The Bravery Test (Current freebie!)

A good Event horse must be brave. To be really safe in this sport, the horse has to really want to go tackle the unknown wherever we may be pointing them. Many hearts have been broken over beautiful, athletic, and talented horses that just didn't have this quality. While bravery can be developed to some degree through training, most horses have an innate limit. And it is a shame to waste time, money, and effort... not to mention mental anguish, and sometimes even injury... to try to take a horse past that limit.

So how can you tell if the horse you are working with is innately brave or not? I have a quick easy little test that I have found to quite accurately predict how brave and willing a horse will be. And no, it is not jumping through a ring of fire! Read on to find out about this little test that can be done with a horse of any age or level of experience.

Take a simple black plastic garbage bag, cut it down the middle and lay it on the ground like a ditch. Spread it out to about 3 feet wide, and if the ends are flapping a bit in the wind - even better. You can lay a pole across it, or put a rock on each corner to prevent the wind from taking it away.

Ride your horse up to this on a loose rein at the walk. Don't kick or in any way encourage him at first. You want to see what his natural instincts are. If he takes you right to it and jumps it... or better yet, steps on it as he just walks over it - then he is likely naturally brave, curious, and trusting. This is the type of horse that, when combined with physical talent, is a really good prospect for Eventing.

If he stops initally at the shiny black surface, he doesn't fail the test just yet. He's just telling you he is cautious. If he goes after checking it out, and with some encouragement from you - even if it is a crazy, spooky cat leap at first - then he is brave and willing enough to be a good prospect to work with. With trust in his rider, this type of horse can often turn out to be very brave. And this type of horse is very often the best Show Jumper, as he is usually extra careful.

If he has a full out meltdown about this little black imitation ditch... melting into a puddle of nerves, and just plain refusing to go over it no matter what you try - or refuses it again after you have gotten him over it once - then Eventing may not be his thing. It might be kinder to him to let him be a Dressage horse, a Hunter, or just a pleasure horse. You can certainly persist and keep trying with this type of horse, and you might get lucky and turn him around. But it is often like trying to jam a square peg into a round hole... you may sort of get it done with lots of effort, when it might have been more intelligent to start off with a round peg to begin with.

The beauty of this little test is that it can be done even on the babies. Just lead them in hand over the scary, shiny, flapping black plastic. And you will see what kind of brain they have with their response. This also gives you a great chance to bond with the babies! So they learn to trust you when you ask them to do unusual things. Be sure to be a calm but authoritative leader when working with them, to help them come to the conclusion that they can trust you and do as you say.

As with most "tests", there may be some anomalies. But I find this bravery test to be generally pretty accurate. And it can hopefully give you an idea of how brave your prospect is, and how willing he is to work with you. Which is a top priority in an Eventing prospect, at any level.