On My Tackbox: The First Ride

AROUND THE TRAPS

Rochelle Milnes with Sooty and Debbie Thompson aboard Jessie James, cooling off at Waitpinga Beach after Strathalbyn Hunt Club’s 2020 wind up hunt (Image by Nicholas Forster).

ABOVE: Kobie Cook on Mandaley Noah’s Ark after winning Best Presented Hunter Pony at the NQEG Classic in Townsville (Image by Red Hot Photography). RIGHT: Katt Blakemore and Little Miss May Wood, a 7-yearold Waler competing at a Southern Cross Xtreme Cowboy Racing event (Image by Wild Rae).

ABOVE: 6-year-old Annabel Hopkins and her 25-year-old pony Kirkwood Marcus (Image by Rebecca Hopkins). LEFT: Tara Corry and Camouflage competing at the 2020 PCQ Jumping Equitation State Championship (Image by Clare M Photography). BELOW: Strapper Amelia Wallace with the David Jolly trained Behemoth after a Group 3 Spring Stakes win at Morphettville (Image by Rising Sun Photography).

ON MY TACKBOX

The first ride

It’s time to educate baby, but where to begin? SKYE LIIKANEN and JOSHUA KNIGHT believe that thorough preparation will help to prevent many of the problems they’ve seen in young horses.

Joshua Knight and Skye Liikanen co-founded Knights Equestrian in 2018. Since then, they’ve built an enviable reputation with their comprehensive range of professional equestrian services, including ridden training, starting under saddle, liberty and groundwork, as well as lessons, sales, clinics and performances.

Prior to establishing their business, Skye and Josh spent three years honing their skills in the US. They worked with some outstanding horsemen and women, including a two-year stint as assistant trainers with the talented Dan James of Double Dan fame.

Now based in the picturesque foothills of the Darlington Range, 90 minutes south-west of Brisbane, they share some strong views on the subject of preparing young horses for their first ride. They believe it’s one of the most important steps in their education, yet often see youngsters that can’t be mounted without someone holding them while a rider tentatively climbs aboard, or that need to be led or lunged for their first ride. As Skye wryly remarks: “There’s a little bit more to it than putting on a saddle and waiting until the bucking stops before hopefully being able to mount!”

Skye and Joshua take a carefully considered approach to training, precisely because they want to avoid any of those less-than-best results. “In our program, horses we start under saddle have one to two weeks of ground work depending on their past experiences, temperament and progress with us,” Skye explains. “Some can take three weeks or more before we get a first ride.”

But to back-up a step, before getting even close to the point of the first ride, youngsters trained by Knights Equestrian have, among other skills, been taught to lunge, stop, and understand lateral flexion, and have also benefitted from some desensitising techniques. This is achieved through a variety of basic groundwork exercises (which Skye says you can

MAIN: Joshua Knight and Skye Liikanen, co-founders of Knights Equestrian, with Australian Stock Horse Korey (Image by Josie Perrett Photography). ABOVE LEFT: Josh lies over Aerion’s back, rubbing his neck and rump in preparation for the first ride (Image by Kaitlin Dooney Photography). ABOVE: After hours of careful preparation, Warmblood Aerion’s ready to ride under saddle (Image by Kaitlin Dooney Photography). LEFT: Working in the round yard: Staying soft and keeping it loose (Image by Kaitlin Dooney Photography).

never have too many of) including:

• Lateral flexion: When you pick up a rein they learn to give their head, whether they’re in a bridle or a halter. • Bumping the stirrup on their side to mimic the action of your leg. • Flapping the stirrup leathers to make a noise, and tapping the seat of the saddle with your hand.

When the horse is deemed ready to progress, the first stage of mounting begins bareback with either Skye or Joshua jumping up and down, first on one of the horse’s sides, and then the other (you can step up and down using a mounting block if you need to). “This gives the horse the chance to tell us how they’re coping with the situation. Do they lift their heads? Do they shift away? Do they panic? We definitely don’t move past this point until they can stand there nice and relaxed and quiet,” Skye explains. “If they chose to move during this process, we allow it to happen whilst moving their hindquarter around until they figure out that it’s much easier to just stand still.”

The next stage is to lie over your horse’s back. “Some horses move while we do this, and if it’s safe to do so, we’ll stay there until they stop moving and then hop off. If they react, we simply move them around a bit before trying again. Once you’re able to lie over their back from both sides, try rubbing the off side where your leg would sit – but first make sure you’re able to rub them on both sides while you’re on the ground,” she says.

Skye suggests rubbing their neck and their rump. After making sure they’re comfortable with being rubbed over their rump, you can swing your leg over their back, making sure that you keep your body low. “Once they’re relaxed and at ease with that, raise your body to an upright position. It’s important to be aware of your horse’s reactions. Always watch your horse’s ears, eyes and the set of their head during this process, as the most subtle of signs will let you know how they’re coping. We do this bareback exercise every day when working with our horses,” she says.

Once a horse is managing well with this stage, it’s time to mount. “Hold your rein about half way down the neck. Once you’re mounted, flex both ways so that the horse can see you from each eye,” Skye explains. “To move off, bump them with your inside foot to get a small circle, remembering to keep a wide inside hand.”