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Training Tips

Training Tips
October 14, 2014

Training Tip: Take the Halter off Safely

It’s a great habit to teach your horse to lower his head and then tip his head toward you when you’re haltering and unhaltering him. It’s an especially good habit when you’re turning your horse out and bringing him in. If his head is low and tipped toward you, it’s a submissive position and is […]

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Training Tips
October 7, 2014

Training Tip: Handle a Problem From the Ground

When I apprenticed with Ian Francis, he told me: “There are a lot of heroes in the graveyard.” Too many people try to play the hero by riding an unprepared or difficult horse and end up getting bucked off. They break their necks and die because they didn’t use their heads. If you’re having a […]

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Training Tips
September 30, 2014

Training Tip: Dealing With Your Horse’s Magnet to the Trailer

If you’re at a show or on a trail ride, it’s common for your horse to develop a magnet with the trailer. In your horse’s mind, the trailer is equivalent to getting to rest, munch on hay and hang out with his buddies. Rather than trying to keep the horse away from the trailer, let […]

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Training Tips
September 23, 2014

Training Tip: Are You Teaching Your Horse Bad Turnout Manners?

Almost all horses that bolt away in the pasture are a product of their handler’s negligence. Think about how you turn your horse out. Most people lead their horse out to the pasture and once they reach the gate, they immediately take the halter off and let the horse walk away from them. It doesn’t […]

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Training Tips
September 16, 2014

Training Tip: Respect Without Fear

You want your horse to respect you, but not fear you. If a horse is afraid of the person training him, he’ll spend more time worrying about the situation and trying to escape it than trying to figure out how to do the lesson. People are the exact same way. It’s nearly impossible to learn […]

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Training Tips
September 9, 2014

Training Tip: A Good Stud Makes a Great Gelding

One of the best things my mentor Gordon McKinlay ever told me as an apprentice was “If he’s a good stud, he’ll make a great gelding.” I have never forgotten those words, especially when I established my breeding program. Ninety-five percent of the studs out there should not be studs. I know I’m going to […]

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Training Tips
September 2, 2014

Training Tip: Approach Training Sessions Smartly

Begin and end each training session with desensitizing, and desensitize your horse between each sensitizing exercise. The desensitizing exercises work best if combined with the sensitizing exercises because after you’ve moved the horse’s feet, he’s looking to stand still, relax and get a rest. If every time you let him rest you desensitize him, it […]

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Training Tips
August 26, 2014

Training Tip: An Important Rule to Remember

A horse never gets any lighter than the first amount of pressure you put on the reins. If you want a soft horse that responds immediately to light pressure, you have to be that way from the start. Let’s say I want the horse to flex to the side. If I always ask him with […]

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Training Tips
August 19, 2014

Training Tip: Reward and Respect Must be Balanced

In general, the more you spoil your horse, the less he will respect you. People often make that mistake when they first start working with their horse. They think, “Surely if I just rub on him long enough he’ll know that I love him.

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Training Tips
August 12, 2014

Training Tip: Unstick Your Horse’s Feet at the Arena Gate

At some point or other, almost all horses develop a magnet to the arena gate. To deter your horse from hanging out at the gate, make being next to the gate feel uncomfortable to him. Right now, your horse is attracted to the gate because he knows that’s how he gets out of the arena […]

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