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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A far as we’re concerned, our No Worries Club is made up of the best horsemen from around the world. While all members agree that the educational materials the club offers – the DVDs, Journals and online videos – are unbeatable, what really makes the club special is the camaraderie members share with one another […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Our friends at Standlee are sharing important feeding information to help you keep your horse healthy this winter. Follow this link to read what Dr. Steve Duren and Dr.
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 […]