Lara’s been back in touch with her thoughts on how to teach your horse something new:
“Teaching a hose something new isn’t just about being ‘clear’.
It is also about feeling and just being in the moment. Look how much a horse appreciates it if you do just nothing except be in his company, as that is what horses do best – just be.
They don’t have to worry about going to work or being late, but they sure pick up on things if we are in a hurry – and this is an energy they just don’t understand, unless they are running away from being someone’s dinner of course.
Teach your horse
If you are teaching a horse something new here are a few things to think about:
- How clear are you communicating with him from his point of view?
- What are your emotions, mind and body language saying to him?
- How good and clear are your cues and do they make sense to your horse?
- In fact just how good are you mentally, physically and emotionally?
- Are you in a rush or do you have all the time in the world for your horse to understand what you are asking for and do you recognise that try, no matter how small?
- How gentle and quiet are you with your horse?
When I speak of gentle and quiet, I do not mean smothering him or not talking, I mean what kind of pressure are you applying when you ask him to do something – and how is your body language when you ask?
Teach your horse
Your horse has emotions too, if you are forever nagging him or annoying him – watch out.
Obviously there are times when upping the pressure so to speak can reap rewards… if your horse is difficult to catch it can go one of two ways.
If you up the pressure by following him obviously you are giving him something to run from and you could be running after him all day.
You could also walk on by – he may follow you or just stand and do nothing. You could also remove all the horses from the field and then give him the option to be caught, remember you have to gauge which one of these things is right thing to do and that is based on a feeling in the moment and the horses character.
Teach your horse
Maybe now you see what I mean when I say there is no ‘technique for this’ and ‘technique for that’, it just depends on the moment, your mood and the mood of the horse.
Some horses trust quicker and once they truly trust you, they will just never leave you alone and you can do anything with them.
But some are slower to trust – everything takes time, but all the same, first of all with every horse, you have to gain something absolutely vital: trust. Without it you aren’t going anywhere fast and you can forget the grooming, the massage or anything else for that matter.
Lara”
A big thanks to Lara!
Please do leave a comment below if you can add anything to how to teach your horse.
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Hi Al, glad your back, I missed your emails. I have spent a solid year doing more ground work and trust building than riding, and I now have a different horse. The things I can do with her now include being able to touch her parts without her reacting, which makes it so easy for the vet when needed. Love everyones tips and advice, this is a great site. Deb
Hello!! I have a new TWH gelding that at one time was highly trained. He has been in the pasture for a little over a year. My question is this….he is kind of tempermental and impatient, easily annoyed and reacts with a slight buck or small back kick out. How do I help him stop this behavior? He does not know how to lunge at all, but leads well, stopping when I do and stretches out when he knows he has done something wrong. Any advice is greatly appreciated for this novice horse woman!
Thanks!
Tera,
Getting respect from your horse is the utmost importance. This is accomplished with ground work before you mount up.
Ground work in the round pen builds respect and trust, plus it’s a lot of fun! It will also let you see if there are any hurts going on and gauge your horses mood.
Start without a lunge line, then build up to it.
Also, there is a back article here that tells how to interact with your horse before the haltering process in the field that shows your partner you are the leader. This helped me because I was always re-establishing my leadership and having a problem with him walking away from me when haltering.
Ellen
i know some horses are hard to catch 😕 but as it was said there is many different ‘techniques’ and one i found really useful once was, i just stood in the middle of the paddock after the horse had run away from us. i just stood there and then eventually the curious side of the horse got the better of him 😆 and he came up to me and got caught 😛 hope it helps some of you out there !
The ground work is essential to say the least. I understand that but it’s alot easier said than done. 🙁 I have two mares I rescued and my newest, a month, an Arabian 18, was so neglected she has conviently “forgotten” everything but eating etc. She will not let me touch her in any way. I’ve got a nasty bite to prove it. I wish she could just see and feel how much I love her and want her to have a quality life… 😥
Beverly give your new arabian mare lots of time to get to know you. If you provide her the basic essentials of life which are food safety and security which she has probably never experienced from humans. it will take a long time to win her over. Just be with her you don’t have to touch her or try to love her. she will let you know when she is ready to TRUST you. You have to be the leader though. That is kind of hard to explain.
In a herd the Alpha mare would never allow another mare to approach her or touch her. If another mare tried to do that she would get kicked or bitten which is just what happened to you. Every horse owner has their own ideas about how to deal with disrespectful horse. the first time my horse bit me was when she wanted my attention to give her more hay. I turned around real fast and slapped her on her mouth. when I slapped her then I became the dominant leader. She has never tried to bite me since then. Believe me,I had a serious bruise on my shoulder, if she had been trying to hurt me she could have easily broken my shoulder.
I would recommend if you can, get a professional trainer to help you with the Arab, otherwise you could really get hurt.
Lara,
I loved what you said about just being with your horse.
I spend more time being with my horse than I do with riding her. I bought her when she was just a yearling, she is now 2 1/2 years old. I have lots of time to bond with her and create a deep sense of trust. I can only describe the relationship with her as mystical and magical. The bond you create with your horse is worth every minute of your time. Your horse will take care of you if you take care of them.
Patience!
If you can get her into a round pen, it would be a good idea to do a Join Up to establish your leadership, but otherwise I would try offering her food [from outside the field if you don’t feel safe inside]. Eventually she will become curious if you stand there holding a bowl of cereals, possibly with a little molasses. Don’t look her in the eyes. If that doesn’t work, put the bowl down and stand at a safe distance till she gains confidence that you will be her friend.
There are block moves you can learn to stop a horse biting so it bashes its head into the block rather than you hitting it. Psychologically it then sees itself as the one who got it wrong rather than you as violent. Sometimes you can even use a carrot stick as a block [NOT TO HIT THE HORSE WITH!] I learned to ride on a horse that was a terrible biter, when I knew none of this. I just had to carry a whip for him to decide he wasn’t going to try. Sometimes I would catch him looking round to see where the whip was. I never had to use it.
Often our horses come in biting, but they learn very quickly this way.
My trainer told me horror stories of timid people being plowed down in the round pen. What would you suggest for round pen training?
Always remember that your best training tool is a chair. Sit in it and think first of what you want to accomplish and what is the best way to make your horse fully understand what you want. Again remember the best training tool is the CHAIR.
I’ve really enjoyed reading all the posts and am very excited to be getting my horse soon. I have done so much research and believe that the more information that I sift through, the more homework I do and being the best informed I can be will benefit the relationship I intend to build with my long awaited equine friend. 😀 Speaking of the CHAIR’, I had decided the time to initially bond with my horse will be simply my placement in a plastic chair in his/her paddock. I am hoping that I will not be seen as a threat after the horse has established I am no THREAT. The chair will serve as somewhere I can inconspicuously sit and read, or whatever until the horse understands- I am there and mean no harm. I imagine if I continue this without any rushing through the bonding process that the horse will become more curious and eventually come closer and closer to me. When the horse does, I will make small gestures but go back to reading etc so he/she learns to TRUST from every action I take from the word go. Slowly, wins the race- I believe and I feel that the more emphasis on building trust will make more of a successful partnership and solidify the trust which is and always will be my primary objective through all. ❓ fingers crossed
When is a horse too old to ride? My horse is 23 and I haven’t been riding him much the last couple years since we had to put our mare down. I would like to start riding him more since I will have someone to ride with now, Will this be too hard on him?
No, just go slow and build him back up. I have a 30 year old that acts like he is a 6 yr old.LOL 😆 😛 15 to 30 minutes a day of light riding and then you can build from there, but go back and start your ground work again to help him remember his job.
My first horse was an abandoned walking bag of bones at the age of 19. I did some research reading many books. I used LSD (Long Slow Distance) to build him up (with some good groceries). Within 6 months he could run to the of the local mountain and not even break a sweat. At the age os 22, he was showing some lameness. Vet said he would never go out again. I located an herbal bute replacement with glucosamine and condroitin sulfate and he was moving just fine in 23 days. I rode him up in the hills of Southern California until he was 32. He finally died at the age of 38.
I have a 31 year old quarter horse I am leasing. I am a bit too large for him, but he does fine. I have taken him out for trail rides up to four hours long. Mostly walking and trotting. And I have been fox hunting with him in third field. He loves it. I am sure part of this is genetics, but he is also on a special senior horse feed regimen which has helped out a lot. With a better and more suitably sized rider, he could probably hang in second field for most of the hunt.
Heck I rode my gelding till he was in his 50s. He was healthy and strong. I sold him to an elderly couple for casual riding. They had him for six more years. Then i lost in touch with them when the gentleman got sick. I gamed and trailrode my mare till she was 32. The same with a little mare called chunckie. She took children to shows and trail plus camps till she was 47. riding older horses depends on there health and spirit. Good luck.
My pregnant mare has decided she doesn’t want to be bridled. I don’t ride her but she needs to be bridled for the vet, etc. so I decided to start as if she had never been bridled. I called her with a carrot and rope in hand. She came cautiously and as she ate the carrot, I threw the rope over her neck. She backed way up and wouldn’t come for the next carrot so I gave it ti our mini. Then she came and pulled at the rope with her mouth and pulled it off and dropped it at my feet and trotted away. She made herself very clear. Any suggestions? Carolyn
Carolyn, I would check the bridle. It could be that it’s painful. Maybe have her teeth checked. There’s a reason she doesn’t like the bridle and I would guess it causes pain.
WE have a Morgan that was a hand full. She would not be touched in any way shape or form. I took her apples and at first I tossed them to her. Then after about a week I sat on a five gallon bucket for 8 1/2 hours and held the apples. I told her that if she wanted one she had to come to me. She finally did. She let me touch her and everything went great after that. I had to earn her trust because she had been so aboused before we got her.
Tara he sounds just like a horse i got a few years ago. I didn’ t know what “BIg Lick” was then. Big lick horses have essentially been abused. When they fail to winmoney or produce in the show ring they are thrown out to pasture. This is the world ofthe TWH. They put 3 to 5″ wooden platform shoes on the front hooves and force them by awful means to accept them. I will not use this platform to debate abuse. Just google “big lick”. My point is while it is not impossible to rehabilitate an abused horse from the big lick. Plan on a long rehab before youreach trust. I can’ t imagine any other breed putting up with what the Twh does. I would spend a lot of friendly time until you can accomplish a trust for humans. Big lick horses start their abuse as early as 6 mos. Old so the only kindness came from mom not humans. Keep shoqing him love and kindness so he can learn that you are a different.kind of human.. horses don’t ever kick people they like.
I have gotten a 2 year old rescued filly. she wants to kick everyone, everytime I turn my back to walk away she turns to try to kick at me. how do I get her to not want to do this. I have finally gotten a halter on her so that I can work with her there, but I constantly have to be on the look for her to kick at me. I have learned a lot from the web site and all the information from everyone.
Hi I have a 3 year old that is scared of almost everything what do I do
Hi Lara you are absolutely spot on. It’s not rocket science it is more common sense, patience and understanding. Sadly not everyone has all these. A bit of extra time spent in the beginning san actually save time in the long run. regards Jenny
I have a funny horse. I have to move away all the other horses first to put on his halter.
Also he likes to play a game when he is close and take off. When he leaves I throw my rope at him and act like I wanted him to leave. …..
he turns and looks at me. I walk away ad act like I don’t care and then he will follow.
He was a lesson horse and they could never catch him back then
I have a pony named gypsy I got her from a ranch near where we live. I posted an ad asking for a gentle, safe smaller horse but not a shetland. Fifteen mins later I got a response. She is so perfect, so sweet , my husband walks with me so I can ride safe with my artificial joints , I cant ride much, so my qeustion is do I need to exercise her on the ground to keep her healthy ?
Hi Al,
I learned a useful thing yesterday. If you need to measure a horse without a measuring stick, use your body. For me, 15 hands comes to just above my top lip. Now that I know this I can always get a rough idea of a horse’s size in a second. To work it out for your own body, use an ordinary measuring tape and mark 60 inches (15 hands) on a wall. Then see where this comes on your own body. Of course, 16 hands will be four inches higher, etc.
I’ve just started my live as a horse owner, and I love every moment of it. I want to thank every one of you in the club that give so many advise. I’ve alredy aplied some of the tips and to my surprice it workes. Thank you. Love you all.
😥 I was doing so well with my riding lessons and then brought my girl home, al was well except I picked up a back problem (mine) and did not ride for a while. She started acting up in the very same spot every day and eventually threw me off. I’ve broken 2 ribs and now I’m obviously a bit scared of her. Going to start ground training with her as I really ador her so much. Does anybody know of a good book I can buy in SA. I am 52 and for the first time in my life I feel like I have found something that is perfect for me.
Annetjie Nel
Hi jeanette here I have a tb she is 4 years old ex race horse she was taken of the track because she kicked a fence and cut her leg pretty badly but since ive been putting yellow lotion on it it’s nearly gone she is a great horse and the only thing that ive found is that she is scared of plastic bags what should I do to fix this problem by the way this is a great site read it and get very good tips
King regards jeanette