HorseBack Riding Time

Gate sour horse… won’t turn if headed for the gate!?

I have a draft cross mare, and she’s completely gate sour. At the walk, she normally does alright, although she pushes through my leg a little. At the trot, she’s worse, and I can pull and tug, and push with my leg, and it doesn’t matter, she still slams my leg into the fence. At the canter, I might as well forget it, because there is no way I can get her to turn, she just runs right into the gate, sliding to a stop at the very end. How can I get her to go past the gate at a walk trot and canter without pushing through my legs? I’m using a snaffle with a Leather Chin Strap, if that makes any difference. Also, she’s just green broke under saddle, and she has a tendency to rush out from under leg pressure. However, these things are slowly being corrected, and she’s comming around nicely, its just the gate that I can’t seem to work with.

Start with circles near the gate and start using your outside leg to keep her paying attention. You can carry a dressage whip in your outside hand also, and just tap her shoulder when she starts to skirt towards the gate.Make sure to keep a connection with her mouth, really soft if she’s that green and don’t let your outside rein get too loose. If that doesn’t work what I do to my horse when he gets my leg too close to the wall is to turn her head to the wall but keep her moving, not too much so she does not turn the other way, but enough so she’d hit her head instead of your leg.
Hope that helps!

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