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Training Tips

Training Tips
September 18, 2018

Training Tip: Ask Clinton: Stay in the Lope

Q: How do I keep my green horse loping without kicking or squeezing him constantly? – Jaydyn H.  A: It’s no fun to ride a horse that constantly makes you babysit him. You need to teach your horse to be responsible for his own feet so that when you tell him to lope, he keeps […]

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Training Tips
September 11, 2018

Training Tip: Train Your Horse to Negotiate Hills Solo

Ideally, you don’t want to be practicing going up or down a hill when there is a big group of horses riding on ahead of you. That’s just setting yourself and your horse up for disappointment (and possibly disaster). Your horse will be too focused on staying with the herd to slow down and think […]

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Training Tips
September 4, 2018

Ask Clinton: Buddy-Sour Horses

Q: I have two horses that are buddy sour. It is to the point where I can’t go out on the trail without taking the other horse. I am not at a barn where I can separate them.

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Training Tips
August 28, 2018

Training Tip: Why Speed Isn’t a Good Idea When Riding Hills

How a horse handles hills is as much a reflection of your own skills and know-how as it is of your horse’s. A well-trained trail horse creeps up and down hills, moving like molasses as he carefully picks his way over the terrain. Regardless of why a horse isn’t negotiating a hill in that manner, […]

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Training Tips
August 21, 2018

Ask Clinton: Asking More of a Horse

Q: My horse does everything I ask of him, but he takes his own sweet time doing it. So I amped up the pressure and he went berserk. What did I do wrong?

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Training Tips
August 14, 2018

Training Tip: Handle a Refusal Under Saddle

If you’re on the trail and your horse is reacting badly about going over an obstacle and you feel unsafe, don’t hesitate to get off him and send him over it from the ground. Dismounting is not a “cop out.” It doesn’t mean that you are letting the horse get away with disrespectful behavior. Rather, […]

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Training Tips
August 7, 2018

Training Tip: Ask Clinton: The Ideal Prospect

Q: I am looking for a yearling reining horse. Aside from pedigree, what are the main things you look for in a yearling prospect? What are some qualities that let you know that the horse has a lot of potential?

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Training Tips
July 31, 2018

Training Tip: The Reactive Side will Always Exist

No matter how great a trainer you are you will never be able to completely eliminate the reactive side of your horse’s brain. We’ve never been able to train the reactive side of the horse’s brain out of him, and we’ve never been able to breed it out of him. It’s always going to be […]

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Training Tips
July 24, 2018

Training Tip: Introducing Obstacles From the Ground Up

Teaching a horse to negotiate an obstacle from the ground gives him the opportunity to think through the situation and keeps you safe. He can carefully pick his way over and through the obstacle the first few times, until he learns to pay attention to where he is putting his feet. A lot of people […]

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Training Tips
July 17, 2018

Training Tip: Ask Clinton: Unsticking the Feet in the Backup

Q: My horse backs up great on the ground, but he won’t take one step backwards when I’m riding him. He just throws his head up and feels like he wants to rear. I’ve tried different bits and hackamores, but nothing seems to get him to back up under saddle!

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