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Training Tips

Training Tips
January 28, 2020

Training Tip: Don’t Try to Conquer the Grand Canyon on Your Horse’s First Trail Ride

The ideal location for first taking a horse outside is a long dirt road because it gives you plenty of room to move the horse forward and it gives him a straight line to follow. Beyond that, you need room to move the horse’s feet, meaning you can bend him down in circles to soften […]

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Training Tips
January 21, 2020

Training Tip: Know When to Retreat When Building Your Horse’s Confidence

Whenever you desensitize your horse to an object, use the Approach and Retreat Method. Build the horse’s confidence by approaching him with the object that scares him and then retreating (taking the object away) when he stands still and relaxes. The number one rule to remember when using the Approach and Retreat Method is to […]

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Training Tips
January 14, 2020

Training Tip: The Key to Achieving Vertical Flexion With Your Horse

Everybody wants their horse to be soft in their hands and tuck his nose in vertically. I know I want my horses to be light and collected  more than anybody. But before you can ask your horse to soften vertically using both reins, you have to teach him to soften laterally using one rein at […]

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Training Tips
January 7, 2020

Training Tip: Horse Tuning You Out? Get Him Dialed in Right From the Start

You can stop your horse from tuning you out by keeping him engaged with you. You do that by moving his feet forwards, backwards, left and right. When you start a training session, you should have a set plan about what you want to accomplish with your horse.

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Training Tips
December 24, 2019

Training Tip: Don’t Give Mixed Signals When Asking Your Horse to Go Forward

One of the biggest culprits of why horses refuse to go forward and have sticky gas pedals is their riders giving them mixed signals. They cue their horse to walk forward, but at the same time, they have a death grip on the reins, pulling the horse’s lips back to his chest. The horse has […]

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Training Tips
December 17, 2019

Training Tip: Don’t Get Greedy When Training Your Horse

Your first order of business when you’re teaching your horse anything new is to establish a starting point. If you’re teaching your horse to sidepass, for example, that means getting one or two correct steps from your horse when you cue him to move laterally. Don’t get greedy and ask for 20 steps right away. […]

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Training Tips
December 10, 2019

Training Tip: Pay Attention to Your Horse’s Frame of Mind

Your horse’s frame of mind is important when you consider what to work on during a training session. Whenever you’re working on desensitizing your horse (teaching him to stand still and relax when approached by an object), set the situation up so that your horse is in a good frame of mind, meaning that he’s […]

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Training Tips
December 3, 2019

Training Tip: Partner With the Right Horse When Learning How to Canter

If you’re learning how to canter, the best thing you can do for yourself is learn to canter on a horse that canters well. Find a horse that will build your confidence, not wreck it. The ideal horse picks up the canter as soon as he’s cued to, he falls into a steady, rhythmic cadence, […]

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Training Tips
November 26, 2019

Training Tip: Help for Horses That Anticipate Maneuvers in a Pattern

If you compete with your horse in any sort of pattern class, you should only practice parts of the pattern, not the whole thing. Continually practicing an entire pattern from start to finish with a horse before a competition will backfire on you. Many people think that if you’re going to compete on Sunday you […]

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Training Tips
November 19, 2019

Training Tip: Your Horse Does Not Think The Way That You Do

One of the most difficult 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 […]

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