Do you have a hot horse? I’ll bet he’s a fantastic competitor–athletic, intelligent, responsive and sensitive–but some days he makes you want to tear out your hair because he’s also a hypersensitive worrier who doesn’t like to be touched, resents overriding, dislikes rein contact and can easily get wound up and out of control. When that happens, he can be a lot of no fun–in fact, he can be downright scary.

To help teach him to accept your aids and wait and watch and measure the jumps, build a grid of a low vertical 21-foot in-and-out with a setup rail 9 feet out in front, one in the middle and one 9 feet out in back. In this video I’ll show you how I ride this exercise.

Get more strategies for managing your hot horse–and learn step-by-step how to ride this exercise–in the article “Chill Out Your ‘Hot’ Horse” in the July 2008 issue of Practical Horseman magazine. Learn the characteristics of a hot horse.