Training Tip: What to Do When a Horse Won’t Move Forward
Question: I just recently picked up a yearling filly from a reservation near me. When one of my more experienced friends goes to roundpen her, she moves away and does it perfectly. When I am trying to do it, I do the “point, cluck and spank” to get her to move, but she does not […]
Training Tip: Horse Locks Up His Feet and Won’t Lead
Question: When I ask my horse to walk off, say to start working or anything he doesn’t want to do, he plants his feet and refuses to move. I’ve tried pulling him along, turning to face him and letting him follow the feel of a loose rope, which only ever works for a couple of […]
The first 10 minutes I get on a horse, I focus on nothing but seeing where the horse is at for the day and working on making sure he’s soft, supple and relaxed. There’s not a whole lot you can accomplish with a horse when he’s not mentally or physically prepared for a lesson. A […]
Question: My horse is amazing on the ground and while riding until it comes to trotting or loping. She’ll crow hop and jump around with her ears laid back. She doesn’t try to bite, and she’s never been aggressive towards me. I’ve tried strengthening groundwork and that helped, but she’s started back up and it’s […]
Training Tip: Gain Experience By Riding a Variety of Horses
If you have a desire to be a great horseman, I encourage you to ride not only as many horses as you can, but a variety of horses. The more horses you ride, the more practice you get in the saddle. However, if you don’t ride a variety of horses, you run the risk of […]
Question: I have a 6-year-old draft mare that was broke by being used to pack and never learned the basics. I have been working with her, but she constantly fights me on flexing and getting soft. Do you have any small pointers that may help me loosen her up and get her to respond better […]
When I first came to the United States and was getting involved in the reining industry, Doug Carpenter’s name kept coming up in conversations. I wanted to know how people were finding their top-level reiners, and nearly everyone I talked to told me they worked with Doug Carpenter. It seemed that the Oklahoma horseman had […]
Question: What do I do with a green horse that is proud cut and gets agitated and feisty with people? My gelding was cut last year and sent to a trainer for three months. He never acted out at the trainer’s, but when I got him home he acted out towards my brothers—turning his hind […]
Training Tip: Is it Worth Investing in a Custom Saddletree?
In my opinion, a custom saddletree is not worth the expense. There’s no such thing as a saddletree that will fit your horse perfectly forever. It may fit him in the very moment you get it measured for him, but that’s about it. The whole business of custom saddletree work is nothing more than a […]
Training Tip: When to Add Speed to a Reining Horse
Question: How do you decide when it’s OK to add speed to a horse’s training? I’m training a reining horse and have what I think is a good foundation on him. I know in order to be competitive that I need to speed him up, but I’m not sure when I should do that. – […]
