Breaking a 2 year old filly?

Question

Where do I begin? I looked up the click method and it seems weird to me-aalmost like a dog training method. I read good things about it but not sure if it's for me. She has an attitude and is used to getting her way with her previous owners. I looked into sending her to training but the closest one is 3 hors away and I really don't trust them with her(I know alot of them use the "break their spirit method and overwork them".

I am in no rush-I am going to take my time. She is halter broke.

The only problems I have with her are 1. she pins her ears back alot 2. she stomps her foot if she gets mad( for instance, if I want her to do something she doesnt want to do) 3. She likes to nibble at you

She is a sweetheart but I really want her to be broke to ride by next summer. I know it is doable but I need some help. thanks

Answer 1

Yeah, don't go for the clicker training thing, OR the Parelli games, or anything that costs a lot and doesn't help you much.  I recommend getting a knowledgable horse person to help you train her.  I know you said the closest trainer is 3 hrs away, but is there a nice neighbor that has horses and knows what they're doing?

You can read a lot of things in books, internet, dvds, etc.  But you have to remember that horses are just as individual as people are....every one is different.  They respond to different things, and what works to train one won't necessarily work for another one.  That's why the dvd sets are so one-dimensional.  Watching a local trainer work with several different horses would give you a better idea.

The things you mentioned that she does wrong aren't really bad things, she sounds like any colt.  If she is good to handle on the ground (not a danger to you, is what I mean), then you should work with her daily to accomplish more things.

Some things she should learn first:

1.  Give to pressure.  If you pull the lead rope, does her head follow it?  Will she bend her head sideways for you, without moving her feet?  This is called lateral flexion.  Also, if you put your hand on her side/hip and press, does she move her hindquarters over for you?  These are very simple things, but she needs to learn them.  They will really help once you start riding her.

2.  Longeing.  Use a long lunge line and ask her to circle around you.  She will not understand this concept at first, and her natural instinct will be to come towards you or follow you.  Since you've been leading her, this is all she knows.  So be very patient and consistent.  Try to keep her at a walk, but send her away from you using a longe whip.  The whip is an extension of your arm (not a beating device, as some people think) and if she won't move away from it tie a plastic shopping bag to the end of it so it makes a little noise.  Then when you ask her to "walk", shake the whip at her.  She may run away, buck, rear, whatever....this is normal at first.  It will take a few tough practice times before she finally understands that the longe line means she is to make a big even circle.  But it helps form the concept of following your directions, and will help her a lot.  Also, this is where you introduce voice commands.  I use a "ck-ck" sound with my tongue for walk, and another louder "ck-ck-ck" for a trot, and then a kissing sound for the canter.  Or you can say "walk", "trot", and "canter".  Do not canter your filly in a small circle or for a long time on the lunge line, as her knees may not be closed yet.  If you ask her to canter, give her a very large circle to travel so it doesn't stress her as much.

Practice longeing every day, for just fifteen minutes or so.  Don't be upset if she doesn't understand it at first, just keep at it.  The hardest part is driving her away from you...it might feel like you're being mean, but she will "get it" if you are consistent.  You have to not allow her inside the circle.  Use the whip to ward her off and your "ck-ck" sound to encourage her to move forward and away from you.  You can also raise your arms high at her to make her leave you.  Don't worry--you aren't going to make her afraid of you permanently.  Horses just need direction, and after you keep practicing it, she will learn it.

Some other things you can do:

1.  Put a saddle on her....carefully.  She should be in a corral, stall, or some type of enclosure.  A round pen would be ideal, but not everyone has one.  You should groom her, get her comfortable, and then bring the saddle pad to her and let her smell it.  Then start rubbing her with it, all over.  Set it on her back, drag it slowly off.  It's okay if she spooks or snorts or moves away.  Let her.  Then calmly let her sniff it again, make sure there aren't any "monsters" in it, and just calmly repeat your previous actions of rubbing her with it.  You can pull it up on her neck, over her hindquarters, under her belly, in front of her chest (look out--she may strike it, so stay out of the way!), behind her back legs (same thing--look out!)....in all of this, watch her actions.  She will show you her true temperament and will let you know if she's going to be easy and safe to train or maybe too much for you to handle.  For instance, if she is calm and doesn't even worry about all of this, you've got yourself a pretty gentle horse, and you may actually find she's a little too calm (lazy) or hard to get a response out of.  On the other hand, if she's flighty, spooky, kicks at the saddle pad, runs away from you, etc. , then understand that it's going to take more time to train her, she most likely has the propensity to buck, kick, maybe rear, and definitely be a dangerous horse to train.  So don't get yourself hurt, hire that trainer or find another person to help you.  After she accepts the saddle pad sitting on her back, you can carefully set the saddle on top.  But you need to be careful with it...I think the best thing to do is to get the cinch/girth fastened securely as gently but as quickly as possible.  She may really spook at the feel of the girth, and you don't want your saddle to get damaged, or be run over if she goes to bucking.  The way a horse reacts to moving around with the saddle on is also a good way to judge how easy/hard she will be to train.  Let me say here that if you have not had a LOT of experience saddling a horse before, DO NOT attempt this step.  You need to know that your saddle fits and is fastened properly, and it's not something you can learn on your own.  So only do this if you have enough experience to do it correctly.  Once the saddle is tight enough, it's a good idea to just unsnap the lead rope and let her go, staying out of the way.  Some colts will come unglued and buck hard, some will just walk about and not even notice.  It isn't a bad thing if she does kick up her heels just a little....I actually prefer a horse to test the saddle a little, but not be explosive in trying to get free of it.  A horse that doesn't even notice it may just be oblivious at first, and then when the rider gets in the saddle, suddenly they wake up and explode.  So it's alright if she spooks, runs, or bucks a time or two.  You can then longe her with the saddle on, once she is somewhat comfortable wearing it.  

2.  I would recommend starting her with a plain ring or loose ring snaffle bit and a well-fitting bridle.  You can remove the reins from the headstall, and just put the bridle on at first.  She will need some time to get used to it.  Be very gentle with her when bridling...one bad experience can make a horse tough to bridle for a lifetime.  If she is head-shy, you're going to have to do a lot of work before bridling.  She needs to allow you to rub her head pretty much all over...most horses don't like their ears messed with, so leave them alone, just quickly and gently pull the headstall over them and she should be fine.  If she's small, the headstall may need more holes punched in it to make it tight enough.  You want it tight so she doesn't get her tongue over the bit.  But not too tight, of course.  If you can't slip it on over her ears, it's too tight.  It should form a wrinkle or even two by her lips, right behind the bit, if it's fastened correctly.  She will probably toss her head, bite the bit, mouth and chew a lot, fling slobber around, etc...that's all normal.  Just let her wear it for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time, and don't attempt to lead her or bother her.  Just leave her in a corral or stall, and keep an eye on her.  If she gets her tongue over the bit, she will be mouthing a LOT with her mouth open, etc., and you'll need to remove the bridle and put it on correctly again.  Practice this daily until the bridle is no big deal to her and she wears it calmly, no head-tossing or mouthing.

3.  If she has been accepting the saddle and longeing correctly, and everything is great, you can start thinking about getting on her.  Ideally, you'd have someone else longe her while you're on her, but you don't have to do that.  I don't want to give you advice about something that can potentially land you in the emergency room, but I've trained a lot of colts and never been seriously injured....you just learn to read them and if she acts up with the previous stuff, don't get on her.  Hire a trainer or sell her.  But if it were me, I'd start putting weight in the saddle.  You can use a small hay bale to stand on and just lean over her and pet her on the other side, etc.  or a mounting block, if you have one.  If not, you can step carefully into your left stirrup and lean over her.  Be ready to drop back to the ground if she spooks or bucks.  Pet her wherever you can reach, standing above her or leaning on the saddle.  If she is calm, you can go ahead and swing your other leg over, being careful not to bump her hindquarters.  Then calmly continue petting her neck, shoulders, behind the saddle, etc.  It's good to get a colt to move out with you in the saddle right away, not letting them stand there or "freeze up" out of fear.  So if she wants to take a step or two, that is great.  Keep petting her, try to stay calm, although the adrenaline will be working...believe me, I know!  If she doesn't move, use one rein to pull her head and see if she will turn and then move.  Often pulling to one side will get a horse to take a step.  Then she'll be more comfortable, when she finds out she can move with someone on her back.

I had a few more points here, but evidently I've run out of room...it won't post.  I'll email you the rest.

Answer 2

what i did for my 2year old was at first i halter broke her(obviously) and that i tried to lounge her a little bit to get her used to the feeling of being on a lead and responding correctly to the commands. also when she gets done with that you should try putting a little more weight on her back and lounging her once she is used to the extra weight. for the foot stomping you just have to teach her that she isn't going to get away without doing what you want her to do for the nibbling there are some collars that are for training it goes around the horses neck and it tightens a little bit(not enough to choke or hurt them) just to show them that they can't do that and when she pins her ears back you might just have to deal with it until your trust builds up a little bit when she knows that you aren't going to hurt her she will get used to the routine and be patient with her because the more you get mad and confused the more she will resist. see if that helps if not you can always bring her to a trainer

Answer 3

Sounds like my horse! She was a dominant filly and still is! She just turned 3 and is doing great! If she bites you yank down on the leadrope and she will stop. The halter needs to be kind of loose though. Not to loose though. Do draw reins and wow it is a lot to type! Try Pat Parelli! If you want me to tell you more and how I trained my dominant filly email me at [e-mail]

Answer 4

I'm glad you did not choose the clicker method, leave that method alone.  Though it works great on some horses those that it doesn't work on tend to become basket cases.  I have seen too many of those basket cases to suit me.

I still like the method of using a trained ponying horse and riding her behind that horse until she gets the signals and then following the horse without the rope for a lesson or two more.  Works great!  

The only problem is the horse in front needs to be trained or so calm as to never spook.  It helps if the  lead horse is the dominant horse and the two horses know each other.  You also need two people.

I do this in a 1 or 1 1/2 acre field so that the horse can not get up to any real speed before it gets to a fence.  A little smaller yet would be good too but it needs to be big enough to work the two horse in together.

Edit

I also suggest leaving Parelli alone if you want a good riding horse.  Parelli pushes a LOT of ground work but pushes that so hard that riding suffers.  This is why few horses trained in his techniques make the show circuits.

You do need to convince her not to test your dominance though before you break her or you could get hurt fast.  My experience with horses that fit your description of her tends to be that they pitch fits when they do not get their way.  This often includes rearing and other activities.  That is one of the reasons that a horse that is being lead should never be allowed to paw or rear.  The last one like that I broke out ended up pretty good and I stopped that nonsense but the one before that broke my shoulder.

Answer 5

I would work on ground work, as suggested, not use any draw reins until she's 5, and not get on her for more than  few minutes at most.  Certainly get her used to wearing a saddle and being tacked up.  don't worry as much about a bridle as her teeth are still changing, and the bit that fits now may not fit next year.  And remember that the later you begin riding a horse the longer they remain sound for riding!

Answer 6

I'm a bit puzzled about why you say you're in no rush and are going to take your time - yet you're asking about breaking a two year old.

The best thing you can do for your filly is leave her alone until she's four. At the moment, she's not mentally or physically mature enough to work. The "problems" you mention - grumpiness, stomping and nibbling - are all par for the course with a youngster. It's akin to saying a two year old child would be brilliant at advanced mathematics if it wasn't for the tantrums. Two year olds do have attitudes; my two year old is a little cow! It's normal - they're children.

At two, all she needs to learn is how to be led and handled. You should be able to take her for short walks without her kicking up too much of a fuss, and pick up her feet - but she's too young to do anything else.

Answer 7

If you have not broken  horse before please get help from someone experienced as there is so much to learn and so many mistakes to be made.  I break and train horses and ost of the difficult ones haven't been trained right n the first place and it is then so much harder to reteach them.  

Either way before you start you should consider waiting a little longer before actually getting on board as her bones are not fully developed and you could cause long term injury or weaknesses if you start her too early.  I would leave the actually breaking until she is 3 but do everything you can to prepare her for it.  

In the meantime, start by getting her used to a bridle and saddle.  Handle her daily with lots of grooming and take her out in hand along the trails to get her used to seeing as many different things as possible.  Start lunging and long reining her (you will need a second person to help at first) once she is used to the bridle but don't overdo it as this again could cause injury at such a young age.

The ears back and stomping you have at the moment are just her way of saying when she is worried or frustrated.  Just be firm but fair with her and tell her what you want.  Mares are notorious for being moody and so this could just be how she is.  As for the nibbling this could be due to teething as she will be getting her first lot of adult teeth around the age of 2 - 3 years.  Some of her moodiness could be due to this as well.

Answer 8

Well, I am not answering this question but if I were you I wuold gentle the horse not break them they turn out a whole lot nicer.

Answer 9

I HIGHLY recommend Parelli Natural Horsemanship. People say that the horses don't get to the show circuits, but they do! It's just that Parelli teaches you to really value your horse and get a true partnership, and after you have learned this, you don't have the DESIRE to show anymore. It's the horse that matters, so what about what other people think of you? It can be hard to understand without starting, but it's true. At least get the Seven Games DVD, that'll start you off if you're not sure about it at first. They teach the horse seven basic maneuvers on the ground, and once your horse does them well on the ground,  you start doing them from the saddle. Please at least check it out! The website is www.parelli.com.

That is how I (basically, she only knew walking with a rider) started my horse, and now, she's WONDERFUL to ride! I put in the time and took the time it took and now, we can walk-trot-canter with a saddle, bareback, halter, bridle, bridleless, etc. This is after less than one year from me getting her and pretty much starting her. She was also a major bucker before I got her, and now I can't remember the last time she tried to buck. Please check it out!

Answer 10

I was going to answer, but I am just going to add to Daisy's.  I have a 2 year old that I am starting right now .....

Once the lunging is going good start adding to it ..... keep consistent and don't over work ....

3.  Add a circingle ... not to tight to start but is should stay on her back ..... when she is ready you can add a "large smooth mouth snaffle"  again not to tight ... you don't want it banging into her theeth nor do you want it pulling on her bars ... a soft smile on the side of her mouth is good .....

4.  Add a saddle ..... keep lunging .... keep cues going ... the same cues you will be using on her back ... get her use to weight .... get her use to the sturrips (or irons) hitting her in the sides ....

5.  Add you ... VERY SLOWLY ..... stand on some stairs and slide your foot in and out of the sturrips .... no wieght just movement ..... BOTH sides .... Yes right side too!  Later add step up step down .... both sides!  Lay over her back on you belly ...... both directions ..... when you get no response from her try putting your bottom in the saddle .... stay low to start crawl on .... don't become her lion and jump on her back for a bite to eat! .....

That should give you a good 6 - 8 months of work ....GOOD LUCK .... take it slow and you will have a soild .... secure ... riding partner ... and if anything scares her ... go backwards .... and be patient!