Posts Tagged ‘bad behavior’

It can be difficult to train a horse to perform the way you want and can even be scary at times since bad behaviors can sometimes make horses unsafe and annoying to be around. Biting, kicking, rearing, being pushy, bucking are some of the bad behaviors your might expect from the animal.

To limit the occurrence of bad behaviors you have to have a solid foundation provided by horse training tips in order to establish yourself as a leader over the horse. You should consider some advice that can will you with training your horse.

When a horse respects the trainer, they will lead well. This means a horse will follow at your shoulder from a short distance.Lead your horse from the left in a manner so their nose is at your shoulder on your right side. You should avoid letting the horse pull the rope, let it drag and they certainly shouldn’t rush out past you.

When lose rope drags then stop and order the horse to backup. This is the way to make the horse realize there is a result for their bad behavior. If the horse is going faster and walks past you then simply reverse direction you are once again in front and placing yourself in the leadership role.

You should keep in mind that horses are natural prey animals. Horses are always looking for new threats. If a horse’s head is high then this is a sign they are tense and likely trying to find a nearby threat. When a horse is relaxed, their head is low and their primary interest in to find food. You want to help your horse relax on cue by lowering their head.

This is a valuable tip for horse training and is the best way to prove you are the leader over the horse. Ideally, you should do this without a lead line or halter so you can have control over his movements without tools, but rather be able to control them simply through your body language and presence. There are some other methods you can use in order to teach a horse to respect and trust you.

Another valuable horse training tip is to make sure your horse keeps paying attention to you. If a horse isn’t focused on you then bump them with the rope and bring their nose toward you so both eyes are focused on you.

Keep a look at their eyes as well since this is their form of radar that helps them probe for threats. If both ears are forward and focused on you, you have their complete attention. Make sure you correct your horse whenever their full attention isn’t devoted to you.

As you ride the horse, make sure you go through some exercises to keep your horse paying attention to you. Some good options are flexing and making them move the hindquarter and front. If your horse listens to you, they will be less likely to run when there is a threat near them.

Using these above tips in your horse training will allow you to develop a solid foundation that focuses on gentle leadership that teaches your horse to respect you. When your horse respects you and views you as a leader then they aren’t as likely to exhibit bad behavior.

Sheryll Walker is a horse enthusiast, helping numbers of people to learn secrets of Natural Horse Training. To discover more helpful tips on training horse to do what you need and learn more about Natural Horse Training, visit http://www.HorseTrainingHelp.com.

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Author: Sheryll Walker
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Horses, like dogs, are animals that can do considerable harm when they have bad behavior problems. Unlike dogs, however, who can only inflict harm by biting, horse behavior problems which can hurt people include biting, kicking, or striking out when being handled, and rearing, bucking, or bolting when being ridden. So it is important to have a well-trained horse, especially for youngsters or even adults who are new to the sport of horseback riding.

What do you do, then, if your horse has any, or even many, of these bad habits? The first thing to do is have a thorough check-up. Start by pin-pointing when the bad behavior occurs, or what triggers it.

Bad behavior when under saddle:

Misbehavior in horses may indicate that they are in pain and want to be left alone. If your horse misbehaves mostly when under saddle, then the first thing to check is the fit of your saddle. If the saddle does not fit the horse’s back, it can cause pinching and back pain, causing the horse to act out. An expert horse trainer may be able to assist in assessing your saddle and bridle fit, or you may want to hire a professional saddle fitter, because, sad to say, some trainers may not have that expertise.

If the saddle fits good, then check the bit in the horse’s mouth. If the fit looks good, have a veterinarian check your horse’s teeth. There may be a tooth problem that is causing the discomfort.

If your tack checks out OK, then the next step is an overall veterinarian examination to rule out other issues that could be causing pain when your horse is ridden. For example, if there is arthritis in a joint, the extra weight of a saddle and rider may be enough to cause pain.

OK, your tack is not the problem and the horse has no issues that the vet can detect. Then ask a trainer to assess the way you ride. Do you pull excessively on the horse’s mouth? Do you bounce too much in the saddle? Over time, these, too, can cause a horse to say “I’ve had enough!” If the horse is new, maybe he had bad experiences with previous owners and needs to learn that you will not hurt him. All these things need to be well thought out.

But what if your horse misbehaves when not being ridden?

Misbehavior when being handled:

Horses that try to bite or kick at people when they are being groomed, led or otherwise handled may still have pain issues. Again, the first step is a thorough veterinarian examination.

Is the horse grouchy all the time, or just at certain times? If you have a mare, perhaps she bites and kicks only when in heat. Many mares have no symptoms of being in heat, while others let the world know. If your horse has severe symptoms of heat, an ultrasound might be advised to rule out ovarian cysts. If there are none, there is medication, although expensive, which prevents mares from coming into heat.

Does your horse misbehave while being groomed? Again, if the vet check does not reveal a physical problem, perhaps your horse has very sensitive skin. Just be extra gentle in currying and brushing.

Re-training:

When all physical causes of your horse’s bad behavior have been ruled out, then it is time to accept the fact that your horse has training issues. The horse may have been abused by previous owners, or he may simply be a bossy horse who does not accept you as its leader. The horse may have a fearful personality, and behaves badly out of fear. There are numerous possible causes, but to fix them only three things are required: gentleness, firmness and patience.

At this point you may want to find a professional horse trainer. Be very selective! Your horse already has issues. You don’t want a trainer whose methods will only cause more distrust. Anyone can call themselves a horse trainer, so ask around, talk to horse people you trust, and watch any potential trainer work to see how they do the job.

If you have the experience, time and patience to attempt re-training your horse on your own, then invest in some training videos or books. You can borrow ideas from various sources. It can be very rewarding to work one-on-one and develop a strong partnership with your horse.

Pamela Griffin was raised around horses and rode at such a young age that she does not remember learning, although she does have a vague memory of her first fall off a horse! She’s ridden Western, English, and shown in dressage, but currently enjoys the simplicity of riding in the Arizona desert on her Missouri foxtrotter. She writes various articles as an amateur horse owner with years of horse ownership experience.

Author: Pamela Griffin
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Time and again, I hear about a horse behaving badly-a horse chases someone around a pasture, it kicks, it bites, it bucks, it won’t canter. While all of these issues sound different-they can all be traced right back to one and the same cause. A horse that exhibits bad behavior is more often than not just suffering from what I call alpha horse complex. That is, the owner of the horse has not truly established himself as the leader for the horse. The horse thinks that he is the leader, and all he is doing is behaving like an alpha horse does! The owner calls this bad behavior and feels like he needs to correct it. In truth, what we need to do as horse owners is take a step back and learn how horses think. Then apply our new knowledge to make ourselves the alpha mare or stallion of the herd, rather than letting our horses fill that role. Where to begin? In this article I’m going to mention 7 easy to apply exercises that will help you become a leader for your horse.

1. No more treats for your horses while working

When you are working your horse, do not give him any treats. Period. Giving treats to a prey animal does not reinforce good behavior the way we think it does. Instead, it makes the horse think of you as a cookie factory. This in turn makes the horse want to take advantage of you. So throw away the treats-during training. Give your horse a treat after you’ve been working with him and you’re finished.

2. Do not use treats to catch your horse

All too often horse people want to just grab their horse and go ride. But the truth is you’re establishing the bounds of your relationship with your horse the second you walk out to the pasture to get him. Your horse is sizing up your body posture, how you walk, and if you can be intimidated. That is he is seeing who is the leader in this relationship! You cannot bond successfully with a horse that you have to bribe to come into you. Instead of wagging carrots at your horse hoping he will come over, learn to catch your horse using body language horses already know.

3. Lead Your Horse Properly

Where is your horse when you’re leading him? Is he in front of you or creeping up on you? If so you aren’t leading properly. He is going where he wants to and not really minding you. Take some time to study proper leading of horses. Just by doing some simple leading exercises, you will find your relationship with your horse improves drastically.

4. Do join-up in the round pen

Longeing your horse in the round pen at liberty so that he joins-up or hooks-on with you is a great way to establish yourself as the leader of your horse.

5. Get the Attention of your Horse

If your horse is not focusing two eyes on you, then he is not paying full attention to you. He is looking off with the other eye for threats or maybe things more interesting than you are. To become a leader for your horse, you need to have both eyes.

6. Do backup exercises

The alpha mare or stallion in a herd gets the other horses to move out of the way. We can use this fact to communicate with our horses just by moving them around. A great way to do this is using backing up as a regular part of our groundwork routine. Backup exercises are an excellent way to get a horses attention when he is behaving badly.

7. Look for Precision

When you are communicating effectively with your horse, take things to a new level by looking for precise backups. Instead of asking your horse to back up 10 feet, ask him to backup just a hair. Start with 2 steps and then ask him to stop with a “whoa”. When you have that down, ask him to backup a single step. Progress from that so that you can get your horse to shift his muscles backwards without even taking a step. When you establish that kind of precise control with your horse, you are not only communicating with him effectively but also establishing leadership. A horse you can control precisely on the ground is a better riding horse.

That concludes our look at 7 tricks to eliminate bad horse behavior. If your horse is being dominant in any way, apply these 7 steps and build the foundation you need for a successful horse-human relationship.

Author: David McMahon
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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