Working the Gate
An essential skill for any horse and rider team is working a gate. Even if you don’t trailride, consider schooling with a gate. It really isn’t just about just getting through, it’s the discipline involved in combining all the parts of the maneuver and schooling your horse to a level of trust and training. This carries over into other mounted events and helps give you and your horse polish! Your horse will need to know “whoa”, how to move off your leg, yielding to a rein, back and turn on the forehand in order to work the gate in the following series.
There are many different ways to work gates. When showing, the pattern should specify which direction the judge wants the team to enter. Otherwise, the safest, easiest way for you and your horse to comfortably open, access and close the gate is acceptable.
Step 1
Rae positions her mustang “Cheyenne” so that her knee lines up with the point where the gate opens. She reaches out to unlatch the gate. This is a good place to school the young horse by reminding him to “whoa”. Often youngsters feel the weight shift of the rider when reaching to the latch and appropriately begin to move away from the gate. Rae has her right leg on her horse, telling Cheyenne to not move away. In addition, she gives Cheyenne a verbal command of “whoa”.
Step 2
Rae tilts Cheyenne’s head slightly toward the latch so that Cheyenne is less apt to walk forward and more prone to swing her hind away. Rae then asks her to turn on her forehand by blocking her with a right rein and using her left leg to push her hindquarters around. On a finished horse, the contact with the gate is maintained by the rider. When schooling a green horse, drop the gate when necessary in order to work on the horse’s position. Rae’s turn on the forehand occurs as she opens the gate, making a pathway through the gate for Cheyenne in step 3.
Step 3
Once the turn on the forehand is complete and the gate is open, Rae asks Cheyenne to step through. It works well with youngsters to ask for a “whoa” after the gate is open and the turn on the forehand is complete. Otherwise, the horse may be inclined to rush through the gate before you are ready. Note that Cheyenne’s body will remain parallel to the gate as she walks through.
Step 4
Rae rides Cheyenne through the gate until her rear is passed the latch. She has slid her hand down the top rail in order to maintain control of the gate. In this case, Rae also is able to establish her knee at the gate hinge. Depending on gate length and type, this may or may not be possible. It is helpful to use the latch and the hinge as a mid point so that pivoting occurs slightly behind or in front of your knee. This position often helps to keep the gate or panel from hitting your leg or horse as you turn.
Step 5
Rae asks Cheyenne for another turn on the forehand, using her left leg to move Cheyenne’s hindquarters and her left hand to move the gate to the closed position. Rae keeps the outside rein on Cheyenne to remind her to not move away with her forehand and additionally, keeps a slight tilt of her head toward the panels to encourage the hindquarters to move in the correct direction. She also has her right leg ready to stop the turn on the forehand if Cheyenne tries to rush away from the closing gate.
Step 6
Rae asks Cheyenne to back up, while sliding her hand down the panel to maintain control of the gate. Her outside leg and rein have contact so that Cheyenne does not attempt to move away before the gate is closed. She reminds Cheyenne to whoa with a verbal cue when she reaches a point where she can safely latch the gate.
Step 7
The most important step is to stop, pause and praise when the work is done. I suggest riders dismount at this point and end the lesson. Using the gate work as an end to the lesson helps an anxious horse to look forward to the difficult gate exercise in the beginning. Eventually, work the gate at any point in the lesson, followed by lots of praise so that the horse seeks the praise as the reward.