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Training Tips

Training Tips
March 7, 2023

Training Tip: How Well Do Your Horse’s Brakes Work on the Trail?

Your horse may stop as soon as you lower your weight in the saddle and take your legs off him in the arena, but what does he do when you take him on the trail? If you’re like most horsemen, when you ask your horse to stop on the trail, it’s probably not so pretty. […]

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Training Tips
February 28, 2023

Training Tip: Why are Rollbacks Included in Fundamentals Clinics?

Question: I attended a Fundamentals Clinic in Northern California. The last day of the clinic ended with rollbacks in a circle and down the fence. Can you give an in-depth explanation about why that Intermediate level exercise was selected rather than continuing with the Fundamentals exercises?

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Training Tips
February 21, 2023

Training Tip: Why You Need Your Horses’ Respect When Feeding in a Group

Herd dynamics rule your horses’ world, which makes walking into a herd of horses with feed dangerous. While some horses are downright disrespectful and push into your space and run you over in an attempt to get to the feed, most feeding accidents happen by you being in the wrong place at the wrong time. […]

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Training Tips
February 14, 2023

Training Tip: Building a Mini Horse’s Trust

Question: I acquired a mini paint with another horse I purchased; she basically just came with the horse as a pasture mate. The previous owners used her as a roping pony, so she’s afraid of people and runs away because of being roped all the time. How do I teach her to trust me and […]

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Training Tips
February 7, 2023

Training Tip: Successfully Introduce an Obstacle to Your Horse

When you introduce your horse to an obstacle—a log on the ground, a puddle of water, a gulley, the trailer, etc.—the first step is to build the horse’s confidence around the object by sending him between you and it on all four sides of the object. It’s a little test: If you can’t get your […]

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Training Tips
January 31, 2023

Training Tip: Training a Paso Fino Horse

Question: What recommendation can you give me to work with a Paso Fino horse? Answer: When we take horses in for training, we treat them all the same. All horses need the same basic foundation, which is covered in the Fundamentals Series and progresses through the Intermediate and Advanced Series. Once a horse is trained […]

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Training Tips
January 24, 2023

Training Tip: Get Out of the Concept Stage of Training With Your Horse

Once your horse understands what you’re asking of him, enter the “do it now” stage of training. When you first teach a horse something, it’s called the concept lesson. In the concept lesson, your goal is to get the general idea of the lesson across to the horse. For example, if you’re teaching your horse […]

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Training Tips
January 17, 2023

Training Tip: Don’t Hang Out in a Shade of Gray With Your Horse

Be black or white with your horse. He’s either responding correctly or he’s not. Don’t be wishy-washy with him or inconsistent about what you consider acceptable and unacceptable.

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Training Tips
January 10, 2023

Training Tip: Get Quick About Reading What Your Horse Needs in the Moment

Good horsemen are always reading their horses and making adjustments according to what the horse needs to succeed in any particular moment. This tip has two parts to it. The first part is for people who go into training sessions fixated on working on one or two particular exercises and focus solely on the exercise […]

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Downunder Horsemanship - General Training Tips
December 27, 2022

Step-By-Step Directions to a Safe First Saddling

When it comes to ensuring a good start for a horse that sets the foundation for a successful career, how the first saddling goes is vital. If done correctly, it builds the horse’s confidence and sets him up for a successful career. If things go wrong, it can set his progress back a lot. “Plus,” […]

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