Horse Training Tips
Working with horses can be difficult and downright scary at certain times since horses can occasionally have bad behaviors that make them both annoying and unsafe to be around. These types of behaviors can include biting, kicking, being pushy or bucking and rearing. The best way to reduce the chance of experiencing these bad horse behaviors is to develop a solid foundation through horse training tips to put you in a first leadership position over the horse. Consider the most important horse training tips to help you in this area.
Develop a Good Lead
If a horse respects you they will lead well. This means that a horse will be following you from a short distance at your shoulder. Many people lead from the left so the horse should be just to your right with the tip of his nose at your shoulder. The horse should be allowed to pull the rope or let it drag and he definitely shouldn’t try to rush out ahead of you. If a horse drags the rope simply stop and ask for a backup on occasion. This helps the horse to realize there is a cost for his bad behavior. On the other hand, if the horse moves faster and ends up walking past you then simply change directions so you are once again back in front of the horse and establishing yourself as the one with the leadership role.
Get Your Horse to Relax
Horses are prey animals and this is something you shouldn’t forget. Horses are always going to be looking for the next threat around them. If a horse is holding their head up high then they are tense and likely looking for some type of threat around them. If a horse is relaxed their head is low and they are probably more interested in finding some food to eat. It is a good idea to get your horse in the habit of relaxing on cue by lower their head.
Train in a Round Pen
This is one of the most important horse training tips and is the best way to establish your leadership over the horse. This is best done without a lead line or halter on the horse so you can control his movements without tools, but rather just by your body language ad presence. There are few other techniques that work as well to get a horse to trust and respect you.
Make Them Pay Attention
Another important piece of the horse training tips is to keep your horse paying attention to you. If the horse is looking off in the distance while you work with him then bump the rope to bring the nose toward you so both eyes remain focused on you. Watch their ears as well to see if one is acting like radar, probing around for threats. Alternatively, are both ears completely forward and focused on you? If your horse isn’t devoting its full attention to you and he needs to be corrected.
Don’t Just Start Riding
When you are riding the horse be sure to take the time to go through some exercises in order to help your horse keep listening to you, like flexing and having them move the hindquarter and front. When you keep your horse listening to you they are going to be less likely to look off into the distance for the nearest threat around them. When you apply the above horse training tips then you will be able to build a solid foundation with your horse that is focused on gentle leadership that teaches respect. If your horse respects you and sees you as a leader then they are far less likely to take part in bad behaviors.