Miscalculating the effort level of exercises for horses often derails the process of gaining fitness. Whether or not a horse finds any given exercise hard is left to a lot of guesswork. And since many riders form assumptions based on their own perspectives of sport and physical challenges, this guesswork is frequently inaccurate. To gauge this better and to deliver beneficial doses of effort, we need to clarify how and when certain tasks are difficult for the horse.

The link between speed and stress in equine behaviour - My first mount charged his jumps with enthusiasm. He never backed off. I believed he was a “brave” jumper — passionate about jumping, just like me! Every time we approached a jump, his head would lift, ears would lock forward, and his pace would quicken. I assumed the jumper ring, with its emphasis on speed, was a more suitable match for my spirited jumper than the slower-paced hunter ring. But once we entered the competition arena, his eagerness became an issue.

One could say that to work with horses is to work under pressure: the physical pressure we employ in communicating to our horses, time pressure, and even peer pressure. A wise horseperson has a sense of timing and knows when it’s fitting to yield or resist.

Essentially, a gate is a transition from here to there. It’s a transition from one pasture to another, replicated in competition. Learning to work a gate can be part of your horse’s training transition into a more attentive, patient, and handy partner.