31/08/2026
Your horse doesn’t need perfect conditions to be ridden. 🐴
It is completely okay to ride your horse at a walk through wet, muddy or slippery-looking areas when the footing is safe to do so.
Trust your horse to find their footing. Give them the time, freedom and confidence to work out where to put their feet instead of immediately assuming they can’t handle it.
If you’re not confident doing it under saddle yet, practise it from the ground first. Walk through the mud with them. Let them learn to navigate different surfaces without rushing or panicking.
And yes… that means sometimes you need to be willing to get wet and muddy too! 😂
It is also completely okay to ride close to sheds, fences, trees and other obstacles.
This is where your leg aids matter.
Your horse should understand when your leg is asking them to move over, straighten up or keep a safe distance from something. You shouldn’t have to avoid riding near everything because you’re worried about getting too close or having your leg squashed against it.
If your leg aids aren’t effective enough to confidently manoeuvre your horse around obstacles, that’s something to work on.
These are practical skills.
We spend so much time worrying about having perfect arenas, perfect footing and plenty of space that sometimes we forget our horses need to learn how to confidently navigate the real world.
Mud happens.
Puddles happen.
Narrow spaces happen.
Sheds, gates, trees and fences happen.
Teach your horse how to handle them — and teach yourself how to confidently guide them through them.
That’s part of creating a capable, confident horse AND rider. 🐴
