Help Breaking A Horse? (First time)

Question

So today I got a horse, my first. I'm so excited. He's being given to us, for free. He's a five-year-old Painted stallion, but unfortunately, he's only lead broken. We're going to have to break him ourself.

Does anyone have any good techniques, tricks, or tips I could use?

Thanks a bunch!

Answer 1

I do not recommend that you try this on your own. Especially with a 5 y.o. stud. Starting by gelding him just might be a good idea. If this is your first horse, you'll do neither yourself nor the horse any favors by attempting to train him. There is a very strong possibility that either you or your horse will be injured - or both of you. In this case ignorance is most definitely not bliss.

If you insist on it, then I'd say groundwork, groundwork, and more groundwork before you even think about starting to get on him. Read up on training methods as much as you can. Build a round pen and work him there. Till the ground up as deep as you can get it. The more he gets used to and trusts you, the easier it will be to get him to accept you on his back. Do not allow him to bully you. Ever. Establish your dominant role early and often. Don't beat him or mistreat him, or it will come back to haunt you later. Trust is the feeling you want here.

I hope you have good insurance...

Seriously, be careful and don't take any dumb risks with him. If you feel you're in over your head, call in some help.

Answer 2

If it's a stallion, schedule some immediate 'brain surgery' for him. Or in other words, Geld It! If the horse can't be sold for more then $8000, it shouldn't be a stallion, and even if you don't plan to breed it, it'll calm him down and keep him more level headed.

Also, just go slowly. Don't expect him to be trained in 2 weeks, but if you're doing daily work, don't be so scared of him that you plan to do it in a year unless you just want to keep off his back because he is young.

Teach him really really solid ground manners first. It isn't done with special sticks or any games, just common sense. Brushes shouldn't be scary, if they are, introduce them slowly, let him see them, if he walks into you expect him to move away when you push on him. Teach him perfect leading at your shoulder, not pulling on you or hanging back. If you can do everything perfectly with him on the ground, (moving away from pressure, standing, being calm) he'll be fine when you put a saddle on him. And when you can do everything with him perfectly at a walk with a saddle (turning, stopping, backing, moving off your leg) he'll be fine at a trot or canter.

The best advice I can give you is, perfect whatever stage he is at before you move on, and it will be a h**l of alot easier then rushing the beast.

Answer 3

I don't mean to sound rude - but if you can't tell if he is a stud or a gelding, you should not train him on your own.  Again I don't mean that to sound rude.

The simple truth is that training is difficult, and if you want the horse to be a good horse, it needs to be trained correctly from the beginning.  I would try to find a trainer in your area that can help.  If you can find one that will give you lessons along with the horse - that would be even better.

It is always nice to train your own horse, but if you make mistakes along the way, those mistakes can stick around for a long time.  Rather than start the horse of poorly, send him to a trainer to get a good solid foundation.

Answer 4

These websites could help:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2054196_break-ho...

http://ezinearticles.com/?Horse-Breaking...

http://www.essortment.com/all/breakingho...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_break...

http://www.alphahorse.com/horse-breaking...

Answer 5

you can always find out yourself if hes a stallion or gelding... just check hehe... anyway, i have one important tip for you DONT PUNISH YOUR HORSE it will take time and patience and he WILL make mistakes just tell him that thats ok and try again.. i reckon the best way to break a horse is to start by lungeing, then saddle, then rider, but dont try all at once!! just take it slow. if you see his beginning to get tired or messing up alot just take a break. its also good to take a break if hes doing really well then its like a reward...always remember to praise him as soon as he does something good say goood or that a boy! if hes being naughty on purpose try saying ah or no small and loud words will get his attention!!

good luck!

Answer 6

medical insurance?

Answer 7

Sorry, but if you have to ask for tips on yahoo then you shouldn't be breaking in a horse.

Do you evn know how to lunge, drive or back?

Remember it's also a stallion your dealing with here and can be very dangerous in inexperienced hands. DO NOT attempt anything unless you know what you are doing, you would be better off seeking the help of a trainer. Or else it will just be an accident waiting to happen..

Answer 8

well you should teach him how to lunge first. then after he is good at that put a bridle on him with a snaffle bit. and just walk aound with him and the bit so he gets used to it. and using the halter for lungine. then go out and by a roller (it is a divice that gose around the girth area of the horse) and also buy some side reins. just use the roller and lunge him with it for about 2 weeks or until he gets used to it. but at first don't make it tight keep it loose. then you can slowly make it tighter. and then you can put a saddle pad on him. so he can get used to it and use the saddle pad for about 2 weeks or so. then you can put an english saddle on him with out the sturips. and tie down the flaps and do this with him untill he gets used to it. and then you can start lunging him with a bridle on but be gentle. and after he gets used to the bridle you can put side reins on but don't put them tight at first. and slowly make them tighter. then after he getts used to the side reins you can put the sturips on the saddle. and once he starts engaging his hind end you can start riding. to start riding put all the tack on and have a very light and experienced rider start puting her weight on him. but you wil need someone holding the horse and you will need some to help the rider on and off. do it at a stand first then you can start walking the arena. ok make the horse stand with someone holding him and then have some one lift the light and expierenced rider on. but she won't mount yet she just needs to put her weight on his back and keep getting off and on until he gets board. then you can start walking in the arena and keep doing that  until he gets board. and after that she can get on and just walk and then start troting and there you go. good luck and if he is a stallion get him gelded first thing.  

Answer 9

Check out Frank Bell @ http://www.horsewhisperer.com/index.html...

He is know as the horse whisperer and has some nice training materials.

Answer 10

i think that if your parents allow you, you should get a proffesional person to help. five years old is a bit late to break a horse easily seeing that a horse is already full grown and most horses are full trained by 2.  

Answer 11

Here's the problem.

"We had no choice" What they put a gun to your head?

"We just got him" Wow bravo you bought a horse knowing nothing about it. You don't even know if it's gelded. Tell me did you have a vet check? It probably has problems.

You break it on your own then you will have a ruined a horse and you will probably get injured.

Good luck with that. It's a shame no one has discovered a cure for irresponsibility.

Answer 12

ok right this is a risk but its a situation you are in and thats ok.

First of all, get some trust between you and the horse, use a slip rope head collar do some training with that you can get one from the richard maxwell website- he also does a fantastic video with this.

After bonding with my youngster i then started to lunge him using a cavisson, this is to get him slightly fitter and you can see his response to new things it will also build up his muscles. try using side reins (very loosely) theseshould only pull tight if he puts his head up and stops paying attention by no means am i suggesting to stap his head down its just to stop him gorping!

Once he is used to this move onto having a saddle fitted, get him used to wearing this, long rein him out with this on, lead him around, lunge him in it.

You can then get some stirrup straps or even use bailer twine to fasten the stirrups down near his sides so they will only tap not hit him whilst lunging, this will get him used to something on his sides where your legs will be. I then started to add weight, when he's calm and you feel you can trust him start by standing on a block next to him, just so he's used to you being slightly above then start leaning only gentle, you dont even need to be over the saddle just lean on his side whilst standing on the block. gradually add more and more weight until you can sit on him. the first time you fully sit on him dont make him walk just sit, get someone to hold a bucket feed for him to have, reward him all the way through, Talk to him reassure him by scratching his withers. all the way through this process make sure you pick ceratin words like "good boy" and repeat it for the smallest things he does right. If you want any further help email me and i'm happy to help. [e-mail]

Answer 13

I'm guessing u didn't do a whole lot of research on this huh....

First off, waiting that long to train is not a good idea.

2nd, a stallion is gunna be harder to train b/c, well, it's a stallion.

3rd, if u have never had a horse before, how do u expect to train it? Are u even an experienced rider? In that situation, it would be wise to hire someone to train the horse for u that knows what they're doing. This could be pretty dangerous for u if u have never even owned a horse before.

First thing I would do is turn that horse into a gelding if u don't plan on using it for breeding purposes which I doubt anyway if the horse was free. Then contact an experienced horse trainer.