The most important issue is safety at all time for you, the horse and your nearest environment.

Before beginning to teach your horse have a look on the “rules” below to avoid the following:

Do not let the horse stand onto your feet. Needless to say that this is very painful and you risk a fracture. Never get into a position, where the reins are too far away being gripped quickly. Never leave the horse facing an open gate as it might want to walk on and go home on its own. It can easily damage itself, the equipment and cart and the fence posts. Never remove the bridle during a break or a rest. The horse thinks it is free now and almost certainly takes off. Never stand in front of a shaft pointing to you. In case the horse jumps forward unpredictably, you might suffer nasty and often deadly injuries. Never climb on a cart or vehicle via its wheel spokes. Very bad accidents happen, if the horse moves forward suddenly. Never drive sitting on a shaft or another vehicle piece which is not meant to be sit on. Never train two green horses together on a vehicle. Always use one older and experienced horse beside the green horse. Make sure the harness, traces or chains, shafts and the vehicle are in good order and well maintained.
The principle of horse training is to make the wrong things difficult and the right thing easy.

When handling and training a horse you need to apply three principles:

your brain apply pressure to get something you want from the horse and do not forget to release, when getting the response. know exactly what you want from the horse: it is not enough that the horse moves somehow, you need to know exactly how he should move.

When you cue a horse for something, he should do it. Do not give up too early, if the horse does not do what you want him to do. This is then what you need to practice with him.

The horse needs to respect you at all times. Therefore never let him eat from the rein or your hand. Once you allow this, he will disrespect you, you will loose control over him and you will come easily into dangerous situations.

Do you worry your horse unknowingly? How do you approach it? How do you speak to him? Try not to scare him, give him time to figure out what you want him to do, be patient. Make obvious what you want.

Your horse needs to have faith in you: stay calm and lead him. A horse’s fear is instinctive; they are evolutionarily seen still animals of prey. Fearing is surviving. Try to focus on what you want the horse to do and avoid focusing on the horse spooking. Always stay consistent.

Teaching through leading. A lead rope is a very worthy instrument for teaching a horse.

Always teach your horse the right “answer”.

Use the pressure – release – method. Pressure = asking to do something, release = horse can relax and gets time to understand what you wanted him to do.

This way he learns the “answer”.

You need to know the answer beforehand to judge, if it is the right one.

By: Dr Ellen Schmidt

About the Author:

galloping_beauty456 asked:


i have a 9 year old Morab who hasn’t been worked very much over the past year and a half because of bad habits and disrespect.

this has put an halt to our riding. i asked her to canter while lunging and she bucked and bolted right at the cue. (is this normal?)

a problem i often have while lunging her is she gets very close to me while i’m standing in the middle. and she used to only do this at a walk but now at a trot she is making small circles around me. i want her to fill the round pen and ride on the fence. she never does.
how can i get her to get out of my space and onto the rail?

she also is very disrespectful when it comes to hoof picking. she won’t pick up her foot and always puts up a fight. when i get to her hind she usually kicks….

and in the saddle:

she is distracted and always is paying attention to the other horses who are grazing or in their paddocks. she always wants to ride the side closest to them. how can i get her to be more focused?
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side note: i also would love to take her on some trail rides but how she’s acting in the ring, on the ground, and in the round pen i’m afraid that that would be a mistake. whats a good way to introduce a horse to trails who has problems such as my mare’s?
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thank you for your two cents and advice. i will take everything into consideration to how to fix her problems.

purpledreamer18 asked:


Hi..
I own a 10 yr. old “green” morgan horse… I got him this last January… and am currently working with him (we hope to eventually do some lower level eventing)… I do take lessons and work with an instructor as well… but I do allot of work alone at home with him… and I had a question…

He knows the cue for canter but he will continue to trot and then trot faster, and faster until he finally breaks into the canter… his canter is bueatiful once he’s in it but it’s just so frustrating for me.. my instructor has worked with me.. with him… but I didn’t know if there was anybody out there who has had similiar problems that has any ideas for me…
I would really appreciate it!! Thanks so much!!
*smiles*

All basic training is built upon cause and effect. Horses can not think in a logical fashion. They cannot consider that something might happen because of something that occurred hours earlier. Instead they learn from immediate results.

Imagine an experiment where a bell was hung in a stall. The horse would have to ring the bell in order to get his dinner. If food were delivered each time the horse rang the bell, he would quickly learn to ring the bell when he is hungry.

Now, if the horse were to ring the bell, causing a person to come over, then to go to the feed room and prepare dinner, the horse would not likely make the connection. This is because there is too much time between the ringing of the bell and the delivery of the food. A horse can not logically think that their action of ringing the bell called the person who would bring food.

When training, it is essential to understand that horses need immediate, consistent reactions from their trainers to understand what is being asked of them. If a trainer is slow to respond, or reacts differently to the same response to the same cue, the horse will become confused and not learn.

Every cue we give a horse is a form of irritant to the horse. The horse will seek a way to make the irritant go away. For example, a squeeze with the leg is responded to by going forward. Once the horse moves forward, the rider stops squeezing. The horse thinks, if I go forward that tight squeeze will go away.

When a new lesson is being taught, a horse will try whatever he can to make that cue go away. If you are teaching a horse to turn, he will work to find a way to get rid of the pull he feels in his mouth. To so this he might try raising his head, he might try pulling back, or going backwards. As long as the irritation is there, he will seek a way to get rid of it. Finally, he will try the right solution, giving to the bit, turning in the direction the rider has asked for. The rider then will relieve the pressure on the rein, thus rewarding the horse. After a few tries, the horse will have learned that if he turns in the direction of the pull, the pull will go away.

This is why you can’t teach a horse by talking to it. You can’t chatter away and expect it to understand. That is not to say that a verbal cue can’t be established, but that communication needs to be direct and clear.

The same goes for chattering with the aids. If you constantly fiddle with the reins, the horse will not understand what you are asking for. He will try whatever works to get rid of the irritation, possibly resorting to misbehaviors like rearing or backing. After a while, the horse will decide that nothing can be done, and will stop listening to the aid.

Treat training is much the same, with the irritant being the desire to get the treat, and the release from the irritant being the successful capture of said treat. Many horses can learn tricks through treat training methods.

Whenever you plan to teach your horse something new, take the time to break it down into small stages that a horse can learn through cause and effect thinking. There is little that a horse can’t learn, if taught with patience and an understanding of how they think.



By: Lydia K Kelly

About the Author:

Paint Pony asked:


What would you expect from these horses?
A green horse? An intermediate horse? And a finished horse? Discipline makes no difference. Can be English, Western, Polo, Dressage, Racing, Barrels, Poles, Roping, Everyday Riding, Trail Horse, etc. If you were taking a horse from “start to finish”, how much time would you estimate spending on this project? Method used is not at issue. My question is directed towards how you would expect a horse to advance thru training levels (bits used at each level, length of work sessions, what is accomplished to advance to next level, etc.) to reach the desired goal. Reason for this question? I see a lot of this on Answers. “My horse is 9, I have been training him for 7 years, want to show, but I can’t because he has never been ridden in anything but a snaffle and he will not take a lead, collect himself, or backup, and I have a week to teach him this”.
Or “We got a horse from the track two weeks ago, we started training him and he will not bend, flex, sidepass, etc. Horse must be crazy”. I read these questions and think, what exactly is being considered as “training”? I sometimes think that a lot of people get into the “I am a trainer because I did not fall off” mode without ever realizing that it takes more than a few rides, a few treats, and the fact that you may have given a cue that you did not even know about. And then think your horse is broke. I used to think I was a great “trainer” until I worked for one of the top Western Pleasure people. Found out I did not know the first thing about training. Or about much of anything else. After spending 25 years of learning and listening to some of the best in the business, I consider myself passable on starting a colt, fair on advancing him, and still learning on how to achieve the totally “finished” horse.
This is not to knock anyone, but maybe make someone think about how truly trained their horse really is (or isn’t)