Teaching Your Horse to Drag Objects, Part 1

When preparing a horse to pull a wagon or other objects, go step by step
by Raye Lochert

This month's column was inspired by a reader who asked if her skittish 16-year-old horse might be taught to pull a wagon. Teaching a horse to pull wagons is usually best left to a professional. So many things could go wrong that having a pro do it is a good idea. What you can do is all the prep work prior to sending your horse to a driving trainer.

For Fun and FunctionThe prep work is primarily sacking out and getting him used to pulling or dragging objects. When I say objects, I mean tires, tarps, boat bumpers and even little red wagons. Teaching a horse to drag objects not only increases the fun you can have with your horse, but it makes him more stable, finished and useful. A horse that has been taught to drag things won’t flip out when an object gets hung up in his tail or when something is sliding along the ground toward him. You will also be able to drag objects such as branches off the trail or wood to the campsite fire pit. The possibilities are endless.

Before you Begin
The first step is to make sure the horse is well sacked out. You should be able to rub a plastic tarp all over the horse, be able to throw the tarp at the horse from in front of him and out to both sides, and drag it back to you without the horse turning and running. Your horse should be trained to turn and face whatever is frightening him.

Besides being well sacked out, you should be able to control your horse in a round pen with a set of cues. Your horse should be able to turn to the inside, outside and stop on cue. Your horse should accept the saddle easily, and you should also be able to control your horse through the bridle. If these things have not been accomplished, please go back and teach these skills to your horse before teaching him to drag objects.

Creating the Pull
To teach a horse to drag objects, I use a sixty-foot round pen, a well-used saddle, and a sixty-foot horsemen’s rope. This rope has a metal honda (also known as a hondo) on it for a quick release. I also gather several objects to drag. I start in the round pen to keep the horse confined while not being attached to him.

Starting in the round pen with your horse saddled, attach your horseman’s rope to the saddle horn by the honda. Send your horse off while holding the rope. Be careful not to get the coils looped around your arm, hand, fingers or any other part of your body. If you do and the rope tightens, you can get seriously injured or even killed.

With the horse moving around the round pen at no more than a trot, pull on the rope to create a pull on the saddle, and then release and repeat. This gets the horse accustomed to the pull of the cinch as you pull on the saddle. It also desensitizes the horse to a rope being out to his side in his peripheral vision. Do this several times, then ask the horse to change directions to the outside while you flick the rope up over his rump. Repeat on the other side. Work both sides several times until the horse accepts it freely.

The next step requires that you stop the horse and run the rope through the stirrup. Slip the honda off the horn--be cautious with your fingers!—and run it through from the back of the stirrup up t

hrough the stirrup and back to the horn. Now when you pull on the rope the stirrup should flip up in the air. 

Send your horse out and do this in a rhythmic fashion, starting lightly, and build to a large flip. Repeat until your horse is desensitized to this. Then do it on the other side. Repeat on both sides until the horse stays calm and moves quietly.

Time Without Tension
Once your horse has been desensitized to the rope in the manner described above, it is time to get him used to ropes around his hock and hip area. With the rope attached to the horn (removed from the stirrup) send your horse out and ask for an outside turn. This time when the horse changes directions, let the rope hang low and end up around his hip. The rope should be attached to the horn and drape down his opposite side (the side you are not on) and come around his hip across his hocks. Don’t put tension on the rope; just let him get used to the feeling. Some horses will kick, some will run faster. If he kicks, let him. If he runs faster, cue him for an outside turn and slow him down. Don’t let things get out of control. 

The key to all of this is patience. Work with the horse until he's ready; don't leap ahead because you really want to get him in front of that wagon.

Next month, we'll look at how to begin adding resistance to the ropes and slowly increasing what you ask your horse to pull.