Trainer Uses Fake Skeleton to Get Horse Used to Riders

A mare named Bon Jovi happily trotted around a pen in Oak Brook, Missouri, with a life-sized fake skeleton on her back while her trainer Rebecca demonstrated to students how to ride a horse correctly. Rebecca controlled the skeleton with ropes to show how different body movements would affect the horse. At one point, Bon Jovi decided to go into a full gallop, and the skeleton flopped around her back. Rebecca regained control, and the horse slowed down.

Bon Jovi, a 9 year old AQHA/Morgan mare, in a round pen at a horse boarding facility in Oak Grove MO. I put a plastic skeleton on her back to get her desensitized to make her a safer horse to be around.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.