I would like to hear about different breaking/training methods that I can maybe try with my horse..?

Question

I have a quarter horse filly that will be 2 the end of August. That makes it a little difficult right there.. I'm use to babies born in March, April, May.. With her being born so late in the year I only have a few months once she turns 2 before the snow and ice come. I'd just like to give her a good idea of riding, not necessarily training. I will start teaching her more next year. She is very mature for her age, both physically and mentally. I bought her the end of last year and have been doing ground work with her from the beginning. She is very good and very well behaved. I even let my 2 year old son sit on her.. I know, I know, that's not good.. but I swear she's a real exception. She loves my son. She even puts her head down for him so he can hug her face through the fence (him on the outside.) Anyway, whenever I let him sit on her I hold him the entire time so that if she does move I've got him. So, I started tacking her up this summer.. mind you she's a very good size, the weight of the saddle was definately not too much for her. My saddle probably weighs about 30 pounds or so and I weigh about 100 pounds. She probably weighs about 900-1000 pounds now. I started getting on her about a month ago but only to sit for a few minutes at a time just to get her use to me being on her. She was fine.. never did anything wrong, yet. I've broke many horses in my lifetime but I always had another person there and a pony horse. Now I'm on my own. I actually rode her around once or twice but it's very hard to let her know that I want her to move forward. I don't have access to a round pen either. She is very willing and I'm sure she's going to be very easy to train. What I'm wondering is if anyone has any ideas on how I can start riding her and teaching her to move forward. I try to use my weight and lean a little forward but she doesn't seem to know to stay under me. Not that I expect her to know that.. I would even like if I had somebody to lead me the first few times so I can kiss to her and slightly squeeze my legs when they ask her to move forward. I'm sure she'd pick up on it really fast but I don't have anyone to help me. Any ideas?? Oh, I want to eventually teach her barrel racing and maybe some reining but for now I just want to walk around the pen for a few minutes at a time.

Answer 1

My advice is to leave her alone for now and resume training next spring.  Her spine and legs benefit by being allowed to grow, without weight-bearing as they develop.  There is no benefit to rushing into riding her.  I would not train one more thing at this point...she also has a mind to consider.  Ground training is stressful enough for a baby...which is what she is.  Be consistent when you halter or lead her, and just leave her alone to mature.  The damage you do now shows up for the rest of her life.  So does the right stuff.

Answer 2

I really enjoy clinton anderson's training meathods. I wouldnt even get on her until next spring. ground work is extremely important!

Answer 3

The best thing to do with any horse, and especially with a young horse, is to train with groundwork first. This should be done extensively before any riding. People are way too anxious to get riding and that is why people end up getting hurt.

Think of it this way. A house has a foundation, a frame, a roof, and stucco or something on the walls. You wouldn't put up the frame and roof first, and then think about putting in the foundation later. So why train a horse that way? If you are out riding an untrained horse, its like having a house with no foundation. The groundwork is the foundation for a good, well trained horse.

I would put off riding until next spring. From now until the weather gets bad, you should start laying that foundation. Here is a suggestion of activities:

1. No treats for the horse during training-this teaches respect for you instead of having you bribe her.

2. Spend 10 minutes per day doing simple leading exercises.

3. Do hook-on (or join-up) in the round pen, 5 times each direction. Do this every day.

4. Spend 15 minutes backing her up, moving the forehand, and disengaging the hindquarters.

5. Flex on the ground first without disengaging. Do it 5 times on each side.

6. Flex on the ground asking for a disengagement, 3 times each side.

7. Ask the horse to lower her head. This teaches her to relax on cue. When you can get her to lower her head and keep it there, start teaching her to stay relaxed while stimulated. You should be able to start touching her on her ears, her neck, her withers, her side, her hip, pick up her tail, all without her raising her head. This takes some time for most horses, go as far as you can around the horse and if she raises her head, go back and lower it again, and start over.

8. Lunge the horse but not to get out excess energy, but instead to communicate with her about changing gaits. Since its a young horse change up the distance she is from you-close, far, close, far. Have her walking when close.  When she is close by, pat her with your hand. This helps desensitize the horse to human contact when moving so gets them in tune for your riding cues with your legs later.

When spring comes around, I would restart this program and then after a couple of weeks start riding.

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 4

  I personally like to ground drive my horses before I ever get on them.  It gets them used to the feel of the reins being pulled on from either direction.  It also helps them learn that when I cluck to them that means go forward.  Lunging is also a good way to get them to listen to voice cues.  I think that when starting a young horse you can't rely just on body language, they don't really understand, so I use voice commands as well.

  Please be careful on the backing right now.  You don't want her getting the idea that when you ask her to move, it'll be back first.  I have a 19 year old gelding that backs up when he doesn't want to do something, and I've found it hard to retrain him.  It can be a dangerous habit for them to get into and can lead to them rearing up when they don't want to do something.  If you have trouble getting her to move forward, try clucking to her while gently squeezing her with your knees.  If that doesn't work try gently flapping you legs against her sides, then if she won't move forward try gently pulling her around in a circle, and then ask her to move forward again.  She'll soon learn that if she doesn't at least try to do as you're asking, she still has to work, and eventually she'll learn that moving forward is the easier thing to do.

Answer 5

I think you have to be a very experienced horseman to be able to properly 'break' a horse.  Not to say that you couldn't do it, but the horse would likely have some problems when it got older - even as sweet as you say she is.  I do Parelli Natural Horsemanship, and love it.  There are of course other forms of Natural Horsemanship, but I find Parelli to be the best.  Now, you should be pretty high up in Parelli to break a horse - there's not just a course on how to do it.  However, there are instructors all around the country, some of whom specialize in breaking young horses naturally.  Often, they will let you help, (so the horse bonds to you) as long as you do as they ask.  I can't say enough about how Parelli has helped me with all my horse problems.  I myself know almost nothing about breaking a horse, but I do know that these Parelli instructors know almost everything, and will get you and you're horse off to a great start, and help you develop a great relationship.  I would strongly recommend you look into natural horsemanship (Parelli or other), and find a trainer who does that method, and ask them if they could break your horse.  Ask if you can help.  Often a good natural trainer will let you see what's going on and help, so, again, the horse bonds to you - not the temporary trainer.  Also, if they don't let you watch, you might want to be suspicious of what they're doing to your horse.  Hope this helps.  E-mail me if you have any questions about Parelli.