Clinton believes that training a horse to accept hobbles is a crucial step in the horse’s education. “If you teach a horse in a safe, step-by-step fashion how to use the thinking side of his brain and not to panic when he gets his feet trapped or hung up in a gate or in the trailer, you could save his life,” Clinton explains. “Unless a horse has been taught to submit to pressure on his legs, when he gets his legs caught up in something, it turns into a big ugly wreck that often costs the horse his life because he panics and fights the pressure. A horse that has been taught to submit to pressure waits for help to arrive or is able to think his way out of the situation rather than using the reactive side of his brain and panicking.”
On top of that, hobbling is another way to train a horse and communicate with him. “You train a horse by creating movement, inhibiting movement and directing movement. The exercises in the Method focus heavily on creating movement and directing movement in the horse’s feet. The hobbling exercises delve into inhibiting movement,” Clinton says.
When the hobbling horse techniques Clinton shares are used correctly and used with feel, timing and experience, they can be extremely helpful ways to build a partnership with your horse. “At the end of the day, that’s what we’re trying to do. Partnership is where we teach the horse not to act like a prey animal, and in turn, you learn not to act like a predator,” he says.
Learn Clinton’s method of safely introducing hobbles to a horse in his Hobbling and Leg Restraints DVD. The two-disc series covers teaching a horse to accept one-legged hobbles, rope hobbles, sideline hobbles and rope and sideline horse hobbles used in combination. You’ll also learn how to lay your horse down lead him by his feet.
Now through Thursday, you can purchase the Hobbling and Leg Restrains DVD as part of a special DVD series bundle that includes Leads and Lead Changes, Trouble-Free Trailering and the Outback Adventure Series for $200. To order the DVD series bundle, call 888-287-7432 or shop online.
