Horse Training Mistakes!

Mistake #7 – Assuming You Can Get On Any Horse And Simply Ride

Not all horses are the same. Some you can get on and easily ride. Some are so green that you could be easily injured if you have little or no riding experience. The ones easy to ride are typically older horses. They have been ridden the most and will be the most forgiving of a beginning rider’s mistakes. The younger horses will be the hardest to ride unless they have been thoroughly broke.

Mistake #6 – Assuming A Horse Trainer’s Technique Is The Only Way To Train A Horse

When novice horse owners begin to experience problems with their horse, they go looking for answers. The first place they look is in books. When the author of the book explains a training technique, the reader assumes that’s how it’s done by everyone. But when they can’t train their horse with that technique, they assume a dumb or untrainable horse. What novice horse owners need to know is that there are typically lots of ways to train a horse to do one thing. If you try something and it doesn’t work, try something else.

Mistake #5 – Not Riding A Horse Enough

New horse owners experience problems with horses not because the horse suddenly went sour, but because they don’t ride their horses enough. About the best thing you can do to have a good horse is to ride it and ride it and ride it. Don’t ride him just once every couple weeks. Horses need to ridden a lot to make them a good riding horse.

Mistake #4 – Thinking A Problem With The Horse Is The Horse’s Fault

Although a horse may have some problems, they are typically a result of the horse’s owner. There are rarely horse problems – it’s more likely there are problem riders. For instance, if you can’t get your horse to ride away from home (this is called ‘Barn Sour’) it’s likely because you don’t have control over him. You can establish control with various techniques such as Doubling.

Mistake #3 – Not Understanding How Horses Think

Horses do not think like dogs or cats. Horses are a prey animal which means they run from scary things. They have thousands of years of the ‘flight instinct’ built in their brains. To successfully train them takes patience and understanding that they are naturally fearful and cynical.

Mistake #2 – Not Knowing That Every Interaction With A Horse Is A Training Exercise

Every time you interact with your horse you are training him. Even if your horse is well trained with the lead rope, you are training him every time you use the lead rope. Even when you pet your horse, you are training him. Novice horse owners must think through what they do when working with their horse because they can easily and unknowingly affect a horse’s behavior.

Mistake #1 – Riding A Horse With Little Or No Understanding Of Horsemanship

A typical novice horse owner will ride their new horse not knowing horse-riding skills. It is important to have an understanding of riding techniques because horses react to leg pressure, how you sit in the saddle, whether or not the rider is tense, and a whole host of other things.

Let’s face it. Horses need to be understood for a horse owner to be successful with his horse. The best thing novice horse owners can do is learn how to ride, learn how horses think, learn what works good to shape horses’ behavior, and understand that constantly riding a horse is just about the best thing you can do to have a good horse.

 The top 7 Mistakes a Horse Owner Make  by: Andy Curry 

About The AuthorAndy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author of several best selling horse training and horse care books. For information visit his website at www.horsetrainingandtips.com. He is also the leading expert on Jesse Beery’s horse training methods which can be seen at www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beerya.htm.This article was posted on December 09, 2004

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 Advice and Information to Assist Your Horse Riding Experience

Every year horse owners experience serious injuries or even tragic deaths while riding their cherished equine companions. One of the more significant causes of rider injury is a rider being tossed from a rearing horse… or worse, caught underneath a horse that reared so fiercely that it flipped over on top of the rider. While sometimes injury is extremely difficult to avoid due to the spontaneous and powerful nature of many rears, all too often the problem is actually made worse by inexperienced riders panicking and inadvertently increasing the chance of injury.

When an inexperienced rider is rudely jolted by a rearing horse he often panics and tightens his body. This is a natural reaction… when we perceive an impending and unavoidable blow, our body unconsciously stiffens and braces for the impact. When atop a rearing horse, a surprised rider will often recoil a bit and stiffen towards the hindquarters of the horse, which is a critical error because the rider drastically throws off what little balance he has, almost assuring that he will be tossed.

The second critical error inexperienced riders make is using the reins as a form of security. They feel their body being thrown backwards so they grip the reins for dear life and try to use them to "pull" themselves forward and back into the saddle. Again… this is a natural knee-jerk reaction, but it’s also a critical error.

When you yank the reins of a rearing horse you drastically increase the likelihood of the horse losing control entirely and flipping over or falling down… with a good chance of you being caught underneath. Keep in mind that when a horse rears, he is already off balance. When you yank the reins backwards sharply, you’ll only make it that much more difficult for the horse to resume his balance. In addition you’ll very likely harm his mouth and cause him immense pain, and the shock of the pain could very well make the horse "freak out" even more!

So we now know that the two natural reactions people often make while on a rearing horse will only serve to increase the chances of injury for both the horse and rider. If we are supposed to ignore natural bodily reflexes what should we do instead?

First, when you sense your horse’s front hooves leaving the ground make sure that you lean forwards, not backwards. This will increase both your balance as well as your horse’s, thereby lessening the chance of the horse actually falling over. You don’t want a horse that weighs around 1000 pounds landing on you.

Second, thrust your hands forward so that there is absolutely no direct rein pressure against the horse’s mouth. Do not pull back on the reins no matter how much your instincts shout to do so – I guarantee you’ll gain no security or balance from doing so. Let him have his mouth and only apply direct rein pressure after he has all four hooves back on the ground.

Finally, if you feel like you are losing control then it’s generally better to take the cautious way out and dismount rather than try and ride the rearing out. Consider wrapping your arms around the horse’s neck as you lean forward, then slide off his side as he rears. The moment you hit the ground you want to back up so that the horse doesn’t step on your feet when his front hooves land again. It’s best if you can keep hold of the reins as you perform this maneuver, but if you have to let them go entirely and get out of "Dodge" then do so. Your bodily safety is the most important consideration.

Hopefully you will never be surprised by a rearing horse, but it doesn’t hurt to practice quick dismounts in your spare time such that if you are ever faced with the situation you’ll better know how to handle it. In addition depending on your breed of horse you might consider jumping him a bit. While a jump has nowhere near the potency of a strong rear, it can teach your body how to respond when a horse’s front hooves leave the ground.

Copyright Jeffrey Rolo, 2007. All Rights Reserved.

By: Jeffrey Rolo

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com The above article covers two critical riding errors atop a rearing horse, but if you would like to learn more tips about controlling rearing horses be sure to check out our series How To Stop A Horse From Rearing over at the AlphaHorse community.

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