using a 2x4 or 4x4 wood frame.

You might be asked to trot your horse through closely spaced cones. Often they require quick turns like making a cloverleaf pattern through cones that are only spaced 5 or 6 feet apart.