Archive for the ‘Horse Training’ Category

Ground Manners – An Overview

Horse training success is all in the work from the ground. A good, long-term relationship between you and your horse is built from the ground up, literally. Ground manners is about teaching your horse how to behave around humans and that you are his protector and friend. The two go hand in hand by building leadership respect and trust. The time dedicated to building a proper foundation by establishing control on the ground is well worth the effort involved.

Why would you want to bother with ground manners? Well, safety issues are a good start. An untrained or poorly trained horse with bad habits such as biting, kicking, rearing and charging (among others) is dangerous. A horse can kill a person with these behaviors. The horse can injure himself, for example, by rearing and banging his head on a low ceiling. Horses do knock themselves out, cut their heads on a nail or sharp corner and require stitches. Just think of the vet bills. And the panic you’d feel in this situation. Or think of the litigation if your horse kicked someone, injuring them so they were unable to work. These things do happen. Teaching a horse good ground manners is teaching a horse that these are unacceptable and unnecessary reactions.

The horse that won’t stand still is a danger. One day you’ll be caught in the wrong spot, he’ll get a fright and someone will be hurt. The horse that keeps leaning into you and treading on your (soon to be broken) foot is not fun. The horse that tries to kick when you pick out his feet is going to injure you one day. Good ground manners is about teaching a horse to respect your personal space.

The nervous or disobedient horse is also a danger. The jumpy horse that shies and knocks you over is a liability. The horse that loses his mind and tries to run every time he sees a plastic bag is more than a nuisance. Ground manners is about showing your horse that scary things aren’t so scary and to have confidence in you. To trust that you, as leader and protector, will always keep him safe.

Good manners on the ground makes the transition to riding much smoother and much much simpler. You will have learned to read your horses feelings or mood. He is not your servant. He is your partner. He will have learned unquestioned obedience. As a result, your riding sessions will be more fun.

Taking the time to lay firm foundations will also mean that you will be training a horse that is willing to please, that is EASIER TO TRAIN IN THE LONG RUN, that is a joy to work with and not an obstinate animal that is always acting out. When you choose to own a horse, you’re making a commitment for many years, so you want to be sure you’re going to have a well-behaved and easy to handle horse-friend.

The Basics Of Ground Manners For Your Horse

Teaching good ground manners right from the beginning will result in a horse that is a joy to own, while keeping yourself as safe as possible. Enforcing ground manners will teach your horse to:

* Look to you as leader for what to do whenever he is unsure of a situation (less likely to bolt, shy or be disobedient in new situations)

* Not crowd your personal space (no kicking, biting, charging, leaning, treading on your feet etc)

* Respond appropriately to whatever you are asking him to do

* Have calm confidence in the outside world because you will protect him

* Stand still patiently

* Tie calmly

* Allow you to pick up his feet for cleaning

* Allow you to groom him

* Calmly accept being bridled, haltered and led

* Accept being saddled without moving

* Refrain from nipping, kicking, charging or rearing to get his way

All this BEFORE you get on his back. It is actually a good idea to spend some time with a new horse on getting these basics right before you start riding. Despite how eager you will probably be to hop on and go, spend a few weeks or even months working on ground manners. It pays off in the end. If you’re having trouble with riding your horse, it may also be a wise investment of time to stop riding for a while and get these basics back on track.

So how do you instill those good ground manners in your horse? By understanding how a horse’s mind works. There are 6 basic principles you need to learn that apply to all horse situations.

1. Repetition

It is not widely known that a horse can take around 60 iterations of a lesson to ‘get it’. That’s right. It may take you repeating the exact same lesson 60 times before your horse understands what you are trying to teach. To put this in perspective, if you see your horse once a week and teach the same lesson once each time, then it may take over a year for your horse to learn it. Of course you may try the lesson more than once a session and you may see your horse more than once a week, but it takes TIME and PATIENCE to train a horse effectively.

The good news is that you can be successful in training your horse to have good behavior in any situation. This applies to all horses, whether they are young, old, previously poorly trained or have been in neglectful and abusive situations. You can teach your horse to lead, tone down aggressive behaviors towards people and other horses, teach a nervous horse to be calm, and get rid of bad habits horses learn such as rearing, biting, and kicking. All of this can be attained. But please remember that horse training takes as long as it takes. 60 repetitions is an average.

2. Be a leader to your horse

Horses are herd animals and are mentally wired to look up to the leader of the herd. In a herd, which is the natural situation for a horse, there is a pecking order (order of dominance). The stallion and lead mare are the leaders. Every other horse below them in the pecking order will look to these two to find out how to react in a given situation. If the leaders are calm, the others are calm, if the leaders are running for their lives, the rest of the herd is right behind them. It is also the leaders job to keep an eye out for danger. Or in other words, the leaders signal to the rest of the herd what is dangerous and what is safe. The rest of the herd has 100% faith in their leaders. They follow blindly. They do not think rationally or for themselves. This horse behavior makes a horse very easy to train.

To use this horse behavior to your advantage when youre training your horse, the leader of his herd needs to be you. You MUST show, through your tone of voice, your body language, your confidence, that you are a leader. For example, you cannot expect a horse to walk calmly past a barking dog if you are frightened yourself. If there are situations around your horse that scare you, you need to be inventive and work out how to avoid the situation where your horse can see you as weak. If your horse often charges you, avoid the trigger situation until you have established dominance in other situations. Get outside help if you need it. A horse generally weighs as much as 10 times more than a human, so you cannot expect to out muscle your horse when it behaves inappropriately. It is crucial that you become the leader to your horse so he follows you, rather than dragging you around.

3. Consistency

Being a leader also means having a zero tolerance policy towards your horse invading your personal space or disobeying your requests. In the herd, the pecking order is often challenged. Stay vigilant as the pecking order is never set in stone. If you get slack, the horse will start to dominate you. Be firm, consistent and persistent in applying your rules. You’re either training or de-training your horse every moment you’re with him. Mind the small stuff. It really does matter. Your horse will test you in small ways to see how serious you are. If you don’t hold your ground over your space or do accept a tardy response to a request, you’re effectively eroding the respect he has for you. ‘That’s ok, I don’t really mean stop when I say so’. This is then a green flag for your horse to try on bigger and bigger misbehaviors. For example, don’t let your horse kiss you. Not just for reasons of hygiene! No, letting any horse nibble or kiss you is sending him down the slippery slope of developing a biting habit. After all, a bite is just a firm nibble isn’t it? And a biting problem is not one you want to be dealing with. Painful for you, and difficult to get rid of. In this case, no kisses, no nibbles, no bites. Ever. Be firm, consistent and persistent in applying your ground rules. Absolute CONSISTENCY is the key to fast training.

4. Trust

One of the biggest reasons horses lack good ground manners is the fact they don’t trust as well as respect the people who are handling them. Trust and respect go hand in hand and once you have attained that, the rest of your training is so much easier. As leader (where you earn respect), part of your job is to keep your horse SAFE (where you earn trust). That’s safe from his perspective, not yours. You might think he’s perfectly safe in a trailer, but if he’s never been in one you’ll need to show him that you’ll go into one and that other horses agree it’s safe too. Your job is to prove to your horse that no matter what goes on around him, he will not be harmed. Angry bullying won’t work. Losing your temper won’t work. Banging his teeth with the bit, slapping him unexpectedly on the rump, making loud, sudden noises and unexpected gestures don’t help either. Let your horse know where you are and what you’re up to as much as possible. Be calm, be considerate, be affectionate, be patient. This path leads to earning your horse’s trust, an essential for a long and happy relationship.

5. Be fun

No one, even a horse, enjoys all work and no play. Remember to make your lessons enjoyable. Your aim is to encourage your horse to look forward to hanging out with you. What your horse likes will be individual, but most horses have a place on their body they like having scratched or rubbed. This can be a reward for obedience. Many horses enjoy the mental stimulation of a lesson if it’s not repeated endlessly in one go. More than half an hour on any one lesson at once is too much. 10 or 15 minutes is enough. And horses like variety in their ‘work’. So sometimes go out for a trail ride, sometimes do some jumping, sometimes work in the ring. Mix it up and keep it interesting. A bored horse is a cranky horse, and anyone in a bad mood is likely to misbehave.

6. Comfort

The horse likes a life of comfort. That means, a life free from irritants as well as pain. You can use his dislike of being irritated to your training advantage. Basically, you are looking for non-painful but annoying things you can do to encourage your horse to do as you ask. The key is to remove the irritant immediately when the horse does what you are asking. Stopping the annoying thing you were doing is his reward for doing as you asked. This is the most effective and yet gentle way to teach your horse to do what you ask

One example of irritant training is a technique called pressure and release. An example of pressure and release:

If you wanted your horse to turn its head to the left, you would put your hand in the halter strap and gently pull to the left just slightly. As soon as the horse begins to turn his head left, let go of the halter, releasing the pressure, and praise your horse quietly. If your horse were to pull to the right instead, you would continue to apply gentle pressure to the left until your horse complied, then release and praise again. Through patient, consistent repetition, your horse will learn what you are asking. This is the pressure and release training method in a nutshell, and can be applied throughout your horse’s training.

So these are the 6 basics of teaching ground manners. Repetition; Be a leader; Consistency; Trust; Be fun; and Comfort. Apply these whenever you are around your horse and you will be well on the way to many happy times.

Author: Phil Tragear
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

Do you own a reining horse or young reined cow horse prospect? If so, you know how critical a good stop is to your horse’s success in the show arena. In this discussion, I’m going to talk about reining horse sliding stops. And specifically, ways you can improve your horse’s sliding stop.
We have a lot of ground to cover so let’s get started. There are several factors that influence the length of a horse’s slide.

They are:

#1. The horse’s natural ability and aptitude for stopping.

#2. The ground the horse is stopping on.

#3. The way the horse is shod.

#4. The horse’s rate of speed when going into the stop.

#5. The way the rider cues the horse for the stop (how the reins are worked, rider’s posture, etc.).

I’d like to talk about each of these factors and explain how they effect your horse’s slide.

First, let me make it clear that just about any horse can do a nice little two foot slide on good ground. It’s another thing altogether for a horse to slide 15 or 20 feet. If you want big time stops you need a horse that has the ability and desire to stop.

You’re not going to get the job done on just a so-so kind of horse. And if you try to force a non-stopper into becoming a big-time stopper you may find your training sessions becoming too harsh.

How do you know if your horse has the aptitude to be a good stopper? If it was relatively easy to get him to stop well at the trot or slow lope, chances are you won’t have much of a problem advancing the stop. (Providing you do it gradually and the horse has the necessary strength to hold a hard stop).

On the other hand, if you had hell getting him to stop at the trot or slow lope, you’re going to have more hell trying to get him to stop from a faster pace. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth it to put yourself or the horse through that kind of ordeal.

Let’s talk about how the ground affects a horse’s slide.

It never ceases to amaze me how normally intelligent people can’t figure out that a long slide ain’t gonna happen on bad ground. So, for the sake of clarity let me describe what good sliding ground is. Good sliding ground consists of a hard, packed base that is smooth with two or three inches of loose, fluffy dirt on top.

The advantages of this kind of ground are obvious. The hard packed base gives the horse something solid to slide on. Without it the horse’s feet would dig in the ground too deep thus shortening the slide. The base must also be smooth. If there are any ruts in it a horse’s feet will catch in the rut.

Again this will shorten the slide or worse, injure the horse. It’s important the ground on top of the base be fluffy and loose. Here’s why. This top ground needs to soften the concussion of the feet entering the ground and hitting the hard base. Without a soft cushion to absorb the shock the horse will get sore.

Another reason you want the ground loose and fluffy is so the horse can easily plow through it while sliding. If this top ground is too deep or too heavy it makes it too difficult for the horse to slide very far. He’ll need to be awfully strong to hold a slide in deep, heavy ground.

Here’s a tip for improving your sliding ground. Add rice hulls or shavings to the dirt. This will really fluff it up and make it light.

The way your horse’s hind feet are shod will have a lot to do with how well he slides.

Sliding shoes are advised. They are made of tempered, flat bar iron, one to one and a half inches wide. The wider the shoe the less friction (or grab) on the ground and the longer the slide. There are limits though. I prefer not to go wider than one inch wide shoes.

Again, for less grab, the toe of the shoe is rocked up a quarter inch like the front of a ski. This prevents the toe from jamming in the ground while stopping. The quarters of the shoe should come almost straight back from the toe to allow dirt to easily flow out the back of the shoe.

The trailers should extend all the way back to the bulbs of the foot, but no farther. You also should have the horse’s hind feet trimmed with a little longer toe and a little lower heel than normal. (Normal means the angle of the hoof is the same as the angle of the pastern).

This creates more surface area and makes for a more effective ski. Do not go to extremes with this. The idea is to have the angle of the foot so there is no danger of the horse stubbing his toe in the dirt, knuckling over and hurting himself.

If he’s trimmed at too steep of an angle (heels too high) he’ll knuckle over while stopping and pull a tendon. Trim the heel too low and he’ll strain his ham strings while stopping.

Horses who’s hind legs are straight with feet pointing straight ahead, have an easier time of sliding far. Their hind feet will stay together while sliding and make a nice set of long, straight “11″s. A horse who’s hind feet toe out will have a difficult time sliding far.

Because he toes out, his hind feet will start to spread as he slides. The farther the slide the more he spreads until he’s forced to come out of the slide to bring his feet back together in a more comfortable position.

This horse’s slide tracks will look like a “V”. You can help this by turning the shoe on the foot so it’s pointing more straight ahead. And it sometimes helps to rock the toe a little to the inside of the foot.

The speed your horse is running when going into the stop is one of the major factors dictating the length of the slide.

In other words, if he’s not going fast, he’s not going to slide far.

Let’s say you are going to run down the length of the arena and ask for a sliding stop about of the way down. It’s important to start the run-down real slow. Then, very gradually build speed as you go down the arena and reach the point where you ask for the stop. Do not lope slow almost to the end then bust him into a run.

Gradually means to increase speed a little with each stride. It’s critical to ask for the stop while the horse is accelerating. Why? Because his shoulders are more elevated and his hind legs reach farther under him when he’s building speed (necessary elements for a sliding stop).

Just make sure you time the rate of acceleration so he’s not going too fast when you reach the mark. Otherwise he may run right through the stop. All horses have an optimum running speed where they will still try to stop.

If you run him faster than that optimum speed he just thinks about running and forgets about stopping. Or maybe he’s not strong enough to hold a stop past his optimum speed and refuses to try. You’ll have to experiment to find out just how fast you can run him and still get a stop.

Another thing. Don’t ask your horse to stop from top speed very often. You’ll sour him if you do. And remember to put skid boots on him so his fetlocks are protected.

A lot of riders build speed too quickly, then start to slow down as they near the end of the run-down. They ask the horse to stop while he’s decelerating. The result is usually a disappointing stop. It’s also important for the horse to be running straight when you ask for the stop.

His body should be straight from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. If he’s crooked he’ll stop out of balance. Also, his path down the arena must be straight. If he is zigzagging or trying to veer off while making the run-down, his stop will suffer.

The way you “cue” your horse to stop is vitally important.

Using the reins correctly, proper riding posture and timing is what enables your horse to perform a long slide. But before I explain the right way, let me tell you what not to do. Contrary to popular belief, pulling the reins harder does not make for a longer slide. It actually shortens the slide.

Why? Because the hard pull makes the horse jam his feet in the ground too deep. It also causes his hind legs to spread out too much to slide far. And maybe worst of all, a horse can’t keep his balance for a long slide when he’s being pulled on.

OK, that takes care of what not to do. Now let’s talk about how to do it right. On a reining horse there are three different techniques I’ll use to handle the reins. The techniques are different but the principle of why they work is similar.

Why do I use different techniques? Because different horses respond differently. I’ll use the technique that works the best on that particular horse. Let me give you a brief description of the three techniques of using the reins. Then I’ll go into more detail on the one that works on the majority of horses.

The ultimate way of stopping your horse is to just say whoa, slack the reins, then sit there and let him slide. This technique will often times produce the longest slides. Why? Because you’re not interfering with him.

With no pressure in his mouth, he feels free to slide as far as he can. The only problem with this technique is that your horse has to be the kind that really wants to stop. It’s pretty hard to get the average horse to consistently stop this way.

Another technique I’ll use is to say whoa, tighten the reins to apply light pressure, then sit there and let him slide. It’s important to note that the pressure is light, only a pound or two. It’s also important not to pull the reins. Once the pressure is applied, your hand is set solid with no pulling or slacking.

This method works fairly well on horses that don’t want to stay in the slide. The down side is horses usually won’t slide very far with this technique unless you can get away with using very light pressure. Also, if you pull on him instead of setting your hand, he’s going to pull on you and dump on his front end.

Here’s the method I use on the majority of horses I ride. As I’m galloping the horse down the arena I’ll say whoa, wait a split second, then apply rein pressure and set my hand. The horse will go into the stop. My hand is set for only a fraction of a second, then I slack the reins. The horse will continue to hold the slide.

As he’s sliding, if I feel him start to come out of the stop, I’ll set my hand again. Then immediately slack the reins again. This process of setting and slacking the reins goes on throughout the whole slide until the horse is completely stopped. It should be noted that when I slack the reins I don’t give a lot of slack. Only an inch or two.

Let me explain step by step why this sequence of cues works so well.

After I say whoa, giving the horse a split second before the reins are set gives him a chance to go into the stop on his own. This lets him enter the ground more softly and smoothly. (If the reins were used at the same time I said whoa, this would startle the horse causing him to abruptly jam his hind feet in the ground too deep for a long slide).

Once the horse enters the ground, I give him a short, little set with the reins just to remind him to stay in the stop. I immediately slack. Slacking the reins lets him know he’s allowed to slide as far as he wants. (Without the slack he’d get too deep and stop much more abruptly. He also might pull on me or get rigid).

If he tries to come out of the slide I’ll set and slack the reins again. As long as the horse is sliding, I won’t set the reins again unless he starts to come out of the stop. Considering a 20 foot slide takes only a couple seconds to complete, this set and slack sequence is happening pretty rapid. It takes concentration and feel to get it just right.

There is one more element in this stopping sequence I want to talk about… your body posture.

As you’re loping down the arena, you’re using your body to generate energy to keep the horse moving forward. When it’s time to stop the horse, your body also has to stop it’s energy. In other words, you have to completely stop riding and sit down in the saddle relaxed.

Let your back, shoulders and thighs go limp. This is a major stopping cue all horses instinctively respond to. But make darn sure you keep riding until you say the word whoa, otherwise the horse will start the stop prematurely and ruin the slide.

This “body posture” stuff is extremely important and your horse will never stop as good as he could until you get it.

I know I’ve probably made this sound too complicated and difficult. But, you can do it. It just takes some concentration and practice. If you don’t get it immediately don’t get discouraged and give up. Relax, be patient and you’ll get it.

Resources:

There are two training videos I recommend that are detailed enough to show you how to get your horse stopping well. They are:

Teach Your Horse to Stop Light and Collected, volume 1.5

Teach Your Horse to Stop Light and Collected, volume 2

Alright, that’s all for now.

Have fun training your horse.

Larry Trocha,

Larry Trocha Training Stable

Author: Larry Trocha
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable pressure cooker

Horse, like people have many different personalities. Many like to think that a horse is reminiscent of its owner. I must say I find this to be very true from my own personal experience. I think that it is very important for a horse owner or future horse owner to know how to handle your horse or potential horse, and understand how a horse’s senses work.

Healthy horses have a very keen sense of smell. Your horse more than likely will have a craving for grain or apples for example. An apple doesn’t have much smell, but if you have one in your pocket your horse will definitely smell it and know exactly what pocket its in. He will probably be sniffing at your pocket and nudging you for it. If you’re out on a trail with your horse your horse can smell many things before you even notice them, such as hikers, deer, mountain bikers etc… sometimes I find that horse will snort at certain smells, to me this is kind of an alert.

Along with smell horses also have a keen sense of hearing which they use in conjunction with the sense of smell. You will notice that your horse flicks its ears often sometimes pricking them forward and turning them to the side. This is an indication that your horse is paying attention to the sounds in the environment around him. This is a natural prey instinct. I also find that when horses prick their ears back towards you, they are paying attention to you and your cues as well. Horses use their ears to not only listen but to also talk to you. When a horse pricks his ears forward look at the direction they are pointing and you’ll find out what your horse is investigating. It could be another horse, coyote, hay truck etc… When you horse pens his ears, it’s usually an indication he’s angry, disgruntled, or upset.

A horse’s tail is another form of communication. A horse’s tailbone is actually and extension of its spine, but a horse can express himself through his tail. You can actually tell what a horse is thinking by the positioning of his tail. A relaxed horse usually lays his tail against his body in a natural manner. Sometimes a horse will hold its slightly out away from his body as a balancing mechanism while trotting or cantering. A scared horse tucks or clamps his tail to his body. A happy or excited horse lifts its tail high like a flag. And unhappy or irritated horse swishes his tail at you or another horse. Horses also use the tail to swat flies.

A horse has keen sight. The horse sees differently than people do. The horse’s eye has a different physical structure than the human eye. A horse will raise his head to focus on close objects and lower its head to see distant objects. In addition horses are also color blind. Due to the placement of the horse’s eye being on the sides of the head, he has lateral vision. Meaning he can see two separate images at the same time. It is a good idea when working with your horse, to work on both sides of your horse.

Horses also communicate by voice with other horses and by body language. If you watch horses in a pasture you will see this often. Horse will swish their tails at eat other when the want space. They will also kick at each other if another horse or human is too close. You will see horses push each other with their bodies when they want another horse to move or want to show dominance. Horses will also do this with humans and to my amazement many horse owners allow this. This is a definite no no, and needs correction.

By carefully observing your horses you will learn a lot about how to think like a horse.

Author: Gary Houston
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera News

In this series of articles I will explain how to take a young/ untrained horse and safely teach it to lead. This will help to deepen your relationship, and the level of communication with your horse. Each article will have a systematic approach that will be both easy to understand, and to teach your horse. I will break down each baby step and teach you how to teach your horse each lesson. There will be examples in the training phase that has corrections and also what responses to watch for in your horse. My hope is that this will “demystify” some of the concepts in working with young/ untrained horses.

This article is written on the assumption that you have already taught your horse to accept a halter. It is also based on the assumption that you have handled a young or untrained horse before. If you are NOT comfortable in handling a young or untrained horse please consult with a professional trainer.

Part 1: Overview of Equipment

First of all you are going to need several items in order to make this safe for both you and your horse:

1. A halter that is in good condition and is correctly fit to your horse.

2. A sturdy lead rope that is also in good condition.

3. A dressage whip

4. A riding helmet that is ASTM/ SEI certified

5. An indoor or outdoor arena (not a round pen, you need a “flat” wall)

6. Gloves (optional, but good protection for your hands)

First of all, the equipment should fit your horse correctly. To make sure that we are on the same page I will explain how to correctly fit a halter to your horse. It should be on tight enough that the throatlatch (the piece that lies underneath the horses throat) is not more than couple of inches from the jowls. You want enough space for a couple of fingers to fit between the throatlatch and the throat. When the halter is on you also need to have room to fit two or three fingers underneath the noseband and below the cheekbone. The halter should lie no more than an inch below the cheekbone. See figure 1 for horse halter anatomy.

Figure 1 Labeled Halter

Remember, the halter needs to be correctly fit to your horse so that is does not slip off or twist around on your horses face. If the halter twists around on your horses face it can cause discomfort, and make training much more difficult.

A sturdy lead rope is another piece of necessary equipment. Soft cotton lead ropes with a brass bolt snap are very sturdy and easy to attach or remove from the halter. It is also fairly “soft” on your hands and does not cause you to get rope burn if you chose not to use gloves.

The next piece of equipment is a dressage whip. The reason for a dressage whip is they are a good length (39″ to 43″) to use easily and quietly during training. The whip becomes an extension of your arm and creates a shape or position that the horse understands. It is not used to punish a horse but rather to reinforce the commands given.

An ASTM/ SEI certified helmet is the next piece of equipment that is needed, especially when working with young or untrained horses. I have a strict helmet policy for all of my students. My philosophy is you can never be too careful when working with an animal that can weigh around 1000 pounds.

The final piece of equipment is the arena. I recommend using a flat wall arena and not a round pen for teaching a horse to lead. Using a flat wall helps to keep the horses body straight. Using a round pen will tend to angle the horse’s haunches towards you, which can make it difficult to stay out of the “kicking zone”. If the horse’s haunches can easily reach you then you increase your chances of being kicked.

The main reason for using an arena is you will a have a full corridor of aids. The outside wall will actively work as another you on the other side keeping your horse straight. (During riding the outside wall works as your outside seat bone, outside leg, and outside rein.) These aids help to communicate a particular “shape” you want the horse to follow. The wall will keep your horse from turning his haunches away from you and will not add the extra confusion of not having outside aids. One last reason for using an arena is if your horse gets away from you then he will not have much of a place to go. This will make it easier to catch your horse and start working with him or her again.

Working with a young or untrained horse can increase the odds of accidents; safety for both the handler and horse must always come first. Next month’s article will focus on the training of your horse, and will go into details that make this safe, simple, and enjoyable

Learn something new every month from Horse Logic. A new article will be featured every month in From the Horses Mouth by: Sara McKiness from Horse Logic.

Author: Sara McKiness
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty tariff