Working in Horse time:
Imagine this, not all horses are the same! If your a horse owner and have more than 1 horse you know this to be oh so true.
What takes some horses minutes to learn may take another one, Hours or Days.
When setting out to teach your horse something new always remember you need to work in horse time.
Always end on a good lesson, meaning simply that if the horse is not giving you the answer your looking for, change to something the horse does well before you end the session.
Don't get frustrated or stop angry just because it seems they just don't get it. And always work from both sides of the horse.
_________________________________________________________________
Always in Training
Horses are very smart, although sometimes it is hard to believe. They will test you anytime they can. When ever you are around your horse it should be a training session.
What I mean is, they should always respect your space (More on this later), move when ask to, never push or lean on you.
When your around your horse make them back up, turn their hind quarters, step side ways, or stand still for grooming, etc.
When they respond properly, Praise them for it. Rub them on the neck just above the withers or between the ears above the eyes. Talk softly, be firm but always praise for good behavior. Learn their favorite scratching spot ( They all have one or two).
Think of how nice it is when after a hard days work you don't mind and probably enjoy some praise and a simple pat on the back for a job well done!
_________________________________________________________________
Teaching A Horse To Respect Your Space
One of the most important things you can teach your horse is to respect your space. Let's face it, your horse is much larger, out weights you, and has reflexes like a cat.
They can and do spook at the least expected times and things. The last thing you want is for your horse to run over you trying to get away from the sqeeking gate or run-a-way plastic grocery bag. I think you know what I mean.
The first thing to establish is what your space is. Take a stick and in the sand scratch a six foot circle. Ok, now step into the middle of that circle. That is your space and your horse should never enter that space unless you invite him/her in.
The way to teach this is very simple and most horses already know what to do and not to do. Using a rope halter walk or lead your horse around. They should walk with you, off your shoulder just slightly behind and to the left or right. They should never walk past (or charge past), if you stop they should stop. If they don't turn and face them and shake the lead rope making them back-up.
Then turn and lead them off again. Do this until you get the proper response consistantly. Eventually when you turn to face them they should back-up one or two steps automatically. The important thing to remember is Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult. Always reward them by releasing the pressure and good rub and stroke when they do as you ask.
Take your time and don't over do it each time. Teach this technic a few times each time and soon it will be a conditioned response everytime.
________________________________________________________________
Teaching Your Horse Manners is Important
Horses, like children, Dogs and Cats must havemanners. Just because they're a horse doesn't mean they shouldn't have good manners.
On the contrary, because they're so strong, big, muscular, and lightning fast, good manners are even more important.
Manners mean different things to different people. And what I mean by manners is they aren't allowed to come into my space. In fact, I rarely invite a horse in to my space - and if I do, I'm picky about how close they can get.
Another bad manners thing is turning their butt to me. Never, ever allow that. And one of the things to do with a horse is teaching them to move their butt away and to face you after going through a gate. I never want their hind end facing me. Remember the old saying "Two Eyes Are better Than Two Heels ANYTIME!"
You can teach this to a horse and have them doing it as automatically as teaching a child to say please and thank you.
Another manners thing is not letting them push on you. I consider that rude! If I'm doing ground work and the horse pushes on me, then I'm going to let him
know he's not allowed to do that. What do I do? Make 'em move. Making them move their feet is the easiest way to teach them that it's not right to
push, shove or rub on you.
And never make his consequence outweigh the crime. Simply put, think about what horses do when together in a herd. Only what they have to inorder
to get the response they want and no more.
And remember never over train, always try to end a training session on a good effort. And always reward for a job well done. It goes along way!
________________________________________________________________
Posting At the Trot
Whether you ride English or western, compete or trail ride, we all have one thing in common and that’s to be the best horsemen we can be. A truly great horseman moves as one with their horse and has extremely good balance. One of the best ways to develop good balance with a horse is to learn how to post to the trot. The trot is a two beat diagonal gait, and when you post correctly, you’ll be sitting one beat and raising the next. In order to stay in rhythm with your horse, you must have good balance and be in time with his feet.
Most people make learning to post difficult, but in reality, it’s as simple as this:
Learn to post at the standstill first by practicing the up and down motion – this way you don’t have to worry about your balance as much as when the horse is moving. Start out by standing up in the stirrups and act like you’re going to head butt the ceiling. Then sit down. Remember that you have to have rhythm so as you stand up and sit down, count out loud to yourself – “one, two; one, two; or up, down; up, down.” You’ll find that whatever comes out of your mouth, your body will often follow. Notice that one, two or up, down has two beats to it, the exact same beat your horse’s feet will have when he’s trotting.
Practice the same motion of posting (up, down; up, down) at the walk. This will be a little trickier since the horse is moving, but it’s important to practice the up, down motion while you’re going slow before jumping straight to the trot. Remember to keep a consistent rhythm.
Now practice posting at the trot. Put the horse on a loose rein at the trot and let him go wherever he wants – don’t steer him. By letting the horse go wherever he wants, you will only have to worry about moving up and down and finding a rhythm, not steering him and worrying about where he’s going. Of course, you want to practice in a safe arena or pasture. As you post to the trot, remember to keep counting out loud to yourself and focus on establishing a consistent rhythm. You’ll find that at first you’ll be flopping and bouncing all over the saddle, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be moving in rhythm with your horse in no time.
_________________________________________________________________
Clipping Your Horse
At some stage of horse ownership, you will need to clip your horse. Remember, horses are prey animals and perceive anything new to be potentially life threatening. The key to having a horse that is easy to clip is to break the process into steps, teaching the horse that the noise and the feel of the vibrating clippers is not going to hurt him. When it’s time for me to clip my horse, I desensitize and prepare him for the process by following these steps:
Rub your hand all over your horse’s face and ears. Get your horse to accept your hands on his face, muzzle, ears and around his eyes– desensitizing him to anything moving around his head. Once you have accomplished this step COMPLETELY, move on to step 2.
Step 2,
Take the clippers in your hand – turned OFF – and desensitize the horse to having the clippers around. Let him smell the clippers, then rub them over his face and wave them around his eyes and ears. Make sure that he will tolerate the feeling of the clippers on all parts of his face, eyes and ears – especially inside the ears. This may take working with your horse for a couple days before he completely relaxes. Make sure that the horse is showing no resistance to this step before you move on.
Step 3,
Remove the blade and turn the clippers on to let the horse get used to the noise. Without touching him, wave the clippers around the end of his nose, his eyes and his ears. Desensitize him to the sound and movement. Once he relaxes, turn the clippers off and pat him. Use my approach and retreat method: every time the horse relaxes and lowers his head, turn the clippers off and pat him. You are not trying to touch him right now with the clippers– all you are doing is getting him to stand still with the clippers on and moving around his head. Pay particular attention to areas where reaction is high – this is usually around the ears. You might have to spend more time here. Initially, it might take a couple of minutes before he relaxes his head when the clippers are near his ears. However, once he does, turn the clippers off. Repeat this procedure until there is little, if any, reaction from your horse.
Step 4,
Once the horse accepts the clippers around his head while they are turned on but not touching him, it is time to rub them all over his face, nose, around his ears and on the poll. The horse may act frightened again, but this is normal. Just keep rubbing the clippers around until he begins to relax his head. As soon as he relaxes, turn the clippers off and pat him. Remember, approach and retreat. In the beginning, you might want to work on one area of his head at the time. Start with the muzzle and work your way up. As he relaxes in each area, you can increase the places you are rubbing until you can rub them all over his head.
Step 5,
Once your horse is comfortable with all of the previous steps, you are ready to begin clipping the hair on his face and ears. However, if you are still getting resistance from the horse to any of the steps up to this point, you will only make matters worse by proceeding. Again, don’t start with the ears. Start at the muzzle and work your way up – under the chin, up his face, around his eyes, in the bridle path and poll area. Then start to work on his ears. It is a good idea to do a little bit of clipping and then go back and rub the clippers over areas that you have already clipped. Actually clipping the hair is another new feeling, and the horse may react to the sensation. If he gets suspicious or frightened, you can go back to the rubbing that he should already be used to. If you do a little bit each day, after a week or so you should be able to clip anywhere on his body with no resistance.
________________________________________________________________
Focus, Focus, Focus
When you take your horse on a trail ride, don’t put him on auto-pilot. Horses are just like kids, if you don’t give them something to do, they’ll find something to do! It’s perfectly fine to let your horse trot and canter on a loose rein, but don’t expect him to stay focused on you throughout the trail ride if you don’t check up on his responsiveness occasionally. Though trail riding offers the perfect opportunity to work with your horse outside the arena, it’s important to remember that being outside in open areas offers your horse lots of distractions. Don’t let these distractions become a problem; instead, use them to your advantage.
Keep your horse focused on you by yielding the hindquarters, yielding the forequarters, and other exercises. Get creative! Do post-to-post exercises with a couple trees or try the serpentine exercise using different obstacles. Doing exercises like these in an open area or on trail rides will help increase your horse’s respect because he learns that no matter where you are, you require the same amount of responsiveness. The great thing about riding outdoors is it adds variety to your routine and can present you with new challenges. If you use these challenges to improve your horsemanship, you’ll have a respectful and willing partner whenever you hit the trails.
