Another Hot Day here at Rising Sun Stables
by Karen Tharp on 07/03/11Brad and I went for a moon light ride last night. Its been so hot during the day we have decided to do most of our training after the sun sets. Brad does some early in the morning, but I have some trouble sleeping at night, so he lets me sleep in.
Since this last go round with chemo, I just can't seem to get my butt up early. So Brad trains mostly in the morning and I train at night.
We both took a turn on Cheyanne last night, her ears still seem sore. We are not make a big deal of it. She continues to get the mix in her grain. Brad and I have agreed if they show no signs of getting better by the middle of next week, we are going to sedate her and clean them out. Till then her training continues.
I work with keeping her between the reins, and getting her to turn easily. There are no secrets. You must simply understand a little of the natural behavior of a horse. Understand why a horse does the things she does. Understand what causes her to make a mistake. Understand what you should do to make her want to do the things you want. The most important rule while working with any horse is to never make it a fight. No one ever wins in a fight, and remember DO NOT EVER TRY TO FORCE HER TO DO WHAT YOU WANT. You will not win.
Lets consider another basic point in training. This is teaching a horse to steer or be willingly guided. The first and most important point I want to make is keep it simple. There is no need to make it more complex than it really should be. If you practice the following three points you can go to any event and place near the top.
1. Your horse needs to stay between your reins.( this means goes where you guide her not where she decides to go.)
2. Your horse needs to move away from your legs.
3. You should never think of winning or losing.
You should always have a plan when your working with your horse then ride consistently according to that plan. This plan should be followed no matter where you ride. If you keep changing your plan your horse has no chance to understand it. You should always use the same aids no matter where you ride.
Keep your horse between the reins. Our primary steering device is our reins, if you guided your horse mainly with our legs they would be called legging horses. Steering is the most basic and important thing a horse must learn. If she does not steer you are in trouble.
How do you teach him to do this? Easy, teach him to stay between the reins. When your rein hand goes left, he needs to turn left.
Start by simply making her move forward on a loose rein and give her the signal that you want her to learn. She needs to learn to respond to a light rein with one hand, she cannot learn the signal if she never gets it. So start by giving her the signal that you want her to learn.
Since you want her to eventually learn to respond to a and signal (neck rein), start the lesson with a gentle signal from one hand. The horse will learn to guide if you start by giving her the signal with one hand and then use whateven else it takes to get her to move a little in the correct direction, then release that pressure. That means start with one hand and then use the other hand, your leg, your weight or whatever you want to achieve the correct direction. DO NOT FORGET to relieve the pressure after a very little success. The horse will associate the pressure release with the first signal. The signal that you want her to learn.
If your horse is 100% confident that the pressure in her mouth will be released when she turns then she will always turn. You will be able to guide her any where with a little pressure. Its that simple. Learning is done by associating a series of events together.
Ok! Look at it from your horses point of view. As she is walking forward.....
1. She feels pressure on the right side of her neck and the right corner of her mouth.
2. She continues to walk forward.
3. She feels more pressure now by the inside rein and outside leg.
4. This pressure worries her so she walks a little faster.
5. She takes a little step to the left and all the pressure disappears.
This is repeated 1,2,3,4,5 1,2,3,4,5 soon she will instead make 1,3,4,5 and then 1,4,5 and then 1,5. She remembers the sequence of events and wants to get to the end as soon as possible because this is where the pressure is released. SEE its a simple learning process.
So remember always be consistent. You must must repeat the pressure in the same sequence often enough for the horse to learn it.
That is a basic training example but one that works no matter what your trying to teach.
Hope you have a great day. Come back tomorrow, one never knows what will be talked about from day to day. Hope you are enjoying our Blog!!!!!!
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