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Training Tips

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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Training Tips
November 12, 2019

Training Tip: Herd Size Matters When Introducing a New Horse

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when introducing a new horse to the herd is putting too many horses in too small of a space. It’s only natural when a new horse is introduced to the herd that there will be some change in the pecking order, and the horses in the […]

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Training Tips
November 5, 2019

Training Tip: The Importance of Collection

Collection is important in order for your horse to do any sort of maneuver well. True collection—not forcing a horse’s body into a specific frame—begins with a horse’s hindquarters. In order for a horse to collect, he has to have impulsion, meaning that he’s working off his hindquarters. When a horse moves with impulsion, he […]

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Training Tips
October 29, 2019

Training Tip: Foundation is Everything

Foundation is everything. You don’t appreciate a good foundation until you don’t have it. Think about that.

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Training Tips
October 22, 2019

Training Tip: Forward Motion is Established on the Ground

Although it may seem odd, your horse’s responsiveness when you ask him to move forward under saddle (his gas pedal) is established on the ground, beginning with the roundpen exercises. At Fundamentals Clinics, we begin by working with every participant and their horse in the roundpen. I can tell by the way the horses react […]

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Training Tips
October 15, 2019

Training Tip: Your First Horse Should Build Your Confidence

Everybody’s first horse should be a 23-year-old, one-eyed, crippled, ugly gelding. Think about the mental picture you get when you read that description. I think of an old ranch gelding that’s safe, quiet and has lots of miles under his feet.

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Training Tips
October 8, 2019

Training Tip: Can Groundwork and Riding Exercises be Done at the Same Time?

I often get asked if when teaching a horse the Fundamentals can you work on the groundwork and riding exercises at the same time? People often wonder if it’s better to teach all of the groundwork exercises first, and then start to work on the riding exercises. At the ranch, when we get horses in […]

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