When You Don’t Have Time for Groundwork Nobody needs to remind a
horse lover that riding time is precious. With our hectic
schedules, every minute spent in the saddle is close to sacred.
With this in mind, many horse owners consider working with their
horse on the ground unnecessary if the horse is already trained.
Yet groundwork tasks can add a valuable dimension to the
relationship between horse and human, and actually improve your
horsemanship skills. They can also keep you safe. Read your
Horse In the Eight Parelli Principles of Horsemanship, Principle
#2 is "Make no assumptions." "Just because you had a good ride
yesterday doesn’t mean things will go the same today," says Pat
Parelli. "Horses are living things and they are reactive to
environmental changes. Your horse might be spookier today
because it’s windy, or he doesn’t want to leave his best friend,
or he didn’t like what you did yesterday. Things like this will
affect his attitude towards you making him seem less agreeable
or more distracted, even