Here’s a scenario to ponder: A person who’s never even been near a horse before, attends his first riding lesson. The teacher says, ‘Welcome, we’ll start by putting you on a horse that bucks. Don’t worry, just work your way through it. We’ll teach you coping skills and tomorrow you can do it again. After … Read more
Every horse’s world must be predictable before he can relax. Horses must always know what the outcome of their actions will be. From the very first lesson, I rub every horse’s head. I teach every horse that when he has his head with me it’s a pleasant experience – a rub around his head, neck … Read more
When you work with your horse, you must be very careful which behaviours you reward. It’s very easy to reward undesirable behaviours without even knowing that you’ve done so. At a recent campdraft, I watched a lady trotting her horse around in the warm-up area. When her horse slowed down to look at a garbage … Read more
Many times I’ve seen someone take the rug off their horse and leave it on the arena fence while they ride. When they trot around the arena, the horse takes fright of his own rug and shies as he goes past. Trainers often say ‘He’s gotta get used to it. Let him stop and look … Read more
Horse-back riding conjures up images of a loving relationship between you and a horse, with the two of you cantering off into the sunset in harmonious rapture. People often have visions of horse-back riding where their horse loves to carry them around and obeys every command smoothly and gracefully. Unfortunately, the reality is often very … Read more
One of the most misunderstood problems that people have with their horse is shying. There are all sorts of old wives tales about why horses shy and what to do about it. Lots of trainers say that the best thing to do for shying is allow the horse to stop and look so he can … Read more
You must always be definite and consistent whenever you’re with your horse and you must have definite rules. When your horse does as you ask, you must always make things relatively easy and pleasant for him. When he isn’t doing as you ask, you must make things a little unpleasant for him. These rules must … Read more
You must have control whenever you ride or handle your horse. Control doesn’t mean being heavy-handed and it doesn’t mean that you have to dominate your horse or show him who’s boss. Control simply means that your horse tries his hardest to work out what you want him to do and he tries his hardest … Read more