| Working with horses can often be difficult and even | | | | Here is an important horse training tip-one of the best |
| scary, as horses engage in bad horse behaviors that | | | | ways to establish leadership is to use the round pen. |
| not only make them annoying but make them unsafe. | | | | This is best done "at liberty" without the lead line or |
| These behaviors can include biting, kicking, being pushy | | | | halter on the horse, so you control his movements |
| on the ground, or worse bucking and rearing. The best | | | | without using tools-just body language and presence |
| way to minimize the chance your horse will be pushy | | | | of leadership. Few techniques work as well to get a |
| like this is to lay a solid foundation that puts you in a | | | | horse to trust and respect you. This is often called |
| leadership position with the horse. Here are five horse | | | | "hook-on" in the roundpen or as Monty Roberts calls it, |
| training tips to help you achieve this. | | | | "join up". |
| 1. Have a good lead | | | | 4. Keep him paying attention |
| A horse that respects you leads well. This means that | | | | Another important tool to use when training is to keep |
| the horse follows you at a short distance just off your | | | | your horse paying attention. If he is looking off in the |
| shoulder. Most people lead from the left side of the | | | | distance when you're working with him, bump the rope |
| horse, so he should be just to the right of you with the | | | | to bring his nose toward you so that both eyes are |
| tip of his nose just at your shoulder. He shouldn't pull on | | | | focused on you. Look at the ears. Is one ear acting like |
| the rope or drag, and he shouldn't blast out ahead of | | | | a radar dish probing the distance to check for threats? |
| you. If a horse drags on the rope, stop every now and | | | | Or are both ears forward on you? If they aren't on |
| then and ask for a backup. This puts a cost into his | | | | you your horse isn't devoting his full attention and this |
| bad horse behavior. On the other hand, if he tends to | | | | needs to be corrected. |
| walk faster and pass you, change directions when he | | | | 5. Don't just ride off into the sunset |
| does this so that you can put yourself back in front of | | | | While riding, take the time to run through exercises that |
| the horse. | | | | keep your horse listening to you, such as flexing and |
| 2. Teach your horse to relax | | | | having him move the hindquarter and front. By keeping |
| Remember that horses are prey animals, so they're | | | | him listening to you, he is less likely to look off in the |
| always on the lookout for the next threat. A horse | | | | distance checking for the newest threat. |
| with his head up high is one that is tense and looking | | | | By applying these horse training tips, you can start to |
| for something about to eat him. A horse that is relaxed | | | | build a sold foundation with your horse that is gentle, |
| has his head low and is probably more interested in | | | | yet teaches respect and leadership. A horse that |
| finding some nice greens to graze on. Teach your | | | | respects you and sees you as a leader is far less |
| horse to relax on cue by lowering his head. | | | | likely to engage in bad behaviors. |
| 3. Use round-pen training | | | | |