Recently, Scott Shepherd from 4Shepherds Horsemanship presented a program on groundwork training for horses. He started with Gracie, who was donated to Gabby’s Sanctuary ARK by Scott and has since been adopted. Gracie remembered her training and performed well.
Groundwork includes: getting the horse to trust and cooperate with the trainer, working on problems that the horse may have, and exercising the horse in a controlled setting. During all of this, the trainer is standing and not riding the horse.
Bella was up next. She didn’t like to have people handle her feet and lift them off the ground for cleaning, checking for injuries, or trimming her hooves. After gaining her trust, Scott used a rope to add enough pressure to encourage Bella to lift her foot. This exercise will have to be repeated by the Gabby’s ARK trainers to teach her to allow the action consistently.
Scott gave Bella some exercise while training her to go the direction that he wanted. This exercise is done in a circle, with the horse on a long lead rope and the trainer in the center of the circle. Bella seemed to enjoy stretching her legs.
More Opportunities Coming!
More classes will be scheduled for this fall, including safety classes. Some will be open to the public, and others will be restricted to the Lancaster ISD STEM students. A calendar of events will be published on this site once dates are confirmed.
