It is important that your horse knows how to move away from you on the ground, and move away from your legs while ridden. Even if your horse is 'just' a pleasure horse and you only ride out on the trails on the weekends teaching your horse how to move away from your leg will make your horse safer, easier to ride and more fun. These movements are learned easier when started on the ground. Good ground manners include moving away from you at your cue as well.

Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Va...

1. Lead Quietly In Hand

When you lead your horse he should walk beside you quietly paying attention to you. When you ask your horse to back up, or step to the side he should float away from your cue like a rubber ducky being pushed in a bath tub, not like a brick being pushed through sand. Your horse shouldn’t pull you, barge ahead, hang back or push into you. Teaching your horse to lead properly is the basis for almost every other aspect of good manners.

2. Allow Every Body Part to Be Touche...

Getting a horse into a trailer is one of life's great challenges, especially if the horse isn't sure that's where he wants to be. Aside from wasting time and getting people (and horses) upset, loading can be dangerous when people become impatient and try shoving, yanking or forcing a horse into a trailer; an annoyed or frightened horse can react by lashing out with hooves, biting or just mashing you against the side or front of the trailer.

There are ways to teach a horse to load properly, and...

Lungeing starts when a horse trainer is sure that the horse is fit and old enough to begin extensive training.

It is more than simply letting your horse trot around at the end of a 30 foot lead. Lungeing and long-lining are safe, efficient ways to teach a horse how to react to being ridden. When ground training your horse, you will be able to teach it to listen to you, stop and wait patiently, and practice transitioning between different gaits. It will also learn to respond to different voice ...

When dealing with foals it is important to be patient as the mare is with the young one. A new born foal should stand on it's own, rather observe than interfere. The foal should, as soon as possible after standing, suckle from it's mother all within the average of up to 2 and a half hours to receive it's must needed colostrum which is important in the first 5-6 hours, the foal may need help finding the udder if it is finding it difficult. If the foal has to be bottle fed or tubed it is import...

Working with Newborn Foals

Foal training is one of the most exciting experiences for anyone who loves horses. Working with newborn foals requires patience, consistency and tenacity.

What many horse owners do not realize is that it is essential to work with mare and foal together, as a package, rather than just focusing on foal training. The two horses are linked both biologically and emotionally from the beginning, and it is a mistake to neglect the mother when working with newborn foals.

Cr...

Training a young horse can be a challenging task if not handled correctly from the very beginning. From the minute the foal is parted from its mother, it needs to be molded a little bit at a time each day, otherwise it will almost be impossible to train once it is fully grown up. There are some key tasks that must be accomplished in order to ensure smooth foal training. For example, it is vastly important for a young horse or foal to be properly accustomed to its surroundings, to feel adequat...

For there are some breeds of horse - the Quarter Horse is the premier among these - which have been bred in such a manner as to LOOK mature long before they actually ARE mature.  This puts these horses in jeopardy from people who are either ignorant of the closure schedule, or...

Funny and interesting, the words that we hear so many times: I have a problem horse! My horse bucks and rears with me, do not want to go over jumps, does not listen to my aids or commands, does not want to move when I want him to, is lazy, etc! Have you ever thought that maybe your horse does not know what you want of him, or does not understand your commands? Or does he wonder what does this person on his back wants of him?

Riding and feeding your horse is not the only responsibilities you ...

Every movement you make, everything you do in his presence, has meaning to the horse. The horse is a master at reading your body language and knowing just where you're at and what you're about when you first enter his space. So any time you are with a horse, you have to really pay attention. Pay attention to what you are thinking. Pay attention to what you are doing with your eyes, your head, your shoulders, your hips, your breathing, how fast you are moving, etc., etc., because you can be su...

LOOSE SCHOOLING OVER POLES AND SMALL JUMPS:

An excellent way to teach the horse to jump. The horse can either wear a head collar or bridle and a roller or a saddle and bridle. However do not tie the rein on the saddle or use side reins as it will restrict the horse. The horse should wear boots on all 4 legs and if shod, overreach boots is advisable. The pole must be at least 3m long, if the horse goes over rhythmically and calmly place another pole 2,7m away. Work in both directions until the...

One of the biggest mistakes that I see people make in their relationships with horses is failing to pay complete attention to the horse they are handling. That`s why heeding is the best program I know of for working with a stallion.

Heeding quietly establishes the handler as the alpha presence in the herd, the one everybody else in the herd has to pay attention to. You gain the respect of the horse because you consistently ask for each new thing in a fair and horse logical way. The horse lea...

Many horse owners with foals have very little idea how to handle a biting or rearing youngster, what we need to do is to teach this baby to respect personal space, not to rear and/or bite and to prepare them for the future, as well mannered, disciplined horses. I have never raised a foal myself, but have seen how dangerous spoiled youngsters can be and the dangers lying ahead when they are horses with no respect for humans.

A horse needs to learn the meaning of personal space and the sooner t...

When you school any horse there are a few basic rules.  First you have to assess how much the animal knows, then you have to plan a program that is systematic and progressive.  You must at all times be patient and when the horse has accomplished what you are trying to teach it, encourage it with praise, either by voice or patting it.  It's best to have a good short training session rather than a long drawn out one.  All youngsters (including humans) lose concentration very quickly.  It is poi...

I was recently approached and asked how I would deal with a mare that kicks out when you try to work with her back legs?

Let’s start from the beginning by understanding the nature of equus. A horse’s back legs represent the engine of the body - when fleeing from a predator or danger, the hind limbs give propulsion and therefore they are a very valuable commodity to the horse.


When you try to work with a young horse’s feet for the first time, they nearly always have a bit of a trust issu...

Here is the right way to lead a horse

A horse may get loose at any moment. It does not matter if you are at an event or simply at your own barn. Before jumping in to retrieve the animal, take a closer look at the situation.

Quite often a horse is not running scared, but instead simply has managed to get out and is enjoying its ill gotten bout with freedom. Such an animal is captured most easily by simply having a large number of people form a chain and then walk toward the animal until it is cornered. Be well equipped with a hal...

Bending is a term to describe the range of motion and resistance in the muscles of the horse. Bending your horse is an easy exercise with huge benefits that you begin to see almost instantly. Bending is one of those things that you could do every day for an hour with your horse and you would never overdo it. There are entire books written on this subject. To get a horse that is soft, supple, and carries itself with collection the horse needs to bend correctly. You need to be able to bend your...