Gaining respect from your horse?

Question

Does anyone have any exercises they do with their horse to gain respect?

Exercises that makes the horse know your the leader?

Answer 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJg4tHdST...

i usually do it at a canter but trot works too

Answer 2

I don't own a horse but I work at an RDA (riding for the disabled) and one horse who I lead in rides I have to gain respect from him every few weeks, because he's the sort of horse who likes to be the boss, and if it seems like you aren't going to be the boss then he's try to take over.

So what I do, during his led warm-up before the rides start, is lots of walking, halting, and going back. I start him walking, quickening then slowing my pace constantly. I then ask him to halt. If he takes too long, he is told to walk backwards. Then we walk on, and halt again. If he doesn't halt, we keep walking backwards until he does.

Then we do weaving, and halting at places along the arena fence. He has to stand still for ages before we walk on. We continue this for quite a while. Walking, halting, speeding up, slowing down etc. Then we trot, and he has to trot when asked, and slow to a walk when asked.

I do this at the beginning of every ride, and it works. He knows that if he doesn't listen, he has to correct his mistake. He doesn't stop; and he is told to walk backwards and stop where asked. He decides to walk on when he shouldn't; again he is told to walk backwards to where he was supposed to be, and he waits there. He doesn't want to walk fast/slow, or trot; he is made to for a long period of time, or in lots of quick, repeated bursts.

Pretty much, he is told what he should be doing, and he learns that with that person if he doesn't do that the first time he has to do it more times and get it right.

Gaining respect is different to gaining trust. Join-up, and other similar methods, are great for getting a horse to trust you, but not as great for getting a horse's total respect. You gain respect when the horse learns that if you ask them to do something, they should do it, and if they don't they are inconvenienced by being made to do it in a way less preferable for them, like how I explained above.

Answer 3

I love natural horsemanship.  I do join-ups everyday with my horse.

Chase him around the ring until his ear closest to you is always on you and/or his head is down and it looks like he's chewing on air. Turn around and lower your eyes and your aggresive stance.  If he doesn't come chase him again.  Repeat this until he joins up with you. Let him come up behind you.  Walk forward and if he follows you, reward him.

Then, if your using a whip, wrap the rope around the handle and rub him with it.  This tells him that he shouldn't be afraid of it.  Eventually you'll be able to snap the whip above him and he won't move. When he does adjust to this, snap the whip so it wraps around his stomach and his neck.

Good Luck, this always works for me. I can turn in a tight circle with my horse loose and he'll follow me.

Answer 4

I went to a clinton anderson clinic and he is very clear with his directions and cut and dry.  I have tried some of his gaining respect techniques and they do work.  The one thing with building the respect is their is steps to follow.  If you don't do it right you will confuse your horse and make matters worse or you can hurt.  I would suggest getting on of his/ or another natural horse persons dvd/tapes before you take suggestions from people.  I have 2 year old that I have been building the respect/trust with since she was 7 months.  It has been an awesome experience.  I can pratically do anything with her on the ground ie. snap a whip all around her, wave and rub plastic bags all over her, I even can throw a towel over face and she just sits there.  I pony her on the trails and she is just wonderful.  She loads and unloads herself in the trailer.  She has had saddles on her with huge stirrups and she never freaked or got upset once.  She ties to the trailer and stands like a pro.  When I go into the pasture with something new she always comes up to me she is excited to learn something new.  I have followed steps with her, I just didnt jump in the middle.  oh yeah she is full blooded arabian mare, I stated this because alot of people think they are hot and spooky.  I wouldn't trade her for any other horse or breed.  She is going to make an awesome trail horse.

Doing the plastic bag exercise can get you hurt!  There are so many steps to build up to that exercise.  That is a desentitazation exercise and if you didn't start with the basic and just go up to a horse with a plastic bag in tow, you will either get run over, kicked or the horse can rear can come back down on you.  Before you do desentitazation exercises you better have the respect and trust of your horse and know how to do it correctly!

Answer 5

go to you tube and search Clinton Anderson

Answer 6

i love natural horsemanship its how all my horses are trained. it helps to increase the hosrse trust and respect with u and creates a strong bond. so i hav an excersice that should help u! Get a plastic bag and tie it to the end of a stick. than hold ur horse... just with a halter and put the bag  over the horses sholder. if he/she spooks do it again until they know they will be ok and can trust u. this is a trust building excerise, you should do it whenever u can with alot of different things. eg flowers. and just remember that the horse can feel when u r scared so relax... also allow NOT let... ask NOT force. natural horsemanship will build a really strong relationship with ur horse. good luck! hope this helps!    

Answer 7

I absolutely love Pat Parelli-- if you can get ahold of his Natural Horsemanship book - the basics, you should check it out.

Or go to the link I've provided below (by Richard Holland)-- really great exercises that takes you step by step, pictures included, and very easy to follow. And they work!

It's great to see someone who is willing/wanting to put the time into their horses to teach them the correct way. I find that these days, too often, people are using force through harsh bits, force, and various contraptions to make their horses do what they want them to do. Natural Horsemanship is all about a partnership with your horse and it is so rewarding! Good luck to you--