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Training Tips

Training Tips
January 20, 2015

Training Tip: An Important Ratio

To balance your horse so that both sides of his body are equally relaxed and responsive, you’ll spend 2/3 of your time working on his bad side (the side that is stiffer, pushier or more reactive), and 1/3 of your time working on his good side. If your horse is spookier on his right side, […]

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Training Tips
January 13, 2015

Training Tip: Establish Your Leadership Role

Horses challenge their own pecking order daily, and they will do the same to you. It’s nothing personal – it’s just business. Horses are natural followers, but they want a leader they can respect and trust.

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Training Tips
January 6, 2015

Training Tip: Does Your Horse Have a Phobia of Gates?

Sometimes horses get frightened of going through gates because they’re tight, narrow spaces and make them feel claustrophobic. As prey animals, horses hate being in narrow spaces that make them feel trapped. This can be especially true if your horse has gotten “bit” by a gate – a gate hit him while he was being […]

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Training Tips
December 30, 2014

Training Tip: The Sacred Hula Hoop

As a trainer, you need your horse’s respect and attention in order to teach him and gain his trust. Establishing your personal space will help you stay safe while doing just that. The first thing your horse has to understand is that you are fragile and he needs to be careful around you. I honestly […]

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Downunder Horsemanship - General Training Tips
December 23, 2014

Training Tip: Great Horsemen are Open to Change

That is the most important concept you can understand when it comes to training horses. When I was an apprentice for Ian Francis, he often said to me, “To change your life, you must first change your attitude.” Ian believes, as do I, that if you’re unhappy with the current state of your life, you […]

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Training Tips
December 16, 2014

Training Tip: Get Your Horse Backing Well

I back my horses up every chance I get. In fact, I very rarely just lead my horse somewhere. Like most of you, I have a limited amount of time to actually spend with my horses, so as long as I’m with them, I figure I might as well be teaching them something. So I […]

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Training Tips
December 9, 2014

Training Tip: Assume the Worst to Stay Safe

When it comes to saddling a colt for the first time, I always assume the colt is going to break in two. I would say that 50 percent of colts buck the first time they’re saddled and 50 percent don’t. It’s almost impossible to tell which colts will buck and which ones won’t. Sometimes the […]

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Training Tips
December 2, 2014

Training Tip: Understand Trailering From Your Horse’s Perspective

To help your horse overcome his trailering fears, you have to look at trailering from his perspective. As prey animals, with a flight or fight response, horses prefer to be in big open spaces where they can easily see predators approaching them and then be able to make a quick getaway. You’ll never see a […]

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Training Tips
November 25, 2014

Training Tip: There Are No Shortcuts

Too often, I meet people at tours or we’ll receive letters in the office saying that they have a problem that needs fixed. Everyone wants a quick fix, a magic cure that they can give their horse to have their problems disappear. Believe me, if I had such a magic cure, I would sell it […]

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Training Tips
November 18, 2014

Training Tip: A Tip for Trouble-Free Blanketing

The biggest mistake people make when trying to blanket a spooky horse is sneaking the blanket up on the horse. If you reach the blanket up towards the horse and he has a heart attack, repeat the same motion another hundred times. When he relaxes, retreat and rub him.

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