Most mustangs are trained the basics at the Sanctuary, and the new owners take over training from there. However, we are sometimes hired to finish a mustang’s training before they go to their new home.

Finishing out a mustang’s training involves many things: teaching them to ground tie, to yield their hindquarters and forequarters, to stay calm in new situations, and to accept a rider. All these skills are practiced during one hour training sessions over the course of a 60 days.

Although these skills seem trivial to the outside eye, they become vitally important during saddle training. Each of these skills transfers to the saddle and makes the horse a safe mount.

One of the most important things we teach a mustang is how to ground tie. After they are good on a lead rope, they are trained to be good when someone is not holding the lead rope.

It starts with training a horse to stand calmly when they are tied. This is done by first tying the rope in a quick-release knot, in case of emergency, and standing beside the horse. If they are calm, they are untied for a few seconds, and then the process repeats, with the trainer moving a little farther away every time.

After a horse has gotten used to standing tied, they are taught to stand ground tied. This means that when the lead rope is dropped, they stand still until it is picked up again. Not having to worry about holding a lead rope while you bathe a horse, trim their hooves, or administer medical care is a blessing. In addition to this, if a rider falls off a horse that is trained to ground tie, they are more likely to stand calmly instead of run away.

Next, mustangs are trained to yield their forequarters and hindquarters. When a trained horse is asked to move their forequarters, they will plant their back hooves and step their front hooves away from you. The same is true for the hindquarters, but with the back hooves.

For sake of length, I will not entirely explain why this is important, but there are a couple reasons I can give. Firstly, if a horse is stuck somewhere, standing on a foot, or needs to be moved for some other reason, the owner can ask them to yield their hindquarters or forequarters to fix the problem.

Secondly, when a horse is under saddle, they need to be taught how to properly use their muscles, similar to how a person who is exercising should learn how to properly do their exercises. Being able to adjust a horse’s shoulders or hindquarters on command is immensely helpful when training them to move properly.

A mustang is next taught to be calm in new situations. This is known as desensitizing. Because mustangs have a very strong flight-or-fight instinct, they often bolt when they become scared (known as “spooking”). To counter this, we introduce mustangs to lots of scary new objects and teach them to remain calm. After enough exposure to this, mustangs will learn that new objects aren’t going to harm them.

We usually expose our mustangs to tarps, plastic bags, dogs, and the whoosh of a whip (we do not hit them with the whip).

Lastly, horses are prepared for saddle training. For more details about this process, see my post titled “First Ride!” Before a horse is ridden, they are trained to accept a bareback pad. For many horses, this piece of fabric is very scary, so we desensitize them to it first.

Once they are used to the pad, we use it to get them used to the cinch (the belt that goes around their belly). Fitting a saddle to a mustang becomes much easier when they are already used to the cinch tightening around them.

After this, there’s only one thing left to be done: riding! After all the training that goes into a mustang, saddle breaking is easy. They should already know how to follow the reins–that’s what lead rope training was for. They should know how to turn–that’s why they were trained to yield their hindquarters and forequarters. Although they are far from polished at the end of their 60 days, they are well on their way to becoming great pets!

After a few months of riding done by us and/or the owner, they are trustworthy mounts. Many go on to compete in sports, such as barrel racing or dressage. Others are used for trail riding. Regardless, after months of work, I am happy to have trained a dependable horse to become someone’s best friend.