Learning to drive your horses is not only fun, it helps a horse to be more willing and responsive to your cues. Teaching a horse to seek out the correct response on their own is an invaluable tool. One that I learned from the late Peter Campbell.

A few years ago Joanna and I pulled our horses down to Wyoming to attend a ranch immersion clinic of Peter’s. We and a small group of others stayed right there at Peter and Trina's place. We spent the week riding by day and telling stories by night.

I know, that for myself, I learned quite a bit. Peter had spent years studying with Tom Dorrance and went on to clinician for many, many years. He really knew horses and was excellent at reading as well as understanding their behaviors. He was a man that liked to have a good time. He often devised new ways of doing things in an attempt to refine his approach.

One thing he enjoyed doing with his horses was to drive or herd them. He too, would have some time mid-winter when he did not ride much. Days such as those when the footing was too bad to ride, he liked to work his horses as a unit.

He told us of how he would open the corral gate and proceed to drive his horses down to his round pen. Once the horses made it to the round pen he would move them around in a circle. Next he would drive them, waiting until some felt ready to slow or stop.

Now here is the part that really spoke to me. He would then ask his horses to line up side-by-side facing up to him. He occasionally would even have them rearrange the order until he felt right about their placement. It was only then, when things were precise, that he would give them their grain ration. Whoa! Right?

Though I regret to say, I never saw him perform this particular feat, he did work one horse singularly for us. He then expanded upon and related that exercise to how he would go about driving multiple horses. That experience really stuck with me. It opened my mind to things you could accomplish with patience and a keen eye.

Since that experience down at Peter and Trina's I have worked to incorporate similar sessions into my horse routine. It is a lot of fun to work a herd of horses at liberty (free without any restraints). Driving one (especially the leader) tends to move all of them.

I have had to work at toning down my energy, less I do too much and have the whole herd sprint off at a dead run. Working the herd together has really helped to hone my awareness of positioning. A foot too far forward turns one horse away disrupting the whole plan.

Nowadays, I look for any chance to grab my flag and attempt to drive the herd. "They broke through the fence! Here I come." "Time to move pastures. Where's my flag?" I can feel Joanna's frustration with me. This method has not yet developed into something timely. But man is it ever fun.

Occasionally I have to resort to grabbing a halter to gather up a straggler. Most likely though, my resolve is strong enough that I typically end up walking the soles off my boots before I resort to fetching a halter.

I encourage you to give this a try yourself. You may want to start with one or two horses before attempting to drive a herd.

The more horses involved the more precision that is required. The key to the whole exercise is to not make them do anything. Keep them moving and searching. This gives the horses a chance to think for themselves. By keeping them moving, not at top speed mind you, they will begin to look for other ways out.

Encourage what you do want by backing off when just one horse has even the slightest thought of moving in the proper direction. Build on this. By rewarding the attempt it won't be too long before they take you up on your idea.

Winter or early spring is a great time to work with this. Days that the footing is questionable to ride. Have fun! You may become like me and have this turn into your go-to method. I use it all throughout the year.

Eric

Easton Horsemanship