Trust exercises for young, green horse?

Question

I have an 18hh green horse who is really a gentle giant but when i handle from the floor he gets spooked and tries to run. He is fine when ridden albeit a bit spooky still but does anyone know of any trust exercises? he is not in a ny pain and teeth, back and general health is fine.

Answer 1

Is he hard to catch?  You say when you handle from the floor he gets spooked and tries to run.  So he's fine to ride, just doesn't like a lot of groundwork?

If he's hard to catch or leery of people handling him from the ground, Join Up might help.  Here's a link:

http://liverystable.net/join_up.html

Also, a lot of practice will help reduce his fear, as long as everything you do with him goes well and ends on a good note.  For instance, if he doesn't like to lunge, he just needs more practice at it until it is comfortable for him.  If he doesn't like to be brushed or touched all over, then you need to start at his most comfortable place (neck, shoulders?) and brush there, and then move to all other places of his body to get him used to it.  Whatever it is that bothers him, that's what you need to very slowly, calmly, patiently work with him on.

If you have a small pen, a round pen, or even a stall, that would be a good place to work with him.  That way, he can move if he is too uncomfortable, but you won't need to chase him around to continue the lesson.

Good luck, stay safe.

Answer 2

Is he a new horse or new to this pasture/barn ?  I would try to bring in another horse to tie close by. d**n he's huge !!!  Lots of talking to him reassuring him that you are there. His eyes are way up there & when you're doing somethin like cleaning feet, if he is tied short, he may not be able to see you. Pet as you walk behind, walk on a lead anywhere & everywhere... maybe with someone else next to him on the other side. Is h cross tied & pulling back ? Scaring himself when tied ? What is spooking him ?  Is he near other horses ? Is he panicky because he wants back to them ?

Answer 3

Use what he is scared of to get him used to it... I mean if he is scared of sounds, then tie things around his area that will blow in the wind or something to make noise.  Get him in the round pin... when horse don't trust you they either fight or flight, that their nature, to get away of what they are scared of. Work with him in there, for one he cant escape or get away from you..  get him to work for you under those conditions he doesn't like... after awhile he will understand that you are not there to harm him. Keep lunging him and keep him in tight areas around you, it will break the trust issue. You have to be consistent and work on the ground in front of him for a long time, it will work. You have to get respect from him on the ground before getting on him... if he doesn't trust you, you can trust him when your on him... He can get better!

Good luck

Answer 4

A horse must be fully trusting from the ground before his is safe while riding.  You SHOULD be able to do everything needed in hand before attempting to ride.

Your comments that the horse is fine while riding, but not on the ground tell me that he hasn't had the ground work needed to instill confidence in a human's leadership abilities.

The way to gain trust in a horse is to understand how the horse thinks and how he communicates. You cannot make a horse understand your words or what you are trying to tell him in human terms.  He simply cannot grasp that you are a human and communicating with him in your way - YOU must understand that HE is a horse and YOU must change the way you interact with him to communicate in horse terms in order to instill confidence and trust.

The answer to this question is pages and pages long.  I'll try to keep it short.

1.  Understand how horses use body language and space to communicate

2.  Understand the horses' social order and how it's maintained

3.  Understand your horse's place in a typical herd of horses - is he a dominant horse or a submissive horse?

4.  Understand how to use your body, your space and your voice to communicate with your horse using the knowledge gained in 1-3.

5.  Use this new knowledge to communicate with him in ways that will cause him to accept you as a good leader that will keep him safe.

You see, at one end of the ladder, there's the herd stallion - the leader who tells the rest when we'll eat, when we're safe, when there's danger, when we move to shelter or it's time to go find water.  The rest of the horses all have a position in the herd and the more dominant males continually test the herd stallion for dominance.  His ability to be stronger and be a good leader for the herd on a consistent basis is what keeps him the leader.  When he gets too old to do the job, or is injured somehow, or a stronger stallion comes along, he is displaced and the new leader is constantly challenged and must display his ability as the leader.

You must establish your place as this leader - not by dominance but by proving you understand this horse and his place and you'll lead him in a manner that does not give him anxiety or danger.

The first step is communicating clearly to him.

The next step is knowing how to show him that scary things won't hurt him and that you are there to take him away from scaring things or help him keep them away from him.

Also, you must understand how a horse sees - for example, an object in a certain place passed to the right will look totally different when passed on the left.  The horse has two eyes which see different images - the brain then puts the images together.  When seen through the left eye, and object looks different than when seen trhough the right one.  Similarly, a horse may be comfortable when passing and object that's to the left of him, but move that object so now he must pass it when it's on the right and it becomes a new, scary object.

If he's been reprimanded or swatted for spooking, you are reinforcing that not only will he be scared of that thing, you are showing him pain will be inflicted as well - so not only is the scary thing scary, it causes pain as well.

Patience is what is needed - never allow him to focus and go up and sniff a scary thing, that doesn't make it scarier - it just reinforces that you think it's scary and should be approached with caution.  You instead need to keep your horses focus on you.

Let's say there's something in the arena that causing him to spook, from the ground, on a long line - maybe just a long lead, lunge him near that object at a comfortable distance.  Keep him moving in one direction and ask him to move a step closer, he'll shy a bit and maybe snort - he'll move slowly toward or avoid the object then go faster away.  Allow this but keep him moving on that path until he passes the object without concern.  If this takes a long time (but it shouldn't) you may wish to stop at a point when he's unconcerned and start again tomorrow.

This is teaching him you'll ask him to approach that object, allow him his comfort zone in being around it, and you'll allow him to go away from it - all the while he's teaching himself that it won't hurt him.

When he's totally working and comfortable getting as close as he needs to be to the object, turn around and start the process going the other direction - remember what I said about both eyes?  You probably already know to work a horse equally on both sides no matter what you're doing.

This may take a while the first time, but the next time you'll be amazed at how quickly he accepts the object.

When my 3 year old was being started, the trainer did this with her.  It took 3-4 hours around the yard getting her used to the big scary (really small gray) rocks in the gardens, the tractor, the fence leaned up against the garage, all the spooky things - she was allowed to take her time to learn.  She WAS actually pushed, but not so much as to force her to accept, she was given the chance to learn to trust herself and the trainer.

The 2nd day, this process took less than an hour.  She was still wary of the items on the first ride through, but working from her back in a similar manner taught her confidence.

It sounds as if the horse may have been reprimanded too harshly or he's had a bad experience - even a simple thing as the placement of your body and how you lead him can cause fear if he's been mishandled.

See the gal's question on joining up - this may help you as well, as this process and the first steps of getting a horse to follow your shoulder taught by natural horsemen will teach you and the horse to work together rather than relying on halters or leads to communicate.

On a well-trained horse, the halter and lead are a safety device and a communication tool - not a dominance tool.  A good horse will lead well with a slack line following your shoulder because he WANTS to go where you want him to go, not because you're forcing him to go there by use of the halter or lead.

The horse is likely a 1200 lb animal - you're not going to force him to do anything, you must use your communication ability, your leadership ability and the communication tools of halters, leads, bits and legs to communicate what you wish him to do kindly.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Just talk to him, and give him treats, then he should trust you,

theres a horse in my barn about that size too!! but he might be 18.1 hh

Answer 6

you could try join up with him, or even get him to be lead round with an older more experienced horse. my friends horse who was very green would jump and also used to ta nk off at the slightest thing. she had a 10 year old cob who had been there an when hes d seen it all and he gave this horse more confidence.

you could also try using a carrot stick which is a technique where u run the lunge whip over the hroses body to get him to relax.

also try carrying treats  and reward him when hes done well :)

it just takes time, honest :)

Answer 7

If you have a round pen you could try join up which is where you keep them cantering in the circle until he makes a chewing motion, then go towards his shoulder so he slows down and turn ur back to him and if he comes to you walk in circles and different directions and praise him and pet him, he should follow you but if he doesn't try again. Also you can mirror him, if he takes a step towards you step towards him but if he looks scared or nervous step back and if he bolts wait in place and see if he will come back. Also try haltering him and getting someone to hold him or tie him to a sturdy pole or tree, then give him a complete grooming and give him treats and praise as you do it. Then gently pet his face and if he pulls away pet his neck and if he'll face you blow gently into his nostril, if he blows back he is greeting you with trust, calm him down in an area where no people or distractions are and do this with him until he calms down, just spend loads of time with him and he will trust you more, bring him down, give him a good grooming and return him to the stall or pasture and do that often so he's not scared you will ride him EVERY time. Have fun, its always fun to tame a horse, earn their trust and be loved by them!

Answer 8

Ground work ground work ground work.  Trust is derived from consistancy with horses.  You must be consistant with him, confident when your handling him (not expecting him to spook) and you must NOT baby situation.  Dont deliberatley spook him but do things normally around him as you would any horse.  I suggest round penning, and working on some desensatization with him.  Tarps, bags, quads (four wheelers, whatver you call them haha), bikes, ropes and anything that he has shown obvious signs of spookiness with.  Take your time and let him get away from what he is afraid of, you just be the common ground, the mediator and the trust figure and things will start to come around.  Begin on spacial respect, work your way onto lowering his head with a bit of poll pressure and be consistant in all of the excersises you choose to work on him with.  Again, TRUST comes from CONSISTANCY.  The more you work with him and end on a positive note, the better he will be. :)

Good Luck! ; 0)

EDIT****

I give BUFFY best answer hands down.  Its a matter of understanding and communication.  Patience, Consistency and Understanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)  Great Answer Buffy!