LarryG on 13/5/2012 at 07:00

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Let's use this thread for postings about our horse related activities. It can be horse showing, trail riding, steeplechase, show jumping, dressage, western riding, betting at the races, carriage driving, foaling, wilderness rescue, horse camping, cattle drives, ... , anything that you do, have done, plan to do, or would like to do which is equine related.

To start it off:

Equine Soccer Training Camp

These two videos are of my two horses learning to play soccer. I just thought some folk might be interested in how to teach a horse to play soccer. Some folk just jump on and force the horse to go after the ball. IMHO that's a good way to get dumped. To a horse that giant ball is scary. Better is to introduce the horse to the ball with the rider on the ground and the horse free to make up its own mind about the whole thing without the additional pressure of a rider.

The first video is of my 5 year old mare, Bobby, getting introduced to kicking the ball. She has already learned not to worry about the ball and will freely go up to it and touch it on command. My friend and horse trainer, Jean, is free lunging Bobby, and times a reverse so that Bobby stops facing the ball. Jean then uses a lead line to teach her to step forward and kick the ball, rewarding Bobby with scratches when she reaches out and kicks it.
[video]http://s255.photobucket.com/albums/hh121/goldsla/?action=view&current=BoobySoccerGroundWork.mp4[/video]

The second is of my 9 year old mare, Lena, learning to seek the ball on her own while ridden (no rider guidance). This is fairly advanced work. Jean is on horseback, but without reins. Lena already knows how to kick the ball and will kick it around when guided and told to do so. This is towards the end of the lesson with Lena seeking out the ball out and kicking it on her own.
[video]http://s255.photobucket.com/albums/hh121/goldsla/?action=view&current=LenaPlaysSoccer.mp4[/video]

Later that afternoon, with six mounted horses and goals set up in a large arena using orange traffic cones, we practiced guiding the the ball through the goals and working together to control the ball. A strong wind was our opponent. Since I was mounted on Lena, I don't have a video to show any of that. Sorry.

Also sorry about the video quality. I was 20 feet up in the air sitting on a stack of alpha bales and using my digital video camera for the first time. I clearly need to read the owners manual and learn how to adjust the exposure setting! The ground in the round pen does not look like that, honest. It really is just a light colored sandy loam.
:idea: Next time I'll also bring a tripod.

BrokenArts on 13/5/2012 at 14:59

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Hah, that's awesome Larry. :thumb:

demagogue on 13/5/2012 at 21:24

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My dad lives on a ranch now with some horses, and when I visit him I get to pet them. :D

Tocky on 14/5/2012 at 03:23

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I'll be damned. I would have never thought of horse soccer.

I've had mixed results with horses. Good ones I have no problem with but I've had some try to drag me off under a tree limb or dump me in a pig wallow. My neighbors have always owned them and we've had free access if we wanted. When my daughter was young I noticed the white one looking awfully strange and upon closer inspection discovered it had lipstick, rouge, and blue eyshadow on. That was a gentle horse to let a little girl do that to her. I had to laugh at what my neighbor must think when it came galloping up for feed.

Ulukai on 15/5/2012 at 17:06

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I tried operating a horse once.

It did not end well.