"Is it normal to wake up in the morning in a sweat because you can't wait to beat another human's guts out?"Joe Kapp
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Choosing A Horse
Choosing a horse will be one of the most important decisions you ever make so for the sake of both you and the horse - take your time. At 50 I was a bit older than the average first time horse owner, so should have got it right. I fell in love with a ...
How To Prevent Your Horse Going Lame From The Most Common Cause Of Lameness
There are lots of ways a horse can go lame. Perhaps the most common cause of lameness is a result of Navicular Syndrome. The fortunate thing is that it can be treated where the horse gets complete, successful recovery if diagnosed and treated in it’s ...
Simple Strategies To Stop Dog Barking
Barking is normal for a dog, and a little bit here and there is ok. However a dog barking all day long can be annoying even to the most patient dog lover. Here are some simple ways to help stop excessive barking: * Exercise your dog often. Tired dogs ...
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Mistake #7 - Assuming You Can Get On Any Horse And Simply Ride
Not all horses are the same. Some you can get on and easily ride. Some are so green that you could be easily injured if you have little or no riding experience. The ones easy to ride are typically older horses. They have been ridden the most and will be the most forgiving of a beginning rider’s mistakes. The younger horses will be the hardest to ride unless they have been thoroughly broke.
Mistake #6 - Assuming A Horse Trainer’s Technique Is The Only Way To Train A Horse
When novice horse owners begin to experience problems with their horse, they go looking for answers. The first place they look is in books. When the author of the book explains a training technique, the reader assumes that’s how it’s done by everyone. But when they can’t train their horse with that technique, they assume a dumb or untrainable horse. What novice horse owners need to know is that there are typically lots of ways to train a horse to do one thing. If you try something and it doesn’t work, try something else.
Mistake #5 - Not Riding A Horse Enough
New horse owners experience problems with horses not because the horse suddenly went sour, but because they don’t ride their horses enough. About the best thing you can do to have a good horse is to ride it and ride it and ride it. Don’t ride him just once every couple weeks. Horses need to ridden a lot to make them a good riding horse.
Mistake #4 - Thinking A Problem With The Horse Is The Horse’s Fault
Although a horse may have some problems, they are typically a result of the horse’s owner. There are rarely horse problems - it’s more likely there are problem riders. For instance, if you can’t get your horse to ride away from home (this is called “Barn Sour”) it’s likely because you don’t have control over him. You can establish control with various techniques such
as Doubling.
Mistake #3 - Not Understanding How Horses Think
Horses do not think like dogs or cats. Horses are a prey animal which means they run from scary things. They have thousands of years of the “flight instinct” built in their brains. To successfully train them takes patience and understanding that they are naturally fearful and cynical.
Mistake #2 - Not Knowing That Every Interaction With A Horse Is A Training Exercise
Every time you interact with your horse you are training him. Even if your horse is well trained with the lead rope, you are training him every time you use the lead rope. Even when you pet your horse, you are training him. Novice horse owners must think through what they do when working with their horse because they can easily and unknowingly affect a horse’s behavior.
Mistake #1 - Riding A Horse With Little Or No Understanding Of Horsemanship
A typical novice horse owner will ride their new horse not knowing horse-riding skills. It is important to have an understanding of riding techniques because horses react to leg pressure, how you sit in the saddle, whether or not the rider is tense, and a whole host of other things.
Let’s face it. Horses need to be understood for a horse owner to be successful with his horse. The best thing novice horse owners can do is learn how to ride, learn how horses think, learn what works good to shape horses’ behavior, and understand that constantly riding a horse is just about the best thing you can do to have a good horse.
About the Author
Andy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author
of several best selling horse training and horse care books.
For information visit his website at www.horsetrainingandtips.com.
He is also the leading expert on Jesse Beery's horse training
methods which can be seen at www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beerya.
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