Join Up with Gypsy

by Autumn
(Kaysville)

This is what a join up looks like

Join up is what a leadmare does in the wild with another horse wanting to join the herd. It builds strong trust between horse and rider. How you do it with domestic horses is with a longe line, i'll explain.

In the round pen, you want to first take off the horses' halter and leadrope. Grab the longe line, hold the end with the clip and coil the rope in an oval. Make this small, but not to small. Then, grab the long, thin part of the longe line and throw it at the back side of the horse. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HIT THE HORSE!

Just make it run in circles around you. Keep your eye on the horses' eye, it keeps its attention to you. To turn it around, move in front of it and switch hands with the longe line. This may be tiring!

I did this with my horse, Gypsy, and from what I experienced, she will need a lot of work! My dad and I are going to work on this for a while with her, as she has not yet 'joined up'. Please make sure an adult is with you or knows where you are going!

How to finish this off, when you see them licking and chewing, and dropping their head, repeatedly, turn your shoulder parallel to its shoulder.

Slowly walk away, drop the longe line, and if it follows, good going! It may only need a couple more times to fully gain the trust of your horse. Unless, of course, you already have a strong bond of trust! This is a great training exercise!