Training A Horse for Positive Results

Training a horse for long lasting positive results is what we always strive for. When I consider the horse’s perspective first and their ability to understand my communications then I achieve goals at lightening speed. In other words, their schedule is much more important than mine!

There is no such thing as a short cut! If you ever think that a horse has accomplished a task but feel it’s just okay rather than great, it will sneak up on you later to revisit. So my goal is to never move forward, until I fill all holes of misunderstanding, that way I rarely if ever need to retrain the same task again and again.

I think of it like learning the English language. First we learn the alphabet, then we form words, then we form sentences. When we start with the alphabet, we learn A, then B, then C. We don’t learn A, then M, then Q! Training a horse is much like that if you want efficient and long lasting results.

Here is a You Tube video of a session with Ajax and a few more horse pictures of how we have fun around here!

Training A Horse Named Ajax

Ajax is an off the track Thoroughbred race horse. He suffered a knee injury which ended that career at the age of 7. He was then gelded and given away for free! Two years and two owners later (they just didn’t have time available) he is now in my guardianship. Ajax has been boarded with me for this last 2 years. He had a very difficult time at first adjusting to other horses while forgetting he was once a stallion. He is still a dominant herd member but no longer has the same force behind his bites!

Note of Interest: Ajax like many horses may be very dominant in the herd but they are not usually the lead horse either.
See this page on Horse Behavior to find out why.

The first thing I like to have in place when training a horse is “Trust”. Enough trust that the horse is comfortable about me touching them everywhere and that they know I will not hurt them in any way.

From here comes “Respect”. This is something I must earn not insist upon! How, you ask? By establishing simple rules like one horse would do with another horse. For example; a well respected herd member will be very consistent about letting others know when they can come into their space or when to get out of their way. A lower horse would never dream of biting a higher ranking one or bump into them while walking past (unless of course they are challenging for new status). It’s a survival thing! Always remember that. Then you won’t so be insulted when it happens!

And none of this needs to be done by chasing the horse around a pen or hitting them. You merely need to defend your space not challenge theirs. While training a horse use small movements at first, they are highly SIGHT specific. No need to yell either, they have great hearing too! Remember, great leaders are calm under all conditions.

Additional note: Ajax and I have done some ground work and he knows how to yield from my touch and suggestions. Now we want to know how much he remembers regarding saddling and riding. Turns out not much!! In fact there is a lot of fear that resurfaces from his former race track career.

Here are a few pictures of our second session where I ask Ajax, Does the feeling of the girth upset you? Can you stand next to the mounting block at liberty? Can I rest my body next to yours? Are you afraid at any time of my suggestions?

(Please note this is just a snap shot of the session, not the whole session itself.)

These last 2 pictures are of my young horse Hero (15 months old) who is learning to yield his front quarters.