How can i gain trust with my horse and be able to just jump on bareback and go? 10 points to best answer?

Question

I want to get a good trust going with my horse.. i want her to know im the "herd leader" and i want her to follow me around like my other horses do.. how to i gain her trust so that i can just go out with a lead rope jump on her bareback and just leave. go somewhere on a ride or something.. how do i get closer to her? thanks to all answers.

Answer 1

Native Americans greet the horse in the pasture and breathe gently into it's nostrils, much as horses do with each other.  Get her attention...use food, etc. and when she comes to you, greet her this way.

If she tries to dominate you by invading your space (arm's length) use a lead rope to swat or just threaten her back away from you.  Don't go after her if she takes off.  Stand your ground, even turn your back to her, until she comes back to you.  Make her work for your attention while respecting your space every time you deal with her.

After you've had enough of this (maybe a week?) start bringing her in and keep her 3 feet away from you as you lead her in...behind you, not in front of you.  Stop and face her if she crowds you and slap her back, or shake her back (only use the shake on the lead if you are using rope halter and lead with no metal parts).  Don't even once let her get away with entering your space.  Once you can get her to the barn without her testing you, you can invite her to be close to you as you hug, etc. on your terms...not hers.  That's enough to keep you busy for now.

Answer 2

well, it sounds like your other horses respond to you in the manner with which you want this horse to respond to you. All I can say is:

Patience

Practice

Luck

I mean, it will be a lot of hard work and training, building such a strong bond with a horse isn't easy, it took me over a year with my old morgan gelding, but once you have that trust its amazing. Good luck!

Answer 3

aw this is the goal of every horse rider to develop that unbreakable bond!

the bond you are seeking depends on how much time you are with your horse.

if you can visit her everydau and ride her and work with her, then that will make your bond 100 times stronger

just by grooming her and ground working her in a round pen, or not, do groundwork with her, make sure she respects your space and you can get her to MOVE AWAY from you

when you get the horse to move AWAY from you it is established that YOU are her heard leader...now as you befreind your horse she will start coming to you instead of away when your body language tells her YOU accept her then she will come to you and follow you around

you should not TRY to get her to follow you but try to get her to move away from you so she knows you are the leader then accpept her into YOUR space by relaxing and having an inviting space...

work with her on folowing you , you can start with the lead rope (don't pull her let her follow you, if she doesn't follow you you need to re-establish your pecking order, or you may need to get her attention) walk with her, speed up and have her trot besides you, then run and maybe get her to a canter... soon you can do this wihtout a lead rope and she will follow you..then you can hop on and take off! yay!

Answer 4

well... you might want to explain why you cant jump on her now. because its easier to get advice

have you tried to jump on bareback?

try riding with a bridle bareback first

just play around with her. let her know that she CAN and should trust you. groom her, let her know that she doesnt have to be ridden every time you go to catch her (she'll come more willingly)

you can email me some reasons why you cant ride her bareback, and ill give you a more detailed answer

Answer 5

hi my uncle once showed me to gain trust by the horse try play with him or to let her be free  to run and walk around in a field it made me gain trust on my uncles horse even try giving it food

Answer 6

Wow, that can be such a long answer!!!  But I'll give it my best.  The most important thing to horses is their herd.  And the alpha is the most important thing to them in that herd.  If they sense danger, the alpha will lead them to safety, the alpha finds food, leads them across the land, gives them protection and comfort, and will often stand near them as they sleep to watch out for predators.  Horses bond closely with their alpha, so it's natural for you to want to be that alpha.  However, this is often hard as horses see us humans, as predators and not partners.  Why should they bond to us, when they think we're going to kill them?  However, if you can show your horse that you're not going to hurt them, then the relationship can begin to grow.  One fairly obvious thing you can do (or not do), is to never hurt them!!  That may seem stupid, of course we're not going to slap our horse.  Sadly however, some people do simply out of frustration or anger.  Remember, it's never the horses fault if something goes wrong, and never blame them.  I have to say right off the bat, that I do Parelli Natural Horsemanship, so that is where most of these ideas and concepts come from.  In fact, your question jumped out at me, because this is just what Parelli deals with - horse-human relationships.

One thing you can do to start the relationship forming, is the spend "undemanding time" with her.  Take a chair out to her pasture, stall, or paddock, and just sit with her for 30 mins.  Don't be grooming her, or feeding, or talking to someone, or mucking out the stall; just sit and observe her behavior, or you can read quietly.  If she comes over to you and touches you, then you can touch her back, but don't reach out to pet her.  Do this as often as possible, preferably 3 or more times a week at first.  This will really start to make you bond with her, and it will develop her curiosity.  

Another thing to try is to rub her all over.  Face, neck, belly, legs, rump, everything, as long as you're safe.  When she's comfortable with you touching her, rub her all over with her lead rope, bridal, saddle pad, blanket, fly spray bottle, plastic bag, etc.  This will make her more confident, and show her that these things will not hurt her in your hands.  If she shows signs of nervousness, go back to rubbing where she is comfortable.  Say she doesn't like the rope on her face.  Rub her neck, working slowly higher, until she shows discomfort, then work down, to where it doesn't bother her, and try again.  This will slowly work, and will help a lot in the long run.  

There are soooooo many other things you can do, I can think of at least 6 other things off the top of my head.  I don't know what sort of horses you're into, or if you ride English or Western, but I urge you to check out the Parelli program.  I don't know if or what you've heard about it, but all I can say is it has literally changed my life with horses.  I have such a strong bond with my horse now because of it.  Again, Parelli is the PERFECT answer to your question, I cannot stress enough how much it would help you, because that's what it's all about.  What you say you want with your horse is exactly what I wanted with mine, and now I have it.  You can visit their website here.  Please, e-mail me if you would like more info, hear the 6 other things (to long to write here :) ), or have questions on Parelli.  Good Luck.

Answer 7

I play with all my horses, spend a lot of time out of the saddle with them to.  I can jump on mine without out a saddle and just using a halter and lead rope.  You need to get the trust on the ground before in the seat.  When mine do something good i make sure they know.  Spend time with your horse, its the best thing you can do, let them know you care and nothing bad will happen to them.

Answer 8

The question you ask seems so simple but is such a truly hard question to answer generally.  This is not a simple thing and there's no simple single answer to do once and be done.

Without a LOT of details and a running conversation to establish what you currently know, your level of expertise and responsibility as well as your ability to accept instruction, it's hard to give you an answer.

Here's the answer in my terms about the most solid way to do it.  This is given from the standpoint that anything worth doing is worth doing as well as possible.  Just a quick thing or a bandaid may work for the short term, but in order to have a good, solid long standing relationship with your horse, it takes time, hard work and patience.

First you must understand the nature of the horse, how they communicate, what their social structure is and how each fits within it.  You must be able to judge your horse's "horsenality" and their fit within the herd and you must then establish yourself on their terms as their leader.

The leader is NOT the one who makes them mind.  The leader is the one whom they trust to keep them safe, make their decisions for them and lead them through their daily activities.

What does the leader of a band of horses in the wild do?  The herd stallion patrols the edges of the herd area wherever they are and keeps predators out and other stallions out.  He maintains the leadership role in terms of breeding rights and determines when it's time for a young male to leave the herd.  There is also a boss mare - she keeps the social order, metes out punishment and assists the herd stallion in establishing the herd's territory, what eating spots and watering holes will be used and runs the routine of traveling to find food, shelter, water, etc.  They have a real routine every day.

These leaders are constantly challenged by other stallions and mares - in this way they ensure the strongest and most capable are in leadership positions.  There are those within the herd that will never aspire to leadership - their roles are more status quo and maintenance of the social order.

Therefore, where does this horse fall in the social order of the equine herd?  what will it take for you to establish she can trust you to be her leader?  Accept that you must be consistent in your activities with all of them in order to constantly reassure them of your leadership skills.

Everything you do, you must view from their viewpoint.  There are a million and one things - your life with them isn't about getting on and riding whenever you want, even though you might THINK that's your goal.  If you only interact with the horse to get on and ride it, you will not be showing leadership.  Being able to establish the trust to get on and ride is a by-product of successful horse interaction.

Before you can begin to Just jump on bareback and ride, you must be able to ride extremely well correctly in a saddle and bridle and a controlled environment.

The type of relationship you are portraying is one that is the end result of proper interaction iwth the horse, not the start of learning.

Also consider that when bareback, your cues to the horse are magnified more than when riding with a saddle.  If your riding technique is not about perfect, you CAN sore the horse by bruising his muscles of his back.

Work on assuring the horse that your coming into the pasture means positive interaction that is pleasurable for the horse.  Horses actually benefit in captivity from having a job to do - they do get reward from having something that stimulates them mentally - as long as they don't perceive it as work and it isn't too taxing on their emotions or abilities.

I would suggest that you would gain much value and pleasure from getting involved - either through a club, through purchase of DVDs, through reading books or watching horse tv shows on RFD TV or even getting a relationship started with a good natural horse trainer if you have the funds and time to learn this method - learn the proper 'feel' for growth of a proper relationship and the proper 'feel' of well executed communications with the horse.

If you like reading books, start with some by Buck Brannaman - visit Ray Hunt's website.  Buy the book "True Horsemanship Through Feel" and visit Leslie Desmond's website for a self study guide to go with that book - I bet, if you get started on just these few books, your appetite for more knowledge on these methods of interacting with our equine friends will grow and grow and you'll be amazed at the wealth of knowledge that will get you exactly to the point you want to get to.

Answer 9

In order to gain her trust, you have to bond with her. I'd start by taking her for walks (you walking alongside) and talking to her in a soothing voice, petting her, rubbing her eyes, finding her itchy parts and giving her good scratchin's.  My horses love this and follow me like puppies.  One of my mares will leave her food to hang with me and be petted.  They love to be groomed.  I always give my horses positive reinforcement with a pat, a hug, carrots, cookies, (not excessive on the treats) etc.  I know this is going to sound corny, but there is lots of love between us.  My 16.3 1400# gelding could easily cause me harm, yet he is gentle, loving and kind.  I am truly blessed and so are they.  There is love, respect and extreme trust on both sides.   I'm no horse trainer by any means, but this has always worked for me.  Spend lots of quality time with her. she'll come around.....Patience will pay off.

Answer 10

To get trust with your mare you need to let her know you are the "lead mare of the herd." Lots of lunging her (walk, trot, canter) will help for her to earn your trust. If she is l*****g her lips it means that she is submissive and she thinks that you are the dominant mare. If you are in ( a round pen) take off the lunge line and walk away. If she follows you it means that she is trusting you and connected to you. Do lots of ground work with her. Then start riding her bareback more often (walk, trot, canter) and if that starts to go good then I would say you would be able to jump her. This trust may take a while so don't expect to see results right away. It's like when you meet a friend and it takes a while until you feel comfortable with your friend. Also to help with trust and jumping start setting up poles while you lunge her and make her go over it at a walk, trot, and canter. If she trusts you make sure to reward her with a treat so she understands she is doing a good job. Good luck!