My best luck with training a horse to do any obstacle work
is to first make sure you’ve done all the ground work you should so that
you have their complete trust. Then, if they’re just too scared
(and especially with water because they have poor depth perception) do it on
the ground with them, then remount and ask them to go across with you on board.
It’s nice if you pick a stream that is too wide to jump, but not a
river, as well. And, if they rush through it, panicked, then, I spend
more time there and have them go through it until they’re relaxed and not
worried about it. If I can’t get them through it easily then it is
an indicator to me that I need to go back and do more ground work.
