{"id":953,"date":"2017-08-06T16:53:06","date_gmt":"2017-08-06T20:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/equestrianbootsandbridles.com\/?p=953"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:29:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T17:29:02","slug":"the-first-steps-to-training-a-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/equestrianbootsandbridles.com\/the-first-steps-to-training-a-horse\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Steps to Training a Horse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You might think that the first steps to training a horse will depend on what type of training style you want to employ. When you search “how to train a horse” on Google you’ll find lots of buzz words and quick approaches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might have heard the term “natural horsemanship” for instance. There’s also training specific to types of horse disciplines (i.e. race horses vs. barrel horses<\/a> vs. dressage horses). You can even find fun things like “clicker training”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are all very valid approaches. My thinking on how to train a horse is not really a specific approach as much as it is a system. A system of communicating with horses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I think of horse training, I like to stick with the basics. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t train particularly for any one thing but rather I train for a general ability to communicate clearly with my horse. That way you establish a relationship and then go on to do anything you like. This may not be the fastest or most efficient way to train a racehorse, for example, but for my purposes it works well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I think it’s important to establish a general understanding with your horse because you can build on that with any specific training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do I do this? I like to employ a mish-mash of different styles. This is based on 2 things: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Horse psychology <\/li>
  2. My #1 principle of interacting with horses: <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    If you can clearly communicate to your horse every time you\u2019re around them that you have a plan along with the willingness and ability to enforce that plan, you\u2019ve become the leader your horse craves and you\u2019ve essentially learned the principles of horsemanship.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

    In my way of looking at things, horsemanship is the knowledge base that you have to have in order to train your horse. Once you learn horsemanship, you understand the principles of communicating with horses and thus can expand on that in order to train a horse from the ground up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I suggest that you learn horsemanship first and implement it to confidently communicate with trained horses. Once you’ve established that you can use that to learn how to train a horse from the very beginning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The 3 Belief Systems of my Approach to Horse Training<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    I have 3 beliefs that I adopt when I think of working with horses in any capacity. These really help me to communicate with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When it comes to horse training, it helps me to remind myself of these things when the horse isn’t doing what I would like. This helps especially when I’m too frustrated to stay patient and remember to wait the horse out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Just by the way, you can solve a LOT of your training problems by learning patience while you’re training. If you wait your horse out, the horse will guess right eventually in terms of what you want. But we’ll discuss that later!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For now, the 3 beliefs I want you to consider are the following: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    #1: Horses are much more than \u201cprey\u201d animals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    #2: Horses are constantly trying to have a conversation with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    #3: When the herd consists of you and the horse, one will become the leader and one will become the follower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you don’t agree with me that’s okay. I just invite you to consider these ideas and as you learn more about how to train a horse. As start implementing the training yourself, keep them in the back of your mind. You will eventually come up with your own belief systems anyways (and this is the goal!) but it’s nice to have somewhere to start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How Committed Are You to Horse Training? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The saying “green + green = black and blue” is common in the horse industry. You’ve probably heard of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Essentially, if you’re a beginner yourself, it’s not a good idea to get a “green” horse. That is, you don’t want a horse that’s not well trained. If you do, there’s a risk of getting black and blue – injured. Rather, you’ll want your first horse to be a well-trained horse that you can learn to communicate with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    You can still learn so much from an experienced horse. <\/strong>You can learn the basics of horse communication, of ground work, of all the subtleties of riding and of handling. I would be very surprised if you ended up with the perfect horse who had nothing to learn. I’ve never come across a horse that listened to every single cue and had no difficulties anywhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Most horses, even experienced ones with a lot of training behind them, will have some things they need refreshing on. Some struggle with trailering. Others struggle with cantering smoothly. Some struggle with being caught in the field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    These are all things that you can work on and that you can build your confidence off of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Once you know how to fix these issues and you learn the basics of communicating with horses, you’ll start to understand the system of training a horse from scratch. You’ll also quickly understand how much time, patience and dedication it takes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How much time exactly? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This depends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It depends on your experience. On how well you’re able to time your cues and your corrections. It depends how firm you’re going to be. Most of all it depends on how well your horse responds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you’ve ever trained a dog, you’ll know that some dogs can be house broken in a day whereas others take months and months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why Train a Horse from Scratch? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The more you’re able to communicate clearly with your horse, the stronger that bond becomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If your horse listens and learns from you, there’s a natural respect for your leadership that has to emerge. This is a very strong bond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I want you to think back to your favourite school horse or that one horse that you learnt to ride on. Is there one that you always think back to because they were your favourite? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why was that particular horse your favourite?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For me, when I was learning how to ride, I had a little black feisty pony named Satchmo. He would kick almost every single day and no one else liked to ride him. He also hated leading in group lessons and would routinely kick at other horses behind him. I just happened to get assigned to him. Initially, I was a little annoyed at how difficult he was. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Training<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Then I started to learn his little quirks. I learnt what made him kick and how to avoid it. The exact rhythm of his canter. I learnt how his ears would behave right before he got mad at another horse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Eventually I was able to communicate with him well enough and establish sufficient trust in order to do things like: <\/p>\n\n\n\n