So one thing I most frequently get asked is do I have to have a round pen to do groundwork with my horse, and the answer is no.
You can get a lot accomplished without one, you don’t absolutely need one, although they do make life easier, especially if you’re starting a horse under saddle or you have a very green horse, they definitely help, but they are not absolutely necessary.
So, with that being said, it’s very important that you have the right tools to do groundwork without a round pen or to do groundwork in general.
So this is my favorite halter right here, it’s just a four-knot halter and it’s very lightweight. As you can see, it’s very well-fitted on her. You don’t want to be using a halter that does not fit your horse very well. And then I have this 12-foot lead rope that I really like.
I like anywhere between 12 and 15 feet because you can really get them out there, you can lunge them, but you can also bring them really close to you or do desensitizing with the end here, so I really like a lead this long especially when I’m not in a round pen.
One thing I do not recommend is using a nylon halter, those do not have the same feel as these kinds of halters do and it’s harder to get accomplished what you need to get accomplished with it, and horses oftentimes will lean on them.
And if you’re lunging, you have to switch sides, every time you want to go to the other side you have to clip this over here because there’s a little latch, and it’s just kind of a hassle.
So for groundwork purposes, I really prefer these kinds of halters.
And then lastly, you will need some sort of whip or flag, this is my personal favorite, it is a flag. I love this not only to encourage my horses to go forward, but I also love desensitizing horses to it.
As you can see, she’s not quite used to it, so that’s something that we will work on, but this is a really, really handy tool right here.
So the last thing I wanted to mention about doing groundwork with your horse without a round pen is really to utilize your surroundings and just have fun with it.
One of the things that I like to do is back my horse through a cluster of trees, or I like to send them over ditches, over logs, I’ll have them side pass over a log. You can really get creative with it and have a lot of fun.
Alright y’all, I hope I gave you some ideas and maybe helped you out with your groundwork, and I will see you in the next video. Bye guys!