Jason Irwin responds to a question submitted on his ‘Opening and Closing Gates From Horseback‘ article.
One viewer asked Irwin, “could you show a situation where you need to pull the gate open towards the horse to open the gate?” They explained the situation they are in, “Parallel to the gate and facing the latched part of the gate I ride up to unlatch and pull it open slightly. Then I can push the gate wide enough to get through. Only caution is if I haven’t opened it wide enough to ride the horse through. It’s a heavy wooden gate.”
You will want to begin with your horse standing still parallel to the gate where you can easily reach down and unhook the gate. From there you’ll sidepass slow and controlled, then pause all while swinging the gate with you. Stop for a second to allow your horse to think about the next thing and not rush through it.
Once you are comfortable to move onto the next step, swing around and ride forward through the gate bringing the gate with you. Then backup to where you need to be to latch the gate closed.
One tip Irwin suggests to help with heavy gates that are hard to drag from horseback would be to attach a rope to the gate. This will allow you to reach out and give it a good haul to drag it out without being so close to the gate that you will be bumping your horse every time.
Thank you Jason for these tips. for opening and closing gates… very helpful.. I am always looking for solutions to problems. I have an older horse I bought just for general trail riding, and his issues are that he is a Reactive Horse.. Due to his prior owners, he has fears which cause him to react in sometimes dangerous ways… like not being respectful on the ground. My Specific question is about getting Chester to load in a trailer in a calm way, and not immediately turn and run out. Trailer loading is probably one of the most common problems. I have used several methods for letting Chester make his “own” choice to get in the trailer..not out of fear, it takes considerable time to achieve this.. If he does get in, he wants to immediately bolt out.. difficult to even get the door closed.. this is a avg sized stock type trailer. I cannot go in with him as he quickly wants out, but I have also used a long line I can hold and also get the door shut..Any ideas for this type of horse? Chester is basically quiet, up in age, but will react if he feels fear or being held.. like being tied up, which I have been fairly successful in fixing… Thanks for any tips. Gayle Hammond