HOW GOOD ARE most riders at telling how well their horse is coping with challenges while out on a hack? Or do spooks and explosive behaviours, such as rearing, seemingly come from nowhere?
The group of riders on the BHS Suffolk Hacking Confidence Clinic at Boyton Hall Equestrian Centre (Your Horse, Spring/April/May, Training/ Hacking Confidence Clinic) are asked to ponder this fact by trainer Emma Sharman, who is leading the groundwork-based session today. She is teaching the riders a number of techniques to help them feel more confident on the ground, which in turn will translate to the saddle. She has dubbed this ‘the traffic light system’, and the aim is to give riders a tool to assess how their horse will cope in any given situation by describing him in relation to the colours on a traffic light. Therefore…
GREEN means that the horse is calm and relaxed.
AMBER means that the horse is unsure or uncomfortable. He is fidgeting, alert, or snorting. He has higher energy than when in the green zone.
RED means that the horse isn't coping and is behaving dangerously.
“You want to keep your horse in the green or
