If you want to be able to ride your horse any place there are other people, you will have to teach him to tolerate automobiles and other roadside distractions.

You can begin getting your horse used to the noises from a car or truck by using your own vehicle. Simply drive it slowly past him in his stall - kill the engine and coast past in neutral if possible; your horse will get used to seeing your vehicle. Then run the engine and drive past when he no longer appears to be surprised to see your car roll past. When he gets used to the car going past with the engine running and no longer backs up or runs away, you are ready to take him out.

Next, take your horse to the car. Do not have the engine running. Just let your horse sniff it, look at it and reassure him the entire time you won't allow anything to hurt him. Don't be surprised if he tastes your car, horses are very curious and much like a child, tend to taste anything new. Once he is comfortable being around your car, start it and let him get near it. Once he is comfortable or acts bored about being around a running car you're ready to move to the next step.

This next step should be done when you're absolutely sure your horse is ready and in an open area so you can drop the lead if your horse rears. Lead your horse around the perimeter of his field and have someone drive your car slowly by. If your horse doesn't rear or seem uncomfortable, repeat the process the next day. Then lead your horse to your car and let him investigate it again. He will probably sniff and maybe even lick it again to make sure it is the same vehicle that did him no harm last time.

When your horse is comfortable with this scenario, you can mount your horse and ride him on the perimeter and ride him up to your parked car with no engine running. If he seems bored with it or uninterested in exploring, you can have someone start the car and lead him up to it again, he will probably be just as uninterested and bored. If he wants to explore the car - he's not ready to be by traffic on the roads yet. Let him explore and give the car the once over to get comfortable with it. When your horse can remain calm and seems disinterested in exploring the car anymore running or not, he's ready to be around other cars. Take it slow and choose low traffic areas where he might only encounter the occasional car on the road but since he's with you and he knows that cars won't hurt him by passing by, he should be a calm companion to ride by the roadside.

Your horse will probably prefer to walk towards oncoming traffic as horses tend to get uneasy about sounds they can not see from behind and he may get jumpy so always try to walk your horse where he can see what is coming and you should be able to desensitize your horse to the buzz of the traffic and this type of training will further increase the trust and bonding your horse has with you.