Where can i find out how to back a horse naturally?

Question

i have a 3yo haflinger horse who has never been backed and is not halter broken. where can i find out how to take my horse through the whole process. (in the pirelli style (but without all the merchendise))

Answer 1

What do you mean its not halter broke?  You need to halter break this horse first, and start on the rest.  Most 3 yrs olds are halter broke at this time, lead, back up, know what it is to stand tied to a fence or post.  Hope you didn't pay much for this horse.  You should be able to pick up his feet, and have a saddle on him. Find a dang good trainer with a good rep., that will help ya alot.  I wouldn't worry about the backing part, until he is halter broke.

Answer 2

Try ladbrokes.com

I did and my horse is fab.

Answer 3

You need to find someone who is experienced in breaking horses to help you and give you guidance.  If you do not know anyone that could help and have never started a horse before then I would urge you to send the horse away to a trainer for the initial breaking to give the horse the basics for you to then work on.  Whereabouts are you and I may be able to point you in the right direction.  

However, if you do have the support of an experienced person it is the most rewarding thing ever.  Although back when I did my first horses parelli, etc weren't around I used similar techniques and did it all slowly and kindly which I think is the main thing.  There are quite a few good books out there on the subject now which would give you an idea of where to start.  Bear in mind that as the pony isn't halter broken you've got to start right at the very begining but this does mean that there is no chance of the horse having been ruined by someone elses poor handling.

Answer 4

One of my horses spent 4 months with a natural horsemanship trainer who combines Parelli, Clinton Anderson, and some other famous trainers methods.  You can do Parelli work without all his paraphenalia...for example, my trainer did not use the carrot stick....the only training aids she used, or needed, were a simple nylon rope halter that was loop-attached to a 10' nylon rope lead.  This gear is very flexible and strong.  As the horse advances, a lariat is used to teach the horse lateral work and moving away from you.

I highly recommend that you start your horse with this...and use Parelli to guide your halter training and teaching of respect.  The long lead allows you many options as you work,

and is used to train more things than I can list here.  

At one point in my horse's training (actually he was re-trained to natural horsemanship) he had a standoff with the trainer.  Using his entire body, he was pulling back away from the trainer...she planted herself and held firm and he was unable to overcome the pressure on his poll...after a few minutes, he gave in and dropped his head and was submissive.  My point is the strength of the rig, and the control she had over the horse.  She is about 5'4 and 110 lbs. If you decide to go this route, I can find the site to order this equipment...some rigs are not as good as others.

Answer 5

ladbrokes.com

Answer 6

www.ladbrokes.com

Answer 7

Wow, big question.  I do Parelli, but it's not a simple answer to break a horse.  Find a Parelli trainer near you who could help.  And sorry, you'll need some merchandise to do it.

Answer 8

Google Pirelli trainers and find one near you.  Simple as that.

They have a website.

Richard Maxwell - google his website - he is absolutely brilliant.  Not Parelli but much better.

Answer 9

also try monty roberts and kelly marks!!! brilliant for that type of stuff and you need no, or very little merchendise :D

Answer 10

I recommend staying away from Parelli.  I consider the whole program a scam and con job.

Halter breaking a horse like that is actually really easy as long as it is gentle.  First get the halter on him/her.  Use a feed bucket with grain to induce him/her to let you put it on.  After that the first few times you put the halter on use the grain bucket.  HOWEVER, they must allow the halter to be put on in order to be allowed to eat in peace.  Once it gets comfortable with that then start putting the halter on in the field and then getting the grain.  Thus halter equals reward.

OK that accomplished attach a lead to the halter and pull the horse in a circle about three or four times in one direction.  Get on the other side of the horse and do it in the other direction.  About 80% of horses will then lead.  They will need a refresher on the circles each time they balk.  Take them to grain from here.

After leading, whoa, etc. is down then backing is simply a matter of taking your thumb or fist and pushing in on the chest an letting the horse back off it.  Say back as a command while doing this (as a command not as a suggestion).

That is enough of the basics that most horse people can take it from there.

Sorry different definition of backing.  The term used here is breaking.  I knew backing was used in some places but was not thinking.  

Then I tie up the new horse and mount and dismount her (gradually and slowly at first then faster).  After she is comfortable with that I like to use the method where I take a trained ponying horse and pony the new horse behind it.  I do this until the new horse is used to that.  I then climb on board while the horse is tied to the other horse.  Very careful not to spook the new horse, and have the lead horse lead me while I teach all the signals like stop, go, left, and right.  I then untie the horse and follow the lead horse (depending how well the new horse is doing this may take anywhere from two to several sessions.  After the horse will follow on command I signal the new horse to ride beside or go in a slightly different direction.  After the new horse is comfortable with this I have the older horse left in the field and ride around the small field I use for these exercises.  Then I ride the next few times alone with the new horse.  Getting it used to all the experiences that are normally seen on the trail.  That is everything from tractors, to motorcycles, to cattle, to traffic, etc.