Horse Training Tips

Horses are naturally herd animals and as they have become domesticated you have become a part of their herd. You must establish alpha status right away. I see too often people who want to do nothing but love on their horses only for it to backfire on them as their horse walks all over them. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

Understanding the way horses communicate is very important in any horse training program. Have you ever had your horse do something and wonder why he did that? Like..Why do they paw before they lay down? or...Why does he shake his head when I ask him to do something?

Learn the answers to the above and more at www.horsetrainingmethod.com. Find out more horse training tips that will help you get the results you want.

Start by establishing your ground space. Use a regular halter in which you have to snap on a lead rope. The bull snap from the lead rope will help with this exercise. Hold the lead rope very loosely and face your horse.

You are going to be asking him to back up and to do this you start to gently shake the lead rope back and forth. If he does not understand and just stands there, shake it more and more vigorously until he gets the idea that you want him to back up. As soon as he takes a step...stop. Let the lead rope rest on the ground again making sure that all pressure is taken away.

Stopping is his reward for doing what you want. This is true in whatever your are teaching your horse. I don't know how many times I have done this only to think my arm was going to fall off! There are some stubborn horses out there but keep at it until he listens. Always remember that when you are asking for something and it is given by the horse to stop what you are doing. A good horse training tip to remember is that the release is the horses' reward, in this case it's the release of the pressure from the lead rope.

I now have three 2 yr. olds who are in different stages of their training but they all had one thing in common...as I walked them on a lead, if something spooked them they would jump straight to me. This is unacceptable as it could seriously cause injury. You need to make sure they understand your space. If you successfully established your ground space in the exercise above this next step will be easier.

Walk with a loose lead and stop. Your horse will more than likely keep walking and when this happens shake the lead vigorously until he backs up. It may take a while before he understands what you want but keep it up until he does. When he backs to a distance just behind your shoulder, stop shaking and stand quietly for a minute. Start walking again. Stop again and start shaking the lead rope if he is ahead of you. Do this until he is watching your every move and stops when you stop. He needs to stop just behind your shoulder. Your goal is to be able to make a right turn with him being right behind you at all times.

This round pen exercise helps to establish you as the herd leader and helps build a better relationship with your horse based on respect and trust. This may take several sessions in order for you to get the desired effect.

What you will be doing is working your horse around the pen and controlling his movements. A long lunge whip will help to keep him moving. In your mind cut the horse in half. Move behind the middle of his body to move him forward and move in front to make him turn around. Your goal here is to have his attention at all times.

When you turn him around your goal is to have him turn toward you not away from you. To turn him around you slowly back up as you move towards his front to draw him in. At first he might not know what you are asking of him and will turn towards the outside when he does this, quickly move in front of him and turn him back around in the direction he was going.

Let him run around a couple of times before you try it again. You must be quick and this may take several trys to get him to understand. When he does finally turn around toward you be very quiet in your movements and let him move out. This is the "release" as you are relaxing and letting him move out naturally without any pressure.

Everybody learns at a different pace in a different way. The secret to learning how to train your horse is to find what works best for you. This may be through books, videos or hands on experience but whatever method is best for you the only way it will work is with doing. Absorb all you can and then implement what you have learned. Your horse will let you know if you are doing it wrong. If they don't understand, find out what you may be doing wrong and learn how to communicate with your horse.

Learn more horse training tips to help you fine tune your skills at training your horse. You can never learn too much and don't ever stop learning about your passion;-)