Trail Etiquette
_Kenny Harlow

                                    
  What exactly is "trail etiquette"?  That question can branch off into many
different directions and pertain to many different things.  Some people think of trail etiquette as
respecting other people on the trail but it goes further than that.   It also involves respecting the
trail itself as well as the landowners who allow us to ride through their property. 

  One of the main reasons that I'm writing this article comes from my recent experiences on
public rides as well as rides of my own done with large groups.  On these rides you find all levels
of horses and all levels of riders, from unbrokes and beginners to experienced and seasoned horses and riders. 

  Running up behind people, passing people without warning, running into or crowding people
can be dangerous with a known group of people, but when you factor in the variety of horses
and riders you find on large group rides, the potential for problems is huge.  What seems to
happen is that people feel secure and think only of themselves when they are sitting on a well-broke,
well-behaved horse when in reality, they are probably in as much danger as anyone else.  They end
up running up on other horses not knowing if the horse is unbroke, green-broke or aggressive
and they are setting themselves and/or their horses up to get kicked. 

   It is very important to read the animal that you are sitting on and to
evaluate those around you.  If you have a horse that pins it's ears at others and
you do nothing about it, you are setting yourself up to get kicked.  Some horses
don't take kindly to being threatened, which is what your horse is doing each
time it pins it's ears, and will react to aggression with aggression.  Passing other
horses on the trail can be dangerous for you as well as the person that you are passing. 
If you happen to be passing a green horse without warning, it could either
kick or take off bucking as you pass, setting off a chain reaction and putting
other horses and riders at risk.  It is common courtesy to ask permission to pass
someone, giving them plenty of warning and time to move over out of the way. 
Taking a moment to be polite can avoid a potential wreck. 

   Riding too close to or crowding the horse in front of you can also cause
problems out on trail.  What exactly is too close?  You are too close to the
horse in front of you if you can't see the back feet of that horse while you are
sitting normally in your saddle or if you can't count to three before reaching
an obstacle that the horse  in front of you just passed.  You can take a
well-broke horse that has never had a kicking problem and turn  him into a
kicker by the end of the day simply by having a crowding horse behind him. 
When you are too close to the horse in front of you your horse can't clearly
see the ground and often ends up stumbling or tripping over objects in the trail. 
Crowding on the trail is like tailgating on the highway, not only is it very annoying
to the horse and rider being crowded but, sudden stops can end up in
multiple horse pile-ups that often end in aggressive behavior.  Most wrecks can
be avoided by using common sense and common courtesy. 

                                   

   We generally teach forward movement out on trail and use the terrain to reinforce the lesson.  When working 
with unbrokes or green-broke horses, we use hills to teach the go-forward cue.  We will ask for a trot or a
canter at the bottom of the hill, following behind a well-broke horse, and will use the incline to allow the horse
to go forward and to discourage bucking.  The unbroke trots or canters because the horse in front of it trots or
canters, it is very unlikely that the unbroke will try to bolt past the horse it's following and you can safely increase
your speed.  It is common courtesy, unless you are in the middle of a wreck, to continue the pace up the hill
knowing that those behind you are coming along at the same increased rate of speed.  Sudden stops at this
point can again cause pile-ups.  We generally try to walk down hills, teaching the horses to balance back on
their hind ends.  When we have a horse that wants to rush down hills, we will ask the horse to balance itself
back by sitting back in the saddle and asking the horse to come back with the reins.  Once the horse’s pace
slows we release the reins and give it the option of going forward again without rider interference.  We may
have to repeat this step several times before the horse understands that it is not necessary to rush down the hill.
Having a horse that bulldozes forward down a hill can cause potential problems by crowding or pushing
those in front of it.

  In addition to respecting those we ride with, it is also important to respect the trail as well as the landowners
who allow us to ride through their property.  One rule to remember is that we should always take out what we
bring in when we ride onto someone else's property.  Dropping trash along the trail, riding through crop fields,
leaving a gate open that was closed or closing a gate that had been left open are all examples of irresponsible trail riding. 

                                                      

  Please remember that we ride trails because of the generosity of others who do not need to let us ride through. 
Please consider the best interests of landowners and encourage all who ride with you to make the effort to keep
the integrity and beauty of the land they let us share.  For example, a landowner raises apple trees and gives
permission for riders to use his property.  You might think it's innocent and harmless to grab an apple as you
ride through but if every rider grabbed an apple as they rode through, the apple harvest (and the profits)
of the landowner would drop way down.  It is the responsibility of the riders to be respectful of the trees and
the landowners. 

  Rider responsibility also applies to the trail itself. If you find that the trails are muddy from recent rains, please
be considerate and wait a few days to ride. The deep hoof prints that you leave damage the trails and make
it difficult and potentially dangerous for people to ride after you. People used to have permission to hunt or
metal detect on properties but those permissions are slowly being taken away.  Let's not have that happen
to horse owners as well.  Let's all be respectful of those we ride with as well as the land on which we ride
and we will all have many years of happy riding to look forward to.

To contact Kenny, or to learn more about his schedule or training programs visit www.kennyharlow.com.