Training Tip: Adding Speed When Backing Your Horse Up
Question: How would you get a horse to back up instantly with a little pressure? My horse backs up so slowly and won’t back up unless I give a lot of pressure or use a whip to guide him. Answer: It sounds like it’s time to enter the Do It Now Stage of training. When […]
Training Tip: Let Your Horse Spend “Friendly Time” on the Trailer
To help your horse get comfortable on the trailer, practice putting him on the trailer and letting him stand tied in it without going anywhere. We do this with our horses at the ranch all the time. After their training sessions, when they’re cooled down, we load them on the trailer. We tie them up […]
Question: I just tried to put the first ride on one of my mustang mares, but after I mounted and did flexing (both of which she stood still for), she suddenly bolted around the roundpen until I flew off. I have been practicing all the groundwork in the Colt Starting Series every day for the […]
Training Tip: Take Your Horse’s Backing to the Next Level
In the Fundamentals Series, we teach our horses four methods of backing up on the ground. Each method of backing is designed to teach the horse a different concept and is important to building a solid foundation. You’ll often hear me say that the better you can get a horse to back up, the more […]
Training Tip: Doing Rollbacks on the Fence With a Blind Horse
Question: I had just completed the Intermediate groundwork with my mare and things were going great. Unfortunately, she got an illness that caused her to go blind rather quickly. Her confidence was shot.
Training Tip: Your Horse Needs a Solid Foundation at Home First
The biggest problem people have when taking their horses away from home is not having control of their horse at home. They spend no time teaching the horse how to use the thinking side of his brain and earning his respect and trust. Then, when they take him away from home, they wonder why he […]
Question: We rescued a 15-year-old horse that was severely beaten and went blind in one eye because of it. I have been working with him for months and he’s still untrusting of others and is very scared of water and whips. I’m just now able to touch his hindquarters without him jumping and breathing hard. […]
Training Tip: Three Ways to Improve the Horse Owner and Farrier Relationship
A skilled farrier is worth his weight in gold, but in a lot of cases, farriers are some of the most underappreciated and underpaid professionals in the horse industry. They are often put in dangerous situations by owners who do not care enough to take the time to properly prepare their horses to have their […]
Question: I purchased a yearling a week ago. Every time I go to halter her, she turns her butt towards me and refuses to look at me. I have just begun teaching her the Fundamentals.
A few years ago, when I was preparing my cow horse Austin for the Snaffle Bit Futurity, I didn’t like the way he started to drop his shoulder and lean into a cow when we were circling it, especially when we were going to the right. I chipped away at the problem, but wasn’t quite […]
