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Training Tips

Training Tips
March 28, 2023

Training Tip: Horse Won’t Relax While Doing the Cloverleaf Exercise

Question: Firewater did really well through the Fundamentals, so I started him on the Intermediate Series and got up to the Cloverleaf Exercise. He stays really soft throughout his entire body at the walk, trot and canter while doing the Bending Transitions exercise and he is really soft vertically at the walk and soft laterally. […]

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Training Tips
March 21, 2023

Training Tip: Tie Your Horse Up Safely

When tying your horse up, safety should be your biggest concern. A horse that is tied incorrectly can get loose, and, depending on where he’s at, can seriously injure himself or others. Or, he can get caught up in the rope and get in a bad wreck. My preferred method of tying a horse up […]

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Training Tips
March 14, 2023

Training Tip: Head Carriage on a Loose Rein

Question: My horse, a 4-year-old Missouri Fox Trotter, gives quite well when asked for vertical flexion at the standstill, walk and trot. However, when I put him on a loose rein, his head and neck come up more often than not. I’ve heard you say that if a horse’s poll is above the saddle horn, […]

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Training Tips
March 7, 2023

Training Tip: How Well Do Your Horse’s Brakes Work on the Trail?

Your horse may stop as soon as you lower your weight in the saddle and take your legs off him in the arena, but what does he do when you take him on the trail? If you’re like most horsemen, when you ask your horse to stop on the trail, it’s probably not so pretty. […]

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Training Tips
February 28, 2023

Training Tip: Why are Rollbacks Included in Fundamentals Clinics?

Question: I attended a Fundamentals Clinic in Northern California. The last day of the clinic ended with rollbacks in a circle and down the fence. Can you give an in-depth explanation about why that Intermediate level exercise was selected rather than continuing with the Fundamentals exercises?

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Training Tips
February 21, 2023

Training Tip: Why You Need Your Horses’ Respect When Feeding in a Group

Herd dynamics rule your horses’ world, which makes walking into a herd of horses with feed dangerous. While some horses are downright disrespectful and push into your space and run you over in an attempt to get to the feed, most feeding accidents happen by you being in the wrong place at the wrong time. […]

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Training Tips
February 14, 2023

Training Tip: Building a Mini Horse’s Trust

Question: I acquired a mini paint with another horse I purchased; she basically just came with the horse as a pasture mate. The previous owners used her as a roping pony, so she’s afraid of people and runs away because of being roped all the time. How do I teach her to trust me and […]

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Training Tips
February 7, 2023

Training Tip: Successfully Introduce an Obstacle to Your Horse

When you introduce your horse to an obstacle—a log on the ground, a puddle of water, a gulley, the trailer, etc.—the first step is to build the horse’s confidence around the object by sending him between you and it on all four sides of the object. It’s a little test: If you can’t get your […]

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Training Tips
January 31, 2023

Training Tip: Training a Paso Fino Horse

Question: What recommendation can you give me to work with a Paso Fino horse? Answer: When we take horses in for training, we treat them all the same. All horses need the same basic foundation, which is covered in the Fundamentals Series and progresses through the Intermediate and Advanced Series. Once a horse is trained […]

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Training Tips
January 24, 2023

Training Tip: Get Out of the Concept Stage of Training With Your Horse

Once your horse understands what you’re asking of him, enter the “do it now” stage of training. When you first teach a horse something, it’s called the concept lesson. In the concept lesson, your goal is to get the general idea of the lesson across to the horse. For example, if you’re teaching your horse […]

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