It doesn’t matter what sport you do with your horse – western pleasure, dressage, trail, jumping, cutting, reining, etc., every single sport revolves around the horse being soft, supple and relaxed in order to perform his best. In order to get a horse soft and supple throughout his entire body, you need to concentrate on […]
Most horse owners don’t put a whole lot of thought into how their horse leads. In fact, most people think that leading is dragging the horse from point A to point B. The truth is, horses don’t magically know how to lead; it’s important to spend time to teach them how to. Teaching your horse […]
Lunging is one of the most used and abused exercises in the horse world. You can go to any horse show or training facility to see what I mean. Often you’ll see someone in the middle of an arena lunging a horse on a 60- or 70-foot lead rope. The horse is galloping around, he’s […]
When you are desensitizing your horse to a new object, keep in mind that resistance is normal. Often, the reason for resistance is related to the horse’s desire for safety and comfort. Imagine a bull’s eye on a target.
Raising foals is a lot of fun. The thing to remember when you’re raising a foal is that the little things make a big difference – both good and bad. Using the Method to work with a foal just 10 to15 minutes a day for the first six weeks of his life will lay a […]
When horses feel safe, comfortable and have enough food and water to sustain them, their next need is stimulation. Your horse needs to be stimulated both physically and mentally on a daily basis. As with many other things when working with horses, you need to balance between the mental and the physical. You have to […]
Horses have a natural instinct to pull and push against pressure – not give and soften to it. So every opportunity you get, teach your horse to soften to pressure. You always want your horse thinking of how he can give and soften to pressure rather than thinking of how he can resist, stiffen and […]
Three Great Training Tips from Top Trainer Clinton Anderson of Downunder Horsemanship
Tip #1: Fix the cause, not the symptoms. The majority of horse “problems” (such as bucking, rearing, biting and pawing) aren’t really problems at all, they are really just symptoms of a cause. Seventy to eighty percent of all the problems you will ever have to deal with as a horse owner will fix themselves […]
#1 – If you’re turning your horse out with other horses, get the other horses away from the gate before leading your horse through it. People often suffer serious injuries turning horses out because they’re unaware of herd dynamics of horses. When you throw your horse into a herd, the other horses will react, and […]
Horses have two sides to their brains: the left brain and the right brain. Each side of your horse’s brain is like a completely separate horse. You’ve got Lefty and you’ve got Righty.