When it comes to training your horse, your imagination is your greatest tool. The more creative you can be in your lessons, the more interested your horse will be in his job. You’ve heard me say, “Consistency is your greatest ally and inconsistency is your greatest enemy.” And that’s absolutely true. It will take you a very long time to train your horse if you’re inconsistent. However, just as important as consistency is, you have to be sure to include variety. Variety means mixing it up for your horse and keeping him guessing at what you’re doing. It keeps him interested in his job and on his toes. However, you have to learn to balance the two. Too much consistency and the horse will get bored and resentful in his job. Too much variety and he will never learn anything.
I love to incorporate objects around the ranch into my horse’s daily training. Here, I’m using two camping chairs to practice suppling exercises, but you can use any object that you have at home. Although I’m practicing exercises I normally do on a daily basis, by incorporating the chairs into the exercises, I’m adding variety. Always keep in mind that your imagination is your greatest tool, so use it!
What’s going on in the photos: Riding circles is one of the most basic ways you can teach your horse to develop rhythm and learn to relax while you’re riding him. Teaching your horse to carry himself in a circle has endless benefits, including strengthening and stretching muscles and teaching the horse to carry himself in balance. Here I’m practicing different sized circles. Circle in tight to the object and really make your horse bend his ribcage and step up underneath himself, then make the circle larger. Test the horse to see if he’ll stay in a round circle by himself. The object will help you gauge how round of a circle you’re doing.
