|
Did you know really good training is boring to watch? When it
starts getting exciting and looking like a rodeo then you know that somebody is
out of control or scared or angry.
Good training should have about the same activity level as paint drying.
You cannot dominate a horse with brute strength. You must use mental
strength not physical strength.
How do you get your horse to respond to slight pressure when
he only responds to heavy pressure? By that I mean if you pull the reins to the
side, does your horse's head come around with just a few ounces of pull or does
it feel like it takes a crane to move his head? First, what is the value of your
horse responding to light pressure? For one, if you're on a run away horse and
you can't pull his head around for a one-rein stop, you're in trouble. Another
is it takes far less energy on your part to ride the horse. A horse that needs
lots of pressure to respond is a horse that's tiresome to ride. That's no fun.
Might as well go to the gym.
So let's
take it from the reins pressure. If your horse's
neck is hard
to bend from one side to the other, start from the ground. Stay
on the ground and teach him to bend. Put on a rope halter. Hook on your lead
rope. Stand next to him around the rib area. Take the slack out of the lead rope
then pull a little on the lead rope (to make it taut) and hold it against body
just below and just behind the withers. Just hold it there. Wait. You're looking
for him to bend his head back towards where you are holding the lead rope. Look
for the slightest give. Even a 1/4 of an inch. When he gives to the pressure,
you give back - immediately. One thing that will really help you with this is
when you hold the lead rope on the horse's body and "keep" it there, you aren't
tempted to keep pulling back and asking for more give. If your hand is
stationary, you automatically give when he gives. Asking for more give when all
you want initially is just a slight give is a big no-no. Don't do it. Each time
he gives, pet him a little, talk nice, and say "thank you!". Repeat this a few
more times. Now do it on his other side.
After you
do it on both sides, walk him around a minute or two. Then do it again. Now, see
how far back he'll bend his neck as you pull on the lead rope. Just pull with a
few ounces. When he resists, that's how far back he'll go. So... Hold the lead
rope against him like before, add a little bit of pressure to the rope and wait
for the give. Repeat a few times and do the other side. Once you get those
gives, then quit for the day. Brush him and make him feel good. Do this the next
day and the next. Pretty soon you'll get him
bending nicely. Once you do then
go to the bridle with a snaffle bit. Do the same thing with the bridle and
snaffle. He may resist this at first because he may be used to resisting with a
snaffle. That's okay. It's our job to be patient. Simply repeat the process you
did with the lead rope and halter. Now here's the big secret. One of the tips
was that horses are "into pressure animals" meaning that if you push on them,
they'll push back. It's instinct - not defiance. And frankly, if the horse
resists bending his neck, then you have to take a look at your riding skills.
Are you heavy handed? Do you pull, jerk, or pop on his mouth? If so, he'll pull
and jerk back. That's something really cool about horses. They teach us that
when treated with respect and kindness we get the same back. Sure, we have to be
firm at times, but we have to be respectful and kind all the time. Pulling hard
or jerking the reins is not respectful or kind. So when we give out that
behavior, we get it back. We did it to ourselves.
Isn't it amazing what horses can teach us?
 Why
The Horse's Eyes Are Important When Training Him
They say the eyes
are the gateway to the soul. When it was said, they were referring to us humans.
But the truth is, it also refers to horses.
Many horse owners don't understand the importance and
usefulness of the horse's eyes while training. That being so, let me share with
you some things you may find useful - some you may know...some you may not.
First, there's the eye which reveals a little about the
character of the horse you're working with. It may have a kind eye. A kind eye
indicates the horse will be agreeable to train and will readily respond to your
aids while training.
One way to tell if the horse is nervous is by noting his
eyes. Horses can be very expressive in their looks. And you can tell if a horse
is a nervous horse by the eyes appearing sort of "worried like."
Obviously, this
nervous horse
would require more thoughtful handling than a non-nervous horse.
I have a horse that would get mad after a while of riding.
She used to get what I call mad eyes. Her expression was actually a sort of
angry expression. Mostly, the expression came from her eyes. Her eyes would get
red after a while.
When you work with a horse, it's advisable to look him in the
eye a lot. Why? Because horses are an extremely observant animal and they study
their surroundings. If you're in their surroundings they are studying you too.
If they see you looking at them in the eye it sends a message to them about who
is in control.
If you're working with a horse that's cunning and known to
run over people then you rarely want to lose eye contact with this horse.
Sometimes when you look away for just a second he knows it's his chance to
charge at you. But keeping eye contact helps minimize that possibility.
Although a horse's ears are part of the plan, the eyes are
how the horse interprets his world. The horse gladly desires to approach an
object or person that has caused him pleasure. Likewise, he runs from objects or
persons that cause him pain. (Pain could be a number of things like work, misuse
of aids such as spurs, being talked to in an abrasive manner, etc.)
Lots of horse owners get discouraged with their horse because
they develop bad habits. One particular habit is kicking. I once read a great
book on horses and it said this about kicking:
"If a horse kicks at a man and sees he inspired the man with
fear and makes him draw back, he will remember this and kick any man who goes
near him whom he fears or has the memory of displeasure with."
The point is the horse "saw" the man was inspired with fear.
The horse used one of his greatest tools...his eyes. If a man shows no fear and
knows how to handle a kicker, the horse will "see" he cannot inspire fear in the
man and be less apt to kick (although, if confirmed in the habit of kicking, it
may require several training sessions to eradicate this from the horse's
memory).
In short, the eyes are the mirror of the horse's mind. Quiet
eyes indicate quietness and sincerity. Quick and lively eye indicate vivacity.
Restless eyes turning in all directions indicate suspicion and show the horse is
studying all around him and may perhaps be preparing some freak of self will.
Turbid eyes indicate fear or anger.
There's a proverb that tells us not to trust the horse that
shows the white of his eyes. Perhaps it's because the white shows when he's
looking sideways and he's intent on seizing the moment.
Andy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author of several
best selling horse training and horse care books.
Read More.....
Lessons for the
balky horse.
Ever lead a horse that was balky or just
lazy? If you have that trouble or ever run into it, here's what to do. Get a
rope and make it loop at the end. Do your best to make it fit the horse's rear
end.
Don't let the rope get smaller or bigger.
Make it stay the same size. When you get it ready, put the looped end over the
horse's rump to see if it makes him uneasy. Before you put it on, be ready by
holding his lead rope that's attached to his halter. If he should get
exceptionally uneasy about it, you can pull his head toward you. That'll make
his hips go away from you and thus so will his legs. That's how you keep from
getting kicked should he want to argue with you about the rump rope. Most
horses won't get too bothered by this but just in case, be ready. Once you're
sure the horse has accepted the rump rope, then thread the lead rope through the
halter. You want the rump rope to have the characteristics of the lead rope.
Thus, when you pull on the rump rope it pulls the same direction as the lead
rope. Next, when you're ready to lead the horse begin with a step and a light
pull on the lead rope. If he doesn't move or is slow, then apply pressure with
the rump rope. This works because it's not comfortable to the horse to feel the
pressure on his butt. Eventually, your horse will want to move from pressure
from the lead rope lest he knows he'll feel pressure on his rump if he doesn't.
Once he knows what to do, you won't need the rump rope anymore. Note this only
teaches the horse to follow - not necessarily lead. Leading means learning
distance between you and the horse, stopping when you stop, going backward when
you go backward, etc. One other thing. If you don't know the horse very well
(or even if you do) you should consider being far out in front of the horse so
you have time to react and keep from being accidentally run over. When you
teach your horse to respect your space...and you're confident he does...then
it's usually acceptable to lead him while being closer.
A Powerful Piece
of Horse Training Knowledge
A mistake often made when teaching a horse
to do something is that of not letting the horse think about what he just did so
he knows what he did is what he was supposed to do.
When leading the horse and you want to go
say, right...the horse should be watching you and move with you much like a
shadow. But this horse didn't do that. This horse bumped into the handler and
didn't know to turn. So my friend did her little trick and as soon as she went
to the right, the horse did too.
She said, "you could tell the horse was
thinking 'Wait a minute...how did you get me to do that?'..." Now here's the
critical part. Once the horse moved away, the trainer just stopped. She didn't
keep leading the horse. She didn't go pet him. She didn't say anything to the
horse. She didn't do anything. She simply... "Left the horse alone!" Why?
She says, "I like to let the horse chew on
it for a minute." You likely know that when a horse has an "Ah Ha" moment, he
licks his lips and chews a bit. So once this horse moved over when it's handler
went to the right, she let the horse move about as far as it wanted. Then she
just let the horse chew on it.
I asked her, "How long did you let him
think about it?" She said, "Oh...about a minute, minute and a half." She didn't
want anything to interrupt what the horse was thinking about. Petting the horse
would give the horse an extra thing to think about - so she didn't pet him. Same
with talking to the horse.
Do You Stop A Horse With A Bit?
The answer, my friend, is NO.
You see, a horse stops because he was
trained to it. It's the training that stops him...not the bit. The bit is merely
a signaling device. To get a runaway horse to stop you can employ the One-Rein
Stop.
One reason it works so well is because a
horse can't push against the bit when his head is pulled to the side.
Only use the One-Rein Stop when
necessary. You teach your horse some bad habits if you overuse the One-Rein
Stop. One habit is he'll start to move his hip out be because pulling his head
to one side causes the opposite sided hip to move out. So the trick is to train
the horse to stop. A good technique is to use a fence. Start in the walk. Always
teach something first from the walk. Anyway, walk up to the fence and before you
get to it, adjust your body in the stop position. That is where you relax, take
a breath, feet a little forward, and draw your belly button back to your spine.
You see, the horse can feel that. It's a pre-signal to what you're going to
want. A pre-signal is always a good thing to do for the horse. It tells him
something's coming'. Okay. You gave him the pre-signal and now you say "Whoa".
Whoa is the signal.
You may have to give a "post" signal too,
and that is a slight bump on the reins. That means stop. So why use the fence to
teach your horse to stop? Because it's in his way. It's an aid to help him to
learn not go forward anymore. After all, there's a fence in his way. As you
practice this, don't go to the fence 90 degrees. Go at more of an angle, say, 45
degrees. Remember to switch sides on the horse to practice this. One more thing.
Don't make your horse stop, and stop, and stop. He'll get tired of it REAL fast.
Just do a couple stops on both sides then let him go where he wants. You can
make a horse mad by overdoing it. And when he gets mad, he's not too keen on
being cooperative.
Last but not least avoid endless, boring
lunging in a circle.
Not only is it tedious but lunging has a tendency to
"load" the inside leg and strain the hip joints and is tough on the suspensory
ligament of the inside leg. Look how many race horses you have come across that
have left front suspensory problems. That is partially due to running a race
going to the left. The horse picks up the lead on the left front leg and causes
severe strain of the suspensory ligament.
Lunging - A training method a horse uses
on its owner with the purpose of making the owner spin in circles-rendering the
owner dizzy and light-headed so that they get sick and pass out, so the horse
can go back to grazing.
Ever Have Trouble Catching Your Horse? There are lots of people with that
problem.
Why do horses do that? Could be one (or
more) of lots of reasons. Fear, is one. Anticipating pain is another.
Anticipating having to work and work and work is another.
Go in the pen with the lead rope and
halter in hand. Also, have your sweat scraper ready. (A sweat scraper is a
teardrop-shaped tool with small teeth and a handle. Make sure the teeth aren't
sharp) Once you catch your horse put on the halter. Then pull out your secret
weapon...the sweat scraper. Gently yet firmly brush him with it. That's all
you're gonna do...brush him. Talk to him real nice like too. Now do the other
side. When you're done, remove the halter. If he likes to take off when you
remove the halter, just take it off but hold him around the neck with it to keep
him in place. You don't him to leave you until you give permission. How do you
know when you should let him go? When he's settled. Calm. Relaxed. Then take off
the halter completely and deliberately.
-
Now...do this
twice a day.
-
Don't ask him to
work. Don't ask him to lunge.
-
Don't ask him to do nut'in. For a while,
you're going to be the pamperer and your horse will be the pamperee. All you're gonna do is get him "in the habit" of thinking when he
sees you with the halter he's going to get brushed. And we all know how good it
feels to get brushed.
Do this every day for a while. Once you
start seeing him "come" to you (or at least...not run from you) that's when you'll
know this is working. And remember. Some horses take longer...some it doesn't.
Once you have them "not" running from you, then take them for a ride or whatever
it is you're going to do. Just remember not to make it constant work and boring.
And here's the kicker. When you're done
riding or whatever, let him walk to cool down. Then brush him real nice like
with the sweat scraper again.
Talk to him real nice like. Horses are
REAL GOOD at remembering the last thing they did with you. So make the last
experience with you a very nice one.
The next day when you come to see them,
you want them thinking, "OHHHH!!!, I'm so glad you're here. All I could think
about was you! I'm ready to be brushed! "And for a while, just go in, halter,
and only brush him - no work. Then the other time, go ahead and ride. Alternate
it and keep him associating you with pleasure. Before you know it, you'll have
him coming to you. But you'll destroy that if he feels like he always has to
work.
Remember, you also have to let your horse
just be a horse.
GOIN' FOR A RIDE
SOON?
Do you just...'get on'? Or do you check to
see if your horse woke up on the wrong side of the barn today? Truly, it's
important to check your horse before climbing on because if something is
wrong...'It could be like sitting on a case of dynamite!' No...I'm not kidding.
Let me ask you. If you got in your car, started the engine, put it in drive and
tried to steer away from where you were but couldn't...would you keep driving
the car? Of course not. What if you also didn't have any brakes? Wouldn't that
make it even less desirable to drive? Of course. Fact is, lots of horsey people
don't consider the implications of a horse with no steering or brakes. You see,
if your horse is resistant, you need to work through it. But the key is
'knowing' if he's resistant. How do you do that? For starters, just look to see
if your horse is compliant and willing. If it's soreness, you have to address
that.
If your horse suddenly has a sore back for
some reason, you might get bucked off the second you sit in the saddle or just
as you finish your 3 hour trail ride. Either time is NOT a good time to be
bucked off. (In fact, I can't think of any time as a good time for being bucked
off)
Now if your horse is resistant from
disrespect, you don't wanna get on.
Oddly, there are two very important horse
training principles that seem opposite of each other. One is getting the horse
to move forward. The other is getting him to stop. Both are immensely
important depending on the situation. Plus, both help principles aid in teaching
the other. In other words, getting a horse to go forward is critical in teaching
him to stop and vice versa. But for now, let's talk about stopping.
First, what
does it 'really' mean to stop?
Stopping means: 'Quit moving, drop dead,
right here, right now, don't go 'til I say,
As you can see, stopping is very black and
white. Stopping isn't slowing down. Stopping isn't leaning to take a step once
you've stopped. Stopping is not moving. Stopping is stopping.
Thus, you gotta get it in your horse's
head what stopping means. The first thing to do is examine your own behavior. In
other words, when you're on your horse and he's moving a little too fast for
you....do you say, 'Whoa' when you want him to slow down?
WRONG!
Do NOT say
'whoa' unless you want him to stop. Go ahead and laugh. There are plenty of
people who do it...even though they know not to. Why do they do it? Habit!!
Many do it and don't realize it. Do you?
If not, good. If so, change the habit because if you don't, the horse will
think 'whoa' means to slow down. The next thing to change is another habit of
yours if you don't already practice it.
Be very, very black and white about it.
In other words, when you say 'whoa' and you want him to stop...then he needs to
stop - period! Now here's a trick you can use to make it clear as bath
water that when you say 'whoa!' it means 'stop!' To get your horse to finish a
stop, get him to back up immediately' after' the stop. Why? Because it
helps them to know in their mind that they won't be going forward.
In other words, when you say 'Whoa' they
know they're going to be asked to take a step or two back. And the cool thing is
this. It also gets their back end under them...which is important for a lot of
things in the horse riding world. Having the back end under them gets their
front end light. When the front end is light they can move left and right with
ease.
It's an athletic position. It's kind of like
a tennis player in his or her stance with knees bent ready to take the serve.
Training a Horse To Stand Still
Training a Horse to Stand Still When Mounting
Home|
About|
Agriculture|
Equine
Massage Therapy|
Feldenkrais Exercises|
Helpful Links|
Equestrian Info|
Horse
Braiding| CONTACT|
Guestbook|
Hoof Care|
Horse Disciplines|
Horse Muscle Groups|
Horse
Navicular|
Horse Probiotics| Horse Remedies|
Horse
Screensavers|
Horse Story| Horse Training Tips|
Horse Veterinarians of British Columbia |
House and Horse Sitting Services | John Lyons
Training Articles|
Leg Injuries|
Links| Older Horse| Real Estate |
Steer The Tail|
Stretch
Exercises| Treeless Saddles| | 
