round yard training wild horse kaimanawa breaking in

Round Yard Training

Catching wild horses at Mount Nicholas in small pen

The round pen was originally designed to aid the breaking-in of horses. Its main function was to encourage horses to keep moving forward, especially in the old days when horses were broken in by climbing aboard and riding out the buck. By eliminating corners, it meant the rider did not have to worry about steering, instead they could focus on staying on. These days the round pen is used for a variety of different functions. At Talkinghorses we specialize in breaking-in, re-educating problem horses and handling youngsters. As a result, we spend a lot of time catching, handling and riding and the round yard is vital to our operation by keeping horse and human safe, and enabling us to start building a meaningful relationship with the horse.

Some of the horses we work with are completely wild and may have never seen a human being. The round yard is imperative to catch these horses in a safe environment. I also do much of my handling in the round yard and it’s also an important tool in regards to refining a horse’s attitude with something simple like lunging. Some of the wilder horses can lunge beautifully in the round yard but upon moving to a bigger space they may decide not to cooperate. It’s helpful to be able to go back to the round yard and reinforce our ideas. The round yard isn’t restricted to work on the ground though. We do much of our riding there, for example, our first rides as well as refining certain aspects of riding such as checking our control, stopping and steering. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the round yard can be used to help create a unique relationship with the horse and I will expand on all of this next month.

When considering using or building a round yard one of the most important questions you should be asking yourself is what do I want to achieve? By that I mean, do you want to put a headcollar on a horse that has never been touched? Or give a horse his first ride? Or build on your relationship through liberty work? These questions are relevant because it will affect the size of yard you need.

Liberty work in a large pen

If I wanted to catch a wild kaimanawa I would opt for a smaller yard. With certain horses, I could get this horse to join up in a Monty Roberts style and follow me around, but if the horse is completely wild, it’s a different story. Add to the equation the fact that some horses may be older and thus mentally and physically stronger. They are the ones which will be able to hold out on you for much longer than a youngster would. One six year old Kaimanawa I broke in took 5 hours, over three sessions, before I could touch him comfortably and put a head collar on. So in these circumstances, a smaller yard works better to allow the horse to become more comfortable with me in a shorter period of time. However, if I wanted to give a horse his first ride, a smaller yard may not be so suitable. You won’t have the space to ask the horse to move forward into trot or canter. And likewise with liberty work, then it’s a case of the bigger the yard, the more the horse can express his movement and start to speed up his response.

What about if you don’t have a round yard? Fear not, you can use a square yard. The main issue with these sorts of yards is not allowing the horse to stop in the corners. You can work through this by lunging the horse in a circle and pushing him on past the corners, not allowing him to stop. You will have to become much more active yourself to keep the horse moving. It’s just a bit more work.

So what is an ideal round pen complex? I have worked in many different set-ups but if you are thinking about building one, I would suggest a main yard, with gates into smaller pens at different points. This gives you the freedom to move horses from your main ring into smaller yards which is especially helpful if you are dealing with wilder horses. At home we have a round yard complex which I have designed. It is 25 metres in circumference and around two metres high. We have made ours slightly higher than the neighbouring cattle yards to deter the wilder horses from attempting to jump over. The strength of the yards is a key factor too. There is no point in constructing a flimsy yard as you will be constantly fixing and replacing rails. You might want to consider some seating areas. At home, we have converted an old tree into seating with a ladder leading up, from where clients can watch their horses in comfort! Off the main yard are three gates leading into a series of smaller yards. If a horse is hard to catch, I can move it into smaller pens. Once horses are going well under saddle in the round yard, I then move into a fully fenced 60 x 30 metre arena where we are still safe and we can test the horse further. Once I am happy the horse is listening and going nicely in the arena, I will test the horse on our 700 metre racetrack, and then around the farm and so on, until we are gradually moving towards our goals, enabling our partnership to progress in the safest possible way.

Next month: I will explain how to further our relationship with our horse in the round pen. Any questions please feel free to email Andrew on Andrew@talkinghorses.co.nz.