What are some things i can do on the ground with my horse?

Question

i am getting bored and running out of ideas. and he is getting bored too. yes i have a round yard and acess to sixty acres of bush.

Answer 1

I just answered one like this earlier too!!

Find a crop or small whip and teach him to sidepass, turn on the forehand, or a haunch turn from the ground.

Work on backing up.

Work on leading him on the offside

Work on the forehand turns, haunch turns, and sidepasses from the offside.

Work on trotting with him and stopping immediately when you do or say whoa...instead of pushing ahead of you.

Work on trotting immediately from a stop.

Find obstacles for the horse to negotiate while you are leading...could be OVER things like poles or trees. THROUGH things like poles set in a pattern on the ground.

You can do trot poles from the ground

Make little bridges or steps for the horse to work on and over.

Teach him to tie...if he needs it.

Desensitize to clippers, water, sprayers, plastic bags...whatever you may come across...

Once I taught my mare to walk ON a 12x2 about 10 feet long, laying on the ground, without stepping off until we came to the end of it. [It was an obstacle in an in-hand class for my yearling]

You don't have to have a round pen...a length of rope or a lunge line will work. Just don't lope the horse if he's not used to it. He could pull you off balance if he pulls away. Just work at the walk and trot...both ways. You'll be surprised how fast you will make a circle track on the land...that the horse stays in when it's going around and around.

Lots of things...Just keep thinking of things...

Answer 2

Sometimes if I'm bored I do stuff with ground tieing.  I take the horse to the middle of the arena and stand him/her up and then do things to entice him to move, then discipline him if he does.  Or I go into the pasture and do it with the other horse there, which makes it even harder for him/her to behave.  I'll walk all over while the horse stands there, and if he/she makes a move, I just quick take a step toward him/her and they stop.  It's fun to see how much restraint they have out in the pasture, since they want to go to grazing etc.

It's good training and it gets me out there doing something with them.

Answer 3

In the roundpen, teach them to do rollbacks based on your body language. Those are pretty fun! Plus, they put a stop on your horse and get them respecting you.

I also like to set up cones or barrels and try backing them around them in different patterns.

Teach them to bow!