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There’s one in every bunch. The horse that keeps his eye on you and no matter what enticement you offer from your pocket, he won’t let you catch him. Is there a cure for the horse that is hard to catch? Well, here are a few tips that might eliminate some wasted time and frustration when you’re trying to catch your horse.
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If you are around horse people for any length of time, you are going to meet with strong personalities who are assured they are correct, to the point of everyone else being wrong. I would admit that I have been there….but I think I’ve arrived at the realization that I can never know enough, there is always more to learn, and anyone who will share their viewpoint with me is someone I can gain knowledge from.
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I started out to the barn last night with a goal in mind. With my sorrel mare, Daisy, there are a few improvements to be made. I would like her to be lighter, more responsive, have a better headset, and develop a strong topline. After asking the advice of a few horse friends, as well as reading up on some training articles, the conclusion I arrived at was that we needed to start with flexion.
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A reader of my blog contacted me the other day, asking for my advice with a problem she is having with her horse. She wrote that her high-headed well-broke gelding has developed a couple of issues since she started working on collection and lowering his head.
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A lot of horses have trouble standing still for a rider to get into the saddle. For most of them, the real problem is that they have never been taught to stand. Some horses never develop the problem, but if your horse is one that just won’t wait for you to mount up, here are some things you can do to remedy this bad habit.
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The previous groundwork exercises will give your horse a good understanding of how he should behave under saddle, and the ground driving will establish a habit of giving to rein pressure and being controlled by the rider. So all that’s left is to climb on the horse, but there are still a few precautions to take and things to work through to make sure the horse is ready to accept a person in the saddle.
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Ground driving is an important step in preparing a young horse for being ridden, as it asks him to focus on the rider’s commands, yield to direct rein pressure, and covers the beginning basics of reining so that the first actual ride can be a much safer one.
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I have climbed on colts bareback with no headgear for their “first ride”. But I think I was lucky to not get into trouble with that. I have also ridden colts in a round pen with no headgear, while another trainer worked the colt from horseback, directing and turning the colt in the round pen. But if it’s just you working with the colt, my suggestion is to introduce the bit and work on him bending his head a little before you ride.
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Putting the first ride on a colt is an amazing thing to experience. Much forethought and preparation will make it more successful, because there is a bit more to training horses than climbing into the saddle and hanging on. I would like to share some tips for getting that first ride to be a good one. Always keep in mind that every horse is an individual, and will have certain needs and weaknesses that need to be worked on.
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Some readers really need a firm grasp of the basics before they are able to work with a horse, so I’d like to explain how to go about putting the bridle on a horse. This is how a normal scenario of how bridling a horse should happen, but I would always remind you that every horse is different, each will react in its own way.
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If you have ever worked with a colt on lunging, it can be one of the hardest concepts to teach, especially if the colt is a gentle, in-your-pocket type of horse. If the horse is really “hooked” on you, it’s going to feel really contradictory to your gentling process to have to make him go away from you. What you do need to establish is a cue, and follow it up with bodily actions that are “sending” actions that tell your horse it’s time to lunge.
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I see a lot of round pens set up around the countryside today, and it makes me wonder if the people who have round pens really know what to do with them, or if they just have one because they have a horse? There are many uses for a round pen–whether you’re working on halterbreaking, lunging, separation issues, or just need a clean space to put a horse that’s recovering from an illness.
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Twenty years ago I was just getting into training horses, and other than following the examples of my older sisters, I had one strong influence in natural horsemanship training. My teacher at Sunday School just happened to be the best horse trainer I have ever known or ever will know.
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Have you ever been in a tough situation with a horse where it seems like to quit would be training him that he can get away with doing the wrong thing? It’s a principle we’ve all heard of before: Don’t let the horse win or he’ll fight you every time. But there’s quite a bit of evidence to the contrary.
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Training a horse can be really hard and really easy. It depends on how well you can communicate to the horse and how well you can read what the horse is thinking. If you can recognize the moment in which the horse is working for you and instantly reward him for it, it creates a trust and a learning progression that will develop a strong foundation in the horse’s training.
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