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Training Tips

Training Tips
July 19, 2022

Training Tip: Fixing a Horseback Riding Issue Without Mecate Reins

Question: Frosty is a 9-year-old sensitive Quarter Horse that I have begun with the Fundamentals and ride English. What do I do when I come off on a trail ride? I can’t take off his bridle and put on his rope halter and line. Do I dust off and move his feet under saddle or […]

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Downunder Horsemanship - General No Worries Club Training Tips
July 19, 2022

Tips for Safely Weaning Foals

While weaning can be stressful for young horses and their dams, if you take time to prepare the foal and mare, you can ensure that the experience goes as smoothly as possible. “When I was breeding mares and raising foals, we always worked with the foals on a daily basis, teaching them the Fundamentals level […]

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Training Tips
July 12, 2022

Training Tip: Practice Hauling Your Horse Away From Home

When you start hauling your horse away from home, you’ll likely notice that he’s more reactive and doesn’t ride as well at the new locations. This is especially true of young and inexperienced horses and is completely normal. As prey animals, horses are aware of their environments and notice every little change. So when you […]

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Training Tips
July 5, 2022

Training Tip: Addressing Dominant Herd Behavior in Horses

Question: We are slowly introducing a 4-month-old weanling into a herd of 13. We have a dominant 19-month-old gelding that is displaying behavior that we can’t explain. When together in the paddock, the gelding is controlling basically every step the weanling is allowed to make.

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Training Tips
June 28, 2022

Training Tip: Work Through Your Horse’s Anxiety When You Haul Away From Home

It’s important to remember that horses notice every little change in their environment, and when you take them to new locations, they often have more energy and are spookier as they encounter new objects and unfamiliar territory. While your horse is calm and relaxed at home or on trails he’s familiar with, when you haul […]

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Downunder Horsemanship - General Shop Downunder Horsemanship Training Tips
June 28, 2022

First-Saddling Success Tip

When it comes to introducing the saddle to a horse for the first time, it’s important to give the horse enough time to get used to wearing the new piece of equipment before taking it off him. “The key to successfully introducing the saddle is to get the horse’s feet moving forward and to give […]

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Training Tips
June 21, 2022

Training Tip: Advice for a Horse That Cribs

Question: My friend bought a horse that has a cribbing habit. He is a very willing horse, smart and well trained for cow work and ranch riding. My question is do you think a horse that cribs is a big problem?

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Downunder Horsemanship - General Training Tips
June 21, 2022

Teach Your Busy-Minded Horse to Relax and Focus

There are some horses that are naturally really hot and nervous, and even after they’ve been taken through the Fundamentals groundwork and riding exercises and the foundation trail exercises, they still have a lingering desire to be in a hurry everywhere they go. “This is the off-the-track Thoroughbred that starts and ends a 20-mile trail […]

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Training Tips
June 14, 2022

Training Tip: Be a Thinking Horseman

One of the hardest concepts about training horses to get across to people is that horses do not think like we do. Your horse is a prey animal and you are a predator, which means he sees the world in a completely different way than you do. One of the major differences between us is […]

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Training Tips
June 7, 2022

Training Tip: Hold the Soft Feel Longer

Vertical flexion with your horse is something that you’ll build on with each give. First the horse has to understand that when you pick up on the reins and apply pressure with your legs he needs to maintain whatever gait he’s in and give to the pressure. As soon as he understands that concept, then […]

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