Posts Tagged ‘fear’

Horse biting is a serious problem for the horse owner. It can cause a major bruise or even broken bones. Dealing with the problem in the heat of the moment often results in a smack to the horse, but surprisingly that’s unlikely to solve it. So, why do horses bite and what can we do about it? What we’ll find out is that the reason the horse bites really doesn’t matter.

1. Understand why horses bite

The fact is biting is completely natural for horses, for a lot of reasons. Horses use biting for play, as a defense mechanism, or for dominance. They bite amongst each other and if you’re not the “alpha” of your herd they may be prone to bite you too.

The bottom line is a horse may bite out of fear or lack of trust, because of past abuse by humans (making him feel threatened in certain circumstances) or out of simple disrespect. A lack of confidence by the handler that horses pick up in body language can also make biting more likely.

2. Maintain personal space

One of the most fundamental things you can teach your horse on the ground is maintaining personal space. Imagine a bubble around your body that the horse is not allowed to enter. Then follow a simple rule- you can enter the personal space of the horse, but he can never enter yours. This simple rule is part of establishing leadership with your horse, as the alpha you’re entitled to it. But it’s more than just a part of horse training for leadership, maintaining some personal space is necessary for basic safety. If a horse is too close he can knock you down on the ground, trample you, or of course he can bite you. All of these things are less likely if the horse always maintains a few feet of distance.

Teach the horse to stay out your personal space by backing him up and using proper leading techniques. Don’t hold the lead rope right up next to the halter, hold it a couple of feet down. Make sure your horse doesn’t walk out in front of you or go past you when you stop. Back him up every time he gets within your personal bubble. By maintaining a bit of personal space, we make it less likely the horse can strike out and bite.

3. Punishment only works over the short term

If you get bit by a horse you might have an impulse to smack him. And the truth is, there might be certain emergency situations where you’ll have to, like if he’s biting down hard on a finger. But punishment should be avoided if possible. Smacking a horse isn’t going to teach him to stop biting for a few reasons. First of all, many horses, especially young horses, bite as part of the games they play among each other. Smacking a horse biting in this context can backfire. The horse will play harder and may engage in a game of trying to dodge your smacks and sneak in a bite. Smacking a defiant horse is likely to make him more aggressive.

4. Don’t over-feed treats

Believe it or not over-feeding treats can create biting horses. Prey animals aren’t motivated by food the same way dogs are, and continuously feeding a horse treats will make him pushy and demanding. There is a time for treats, but use them sparingly and don’t try to use treats to shape behavior.

5. Establish leadership

Dealing with the biting horse comes down to establishing leadership and earning respect. Alpha horses don’t get bit by the other horses. Your role as a horse owner is to establish yourself as the alpha in your herd. This is a permanent way to fix the biting horse. If he truly sees you as the confident alpha, he won’t bite you, regardless of the reason he would try to otherwise.

If you have a biting horse then its time to get back to basics with your training. The first step is to include a few sessions in the round pen. At liberty round pen training is one of the best ways to establish leadership, earn respect, and build trust with a horse. Often this may be all that’s needed to start eliminating biting problems.

Leading a horse-done properly-is also another important exercise to earn respect. Work in a few training sessions where you actually walk backwards away from your horse. This has a powerful effect on the mind and emotions of the horse, because she’ll see that you’re always out in front of her. Walk backwards and occasionally ask for stops by raising both hands and exhaling. Look to see how she is paying attention. If both eyes aren’t focused on you, then she isn’t being attentive. Bump the rope to bring both eyes on you. Also work on leading from the mid-section or hip, which is more properly called “driving”. Driving a horse is a more dominant activity and will help you get in a position where the horse respects you-so is less likely to bite.

Finally, it’s a good idea to spend more time lunging, working on having the horse change speed and direction on command. The idea is to get the horse listening to your commands. This helps establish your “authority” as the alpha of the herd.

David McMahon is a freelance author and horse owner. He invites you to visit http://horse-training-tips.com where you can learn more about the biting horse.

Author: David McMahon
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Learning to feel when your dressage horse is straight is always a challenge.

Probably the best way to learn to feel straightness is to always riding your horse in what’s called First Position. First Position isn’t an exercise–it’s just a straight horse that is bending the joints of his inside hind and carrying weight behind.

If you think of your horse as being on 3 tracks in shoulder-in, think of First Position as being the “thought” of shoulder-in or a very slight shoulder-fore.

If you were riding down the long side straight at a person, that person wouldn’t be able to see the outside hind leg because it would be directly behind the outside front leg. However, she’d see half of a hoof’s width (about 2 and 1/2 inches) of the inside hind hoof stepping to the inside of the inside front leg.

This is a VERY slight displacement of the shoulders toward the inside of the arena so in the beginning you’ll need a mirror or a ground person who can say, “That’s too much angle. That’s not enough angle. That’s just right.”

When you track with the your horse’s hollow side on the inside, you might have to counter-flex (-1) him FIRST before you ask the shoulders to come in. Otherwise, your horse will just bend his neck in, and his shoulders will still be glued to the rail.

Ride around in First Position on long and short sides, circles, corners. Then do some upward and downward transitions maintaining First Position before, during, and after the transitions.

Once you get used to the feel of how much angle your dressage horse has in First Position, you’ll know when he’s straight because any extra displacement of the haunches either in or out will feel weird or wrong to you.

Are you sick and tired of complicated and confusing training techniques?
Are you frustrated by negative emotions like fear and lack of confidence?
Would you like to be trained by a Three Time Olympic Coach?
Learn how by going to: http://www.janesavoie.com/ or http://www.dressagementor.com

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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I recently had a client that, due to medical reasons, could not mount her horse without a mounting block. Her fear was that if she needed to get down off her horse somewhere that did not have a object to use as a block, she would have to walk home or until she found something on trail to use. She asked about teaching her horse to bow for her to mount. Now I know many people that want to teach their horse to bow as a way of exiting a performance, but this was the first time someone had asked me about actually getting up that way. I told her we could give it a try and I did not see why it could not be done. So off we went.

Now there are two ways a horse can bow, with both legs forward or one bent with the knee on the ground. I could see a lot of stress on the horse trying to get up with added weight from the bow with both legs forward so I set about teaching her horse to bow with a bend knee.

This is the same procedure I will use on teaching any horse to bow, mounted or not. The main difference comes with where the cue is located. Obviously, if you are going to bow the horse from the saddle, you need a cue spot you can reach, but that is not where it starts.

I do not use treats and do not force the horse down. I use a full check snaffle with continuous round rope reins. I also use a soft lay rope (I like to use the leads made for rope halters with no clasps or hardware) to help hold up the leg on the side I am standing. Due to the repeated contact with the ground, find a place where the ground is soft and protect the legs as much as possible with wraps or boots. Please keep in mind it is not something you teach all horses in one day.

I will only teach this to a horse that understands how to pick up its feet and that also knows how to release to pressure on the bit. I begin by placing leg protection on the horse and placing the rope on the pastern of the leg next to me. I then ask the horse to give his foot. The cue I teach at this point is a tapping on the pastern with a crop while asking the horse to step back. When the horse lifts the foot, I stop tapping and keep the foot up with the rope. I continue until the horse lifts the foot on his own to the tap of the crop.

I then hold the foot up with the rope and ask the horse to lean back. As soon as he leans back even a little, I release, praise and let him put his foot down. I repeat the cues and ask the horse to rock back farther and farther until the knee touches the ground. Always stop the cue when the horse rocks back and allow the horse to come right back up.

When they are comfortable with that I start asking them to keep the knee on the ground a little longer before asking them to get up. It is here you start teaching the cue to get up so the horse will stay down until you give the cue to get up. A verbal OK or walking forward, whatever you’d like.

When the horse is consistent with touching the knee to the ground and leaving it until you ask the horse to get up, you will start teaching the horse a series of cues to bow. The horse understands to lift his foot to the tap, so we are going to expand that to the horse keeping his foot up on his own and bowing. You ask the horse to pick up his foot with the tap. When he tries to put it down, you will tap again. Continue this part until the horse understands to leave his foot up. You will then ask him to lift the foot and then ask him to lean back. Repeat the request for him to keep the foot up while leaning back if he puts it down. Continue until the horse will keep his foot up while leaning back. Release the horse on improvements and continue to make him wait to get up from the bow until you ask him. If he gets up before, simply put him back on the bow.

When the horse is solid with keeping his foot up and bowing to the tap on the foot, move the cue to where you want it. For the saddle and ground a tap on the shoulder is a good place. So, you will tap the shoulder then the foot (together) and release the tap as soon as the horse starts to bow. If he gets up at anytime repeat the tap on the shoulder and then the foot so he goes all the way down. Continue until the horse will bow off the tap of the shoulder. Back up the shoulder cue with the tap on the foot at any time until the horse is solid.

When the horse is solid on the cue on his shoulder you can start to add mounting. Start by moving toward the saddle and keeping the horse in the bow, move away and cue him to get up. Then place a foot in the stirrup, take it out, move away and cue to get up. Put weight in the stirrup, get down, move away and cue to get up. Finally, mount, dismount, move away and cue to get up. And finally, mount and cue to get up.

Remember, take your time, don’t be afraid to break the lesson into days, praise every improvement, release cues as soon as the horse complies, and most of all have fun.

Jodi Wilson is a recognized authority on the subject of horse training and has spent almost 30 years developing training techniques and solutions for horse owners no matter the discipline or breed.

Jodi is an Accredited Josh Lyons trainer, and is Certified in John Lyons training techniques. Her website, http://Jodi-Wilson.com, provides a wealth of information to improve the relationship between horse and rider. Jodi is also available for clinics and demonstrations as well as lessons, apprenticeships, and horse training.

Jodi has trained and competed in Reining, Sorting, Jumping, Dressage, English and Western Pleasure, Trail and Problem Solving.

Author: Jodi M Wilson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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When riding your dressage horse, it’s important to keep your hands in what I call the “work area”.

The “work area” is just in front of the saddle above the horse’s withers. Put your hands in that position and draw an imaginary box around them. That box is your work area.

No matter what rein aids you’re giving, keep your hands in the work area. If you bring your hands closer to your body, you steal power from the hind legs. If you put your outside hand forward, for example, you lose control of the outside shoulder.

If you raise or lower your hands, you break the straight line from the bit through your hand to your elbow. When you break that straight line, and there’s an angle where the rein meets your hand, the action of the rein stops there. That is, the action of the rein can’t travel through your arm and down your back so it can affect your horse’s back. It also can’t travel through the horse’s body and affect the hind leg on the same side.

Generally, many dressage riders tend to pull back by drawing their hands toward their bodies and behind their horse’s withers. If you tend to do that, here’s a simple tip to remind you to keep your hands FORWARD in the work area. Imagine there’s a basketball in front of your stomach. Keep your hands in front of the basketball. No matter how hard you try, you can’t draw your hands closer to your body because the basketball is in the way!

Are you sick and tired of complicated and confusing training techniques?
Are you frustrated by negative emotions like fear and lack of confidence?
Would you like to be trained by a Three Time Olympic Coach?
Learn how by going to: http://www.janesavoie.com/ or http://www.dressagementor.com

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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1. Learn Responsibility – Horses will teach your child responsibility very quickly. Make sure that your child does all the work involved in caring for the horse. Everything from feeding, cleaning stalls, grooming, saddling and riding. Children will want to ride but they may not always be eager to do the work. However children almost always fall in love with the horses that they handle and they will want to take as good care of them. Once they know that the horse depends on them and that in order to ride they have to take good care of the horses, they will learn to be more responsible in other aspects of there life.

2. Learn Trust – Horses must be able to trust their handlers. One of the first things that your child will learn about handling and riding horses is to be trustworthy and dependable, because if the horse doesnt trust its handler it will not obey him/her. This can be a very valuable life long lesson for your child.

3. Learn to be Open Minded – Every horse is different and will have to be handled differently. A good horseman never stops learning, even experts and trainers will admit that they learn something new everyday from their horses. Horses will make your child realize that learning is an on going process that never ends. This can transcend into other aspects, such as school and relationships.

4. Build Confidence – Horses are large and intimidating, so naturally it takes a lot of confidence to be able to control one. Letting a your child handle a gentle horse will do wonders for their confidence. Most people are naturally a little bit timid, especialy a child of horses because they are so big. By handling a gentle horse children will overcome their fear and learn that they can safely handle and control the same animal that they were once had great fear of. The better your child learns how to handle the horse, the more confident he/she will become. When children do well with the horses that they handle, their confidence goes up and their self esteem improves. They now realize that this huge creature they were once afraid of is a beautiful and loving animal.

5. Learn Patience – Horses are like children themselves, and training a horse is much like teaching a child. When your child has become a confident and skilled rider, letting them help train a horse will be an excellent experience for them. Horses require a lot of patience because training a young horse involves a lot of repetition and time. This is a lesson that will follow them in all aspects of life.

6. Self Discipline – Horses take a lot of time and work, so your child will have to be dedicated to learning how to ride and handle horses effectively. I have found that dedication is rarely something that children lacks when it comes to horses. People, especially young people, have a natural attraction to horses and enjoy spending time with them. However, because horses are a lot of work your child will soon learn self discipline. For example, instead of sleeping in in the morning, they will be up and out feeding and cleaning. Horses must be fed twice daily and have access to fresh water at all times. Their stalls must be cleaned regularly and they must receive regular exercise. This will take a lot of time, but most people find that it is worth it for the time they get to spend riding, or just being with horses.

7. Teaches Sensitivity – Horses can be very sensitive creatures. They have keen senses, and can sense if someone is afraid, angry, happy, etc. They communicate with body language and are very sensitive to their handlers body position. Because horses are so sensitive, the handler must be also. The handler must be able to tell how the horse is feeling and why it is behaving the way it is. The handler must learn to interpret the horses body language and to communicate effectively with the horse using its own language. When a horse misbehaves, the handler must decide whether or not the horse is doing so out of fear, stubbornness, anger, pain etc. and must respond appropriately.

8. How to Learn From Our Mistakes – When your child first starts learning to ride and handle horses they will make a lot of mistakes and will learn quickly not to make the same mistake twice. That is what horsemanship is all about. When a rider makes a mistake he/she cannot deny it. They must acknowledge the mistake and correct it. The rider must move on after correcting the mistake and not dwell on it. Handling and riding horses will teach your child to use their past mistakes to improve their future horsemanship skills and this will tanscend into other aspects of your childs life.

9. Learn Respect – Children will learn to respect their horses and themselves. Horses are large, dangerous creatures and they demand respect, yet in order to be handled safely they must also respect their handlers. By learning how to handle a horse, children will become more respectful of there horse and its nature. By being trustworthy, confident and responsible your child will earn the respect of there horse.

10. To Have Fun – Last but certainly no least, your child should have fun and enjoy being apart of the horse life style. You don’t want to put too much demand on your child, you need to let them have fun with there horse as well as know when its time to be serious.

I hope the information provided here will help you realize how important it is for you to find a creative yet fulfilling way for you to teach your child all aspects of owning and caring for a horse.

Author: Sean Russell
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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