ReturnToEnergiser_ asked:
I have always wondered how people train young horses from unhand-led youngsters into well mannered adults? How do they teach a young horse good manners? What are some things they do to teach the young horse good manners and behaviour? What do they do to get a young horse used to everyday stable life, like grooming, having their feet picked up, and new strange things?! Any information would be great! .. Im very curious to know how they train young horses to be safe and well mannered!
You have to be calm and consistent, that’s the key. You have to do things the same way, use the same commands, correct when necessary, but not overdo it, praise whenever possible. I used to be paid to start all of a farm’s 2 and 3 year olds, and have trained about 8 of my own. I really enjoy it.
That’s alot of info to put into one answer. Actually…it’s a book!
It’s all in handling and touching, gaining trust and understanding.
1. touch the foal all over every day. Rubbing head to tail.
2. Pick up foot and place it down quickly before he fights. Extend the time as he gets better and more willing.
3. No mouth on you. Bump him away with arm/elbow if he gets mouthy
4. Tossing leadlines over his neck and back when you go to take off the halter. Gets him used to using his off eye.
5. Have him walk past you going into the stall. Teaches him to listen to your direction and go passed….learning to lunge.
6. Make noise and drop things in the barn. Noise desensitizing
7. Slam doors
8. Wheelbarrows left where they can see or smell them..then wheel them away then back.
9. For cross tying, I loop the long line thru a ring but not tied, then snap to halter. I hold the other lead as if it were the other cross tie. If he gets antsy the tie gives room to move. I reward if he stands for a short period (walk away and get a nibble of hay) This is how I start my yearlings.
10. For weanlings and yearlings learning to pick up feet…I hold on to the foot until they stop fighting. The second they stop fighting I softly place the hoof on the ground. If they try and snatch it from me I hold it til they soften…then I place it quietly back on the ground. They learn that fighting makes me hold on tighter, being quiet makes me let go.
There is more and more and more and everyone has a different technique. you find which technique works best for your horse and your circumstance as it changes from horse to horse.
Relying on ONE persons way of training is foolish.
Everyone has pretty much covered it. The most important thing is to be consistent with voice command, discipline, and reward. Establishing ONLY good releases and thinking ahead before you start something with them to make sure you will not get hurt and they will not get hurt.
Personally I strongly believe that every foal should be imprinted right away when born and within the next few days leading and wearing blankets, halters. clipped etc. Makes the rest of the job a breeze if done right.
That knowledge comes with time. Lots and lots of time. A lot of this ability comes from having “feel.” Starting young, never handled colts is hard, even for professionals. All professionals do ground work with the colt when it is young. These techniques vary between the pro’s but the fundamentals are still the same. For example some may not agree with this but this method works for horses, especially young stud colts, who like to kick. Every time the horse kick out, kick him as hard as you can in the ribs, right where the cinch goes, and do it as if you were punting a football so the flat top of your foot connects underneath him. Remember, using just our bodies a human is not strong enough to hurt a horse the way another horse can. If this step is repeated several times, chances are that the problem will evaporate quickly. Keep in mind that what I just said would be a LAST RESORT. If you do your ground work, a problem like that may never occur. As for the groundwork, you could either A: take the horse to a professional, or B: get one of the various groundwork series that are out such as Clinton Anderson’s Down under Horsemanship(your best bet in my opinion), Chris Cox and various others. Stay away from mystics like Parelli and “psychics” who claim to understand horses thoughts. People like them get people killed. Hope this helped!
i swear by john lyons. he’s amazing. monty roberts and the parellis are a little over rated.
when baby is born you should have contact with it so it can get used to you nd your voice. within the first 24 hours you should put a saddle pad on it, brush, clip his bridle path and put a halter on him/ her and practice putting it on and off a few times. the clipping is very important because right now they dont really know what anything is so it doesnt really care. next is leading. lead the mom around and let the baby fallow. you should still practice putting the halter on. many mistakes people make is putting the halter on and leaving it and not practicing other wise now the baby can jsut run away and its touch to catch them lol. then the baby should practice leading next to his mom. the baby should not be taken away until he is old enough. mom needs to always be in reach. practicing stopping together and baby will mimic the mom. if you have a baby ( a different one) that is already weaned then practicing leading by walking 5 steps. stop take 3 steps back because he wont stop the first time. the steps back get the baby to give his head and move away from pressure. use your voice too. this is very important!. walk, hoe, back. very important he hears these because it will come in handy. (this all is over a long period of time not in one day) the next step is cross ties. the baby should know how to stand still on his own with a lead. practice brushing nd picking his feet up. pick each foot of 10 times and over time he will pick them up himself. these are all basic things for babys and will be practiced over the first few years. when your ready to break a horse all these excersises will help expecially the gound manners. the walking stopping and walking backwards establishes good ground manners using your voice as a tool is good so when you get on the horse you can do these excersises on the horse. he will already know what it sounds like so he will know what ho is and what walk is. the back he will be a little confused and be sure not to mess will his face too much. trailers should also come into play at some point. put the trailer is the pasture and the baby will sniff and investigate this and probably go in it at some point. never bribe them to go in the trailer. most horses if they have solid ground manners then they should walk right in. if they hesitate take your time back up a few steps and try again. when he gets in give him a treat so it is a good experience. thats jsut the quickie version of it and theres more to it.
getting the baby to be bomb proof is each week show him something new thats scary. most scary things should be part of his everyday life anyways like tractors and crazy colors. babys are born not knowing bad manners. they get bad manners because they are allowed to. if you dont let the baby bit kick and push you aorund then he wont do it. its when ppl let the babys get a chance to take a nip or just run through the lead when your walking them is when they learn bad behaviors.
this is all jsut a really brief intro and i left alot of things out because it would just take way to long to explain lol
All this material has been known, and quite well, for thousands of years. Xenophon was the first to write it down, of any ancient trainers whose work has come down to us.
It’s not unlike dog training. You work with the animal, just let him live around you, get to know who you are, and to expect you to be his friend. You use repetition and rewards, and appropriate punishment. You set up situations in which he can succeed, and reward him for success.
Punishment for vices is crucial, but usually need not be harsh. We bite the horse that bites and kick the horse that so much as thinks about kicking us. (This is exactly what a dominant horse does to lesser horses in the pasture.) The key is that no more than two seconds can elapse between an action and the reward or punishment. Horses cannot make any connection over a time longer than two seconds.
Beyond what I’ve sketched here, there are tens of thousands of books on the subject. Read them.
There are a lot of schools of thought out there on the subject! It really depends on what method you prefer and think will work better. Some popular ones are Pat Parelli(‘Natural Horsemanship;), Monty Roberts(more traditional), and GaWaNi Pony Boy(Native American Horsemanship). You can attend workshops at local venues, and there will often be many types of trainers there. Look around the internet, and maybe buy a couple books and decide what you think will work best, then go with it!