Google

Horse Training Secrets For Busy Horse Owners Short On Time


Picture this. You're late for work one day. You look at your watch and notice you have about three minutes to feed your horse before you have to leave. Plus, it seems to worsen every day. You notice your life getting busier and you have little time, if any, to spend with your horse.

Should you sell him? Should you keep him? What do you do.

It depends. If you only want a pet that eats a lot of hay, then you can keep him if it is affordable. If you want to ride him but you know you won't have time then consider selling him. (Ouch!)

However, if you know you will eventually have time to ride then you can keep your horse "tuned up" by doing some "quick and easy to do" horse training maneuvers on him.

For instance, you have about two minutes to feed your horse before you go to work. So you rush outside and get some hay for him. Just before you feed him you get beside him and practice his backing up.

Backing him up is a great way to keep him "tuned up". Why? You get your horse to move. When you get your horse to move you earn more and more of his respect. Getting a horse to move is using the horse's psychology to get it in his brain that you are the boss. The chief. The head-honcho.

There are more exercises to do than just backing.

Say you have a horse that won't come to you. The reason he won't is likely because of fear or doesn't trust you.

But for the next few weeks go feed your horses with a halter and brush in hand. Horses love to be brushed. Once you get it in his head that seeing the halter means pleasure you will almost never have trouble getting him to come to you.

Here's a good one many people don't know. When you go to feed your horses whistle loudly if you can. If you whistle a certain way and if you're consistent in the way you do it...then you can usually call horses in from an open field and they'll come a runnin'.

Want another tip? Try this.

Before you feed your horse, approach him and pet on his withers. Assuming you are standing on his left side poke your finger into his flank (around the rib/hip area). Hold it there. If he doesn't move, increase the pressure and hold it. If he doesn't move, increase the pressure even more and hold it. Repeat this process until he moves away from the pressure.

When he moves reward him with a petting on the forehead. Do it a couple more times then repeat on his right side.

Doing this teaches the horse a couple things. First, it teaches him to move away from pressure. Since pressure is a tool we use to communicate with the horse, we want him to know how to move away from it.

Secondly, you are doing ground work of teaching your horse to move his hindquarters away from you. Thus, when you sit on the saddle and apply pressure with your boot in that same area, you have primed him to move away from that pressure - he moves his rear end away from your foot.

This is a tremendous tool to not only disengage a horse's hindquarters, it is also part of how to teach a horse to sidepass.

There are more "quick to do" horse training tips you can do. These are but a few examples of what you can accomplish even if you have just minutes a day.

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.htm.

MORE RESOURCES:

RELATED ARTICLES

How To Recognize A Respiratory Tract Ailment In Your Parrot
A respiratory tract ailment can be fatal to your parrot if left untreated. Find out how to recognize if your parrot is having problem with its breathing.
Dog Breath-It Doesnt HAVE to Be SO Bad!
While your friends and family are amazed that you're raising such an amazing dog, you notice that they flinch when the dog gets too close. They may shrug away or not bend down to pet him as they once did.
Christmas Gifts For Cat Lovers
The act of offering Christmas gifts is always enhanced if you take some trouble in matching the gift with the recipient.Sometimes, though, it is not as easy as it may seem, especially if the gift is for someone you have not seen very often throughout the year; or someone whose tastes you do not know that well.
Ten Important Things Your Dog Wants You To Know
If your dog could talk, these are some of most important things she would like to tell you..
Thats No Paris Hilton! An Overview of Dog Obedience Training Videos
Mention the word "video" and different people would come up with different ideas. Some would remember those home movies they made during special occasions spent with family and friends.
Scottie & Westie - This Mistake is Perfectly Understandable
Show an uninformed dog lover a photo of a Westie, and they'd identify a Westie as a white Scottie. This mistake is perfectly understandable, since they do have similar physical attributes and both originated from Scotland.
How To Keep Your Cat Happy and Healthy - Playtime for Kitty
While dogs tend to get lots of exercise, cats are often left to their own devices, having to find their own ways of exercising if they are kept indoors.Cats have gone from working animals to creatures of leisure.
"On Trust" & "Paid For": One of the Oldest Dog Tricks that Never Fail to Entertain
"On Trust" & "Paid For" for are one of the oldest dog tricks that afford as much entertainment as anything a dog can do since the early 1900s. It is not the easiest trick to be taught but can be elaborated on and presented in several different forms to impress most people.
Essential Oils and MRSA
Natural preventative pet care isn't a new thing but it certainly isn't fully mainstream yet. One of the challenges is being able to re-educate the public to think outside of the box.
Why Exotic Pets Should Not Be Banned
We all know how special interest groups can blow things out of proportion - like the nonexistent "Exotic Pet Crisis." If you listened to some animal rights groups, you'd think keeping exotic pets is cruel, dangerous, and even bordering on treason! Before you buy that agenda, consider that a junior high student once made a convincing case for banning dihydrogen monoxide: colorless, odorless, and tasteless, it kills thousands of people every year.
The Need for Pet First Aid Kits
Even if you have the perfect first aid kit for you and your family, it might not help when Fiddo or Fluffy gets hurt. To help pets in an emergency, assemble a pet first aid kit.
Tips for Introducing Two Cats
Adding a new member to your feline family is usually more exciting for you than your current cat. Even though they are solitary by nature, most cats eventually learn to accept or at least tolerate newcomers.
The Wire Fox Terrier
Of the thirty-three terrier breeds (most of which were first used for hunting of some sort and so came up as aggressive and lively), the Wire Fox Terrier has a reputation for scampishness. That is, the breed with the challenging personality that has been identified throughout its history as being as foxy as the fox it was once used to hunt.
How to Keep Your Cat Free from Diseases with Your Quick Guide to Cat Grooming
Even a cat that compulsively cleans itself can benefit from a little grooming from her owner. Cats rarely need a bath, but frequent brushing removes a lot of loose hair which would otherwise end up either shed around your home or swallowed by the cat, creating constipating hairballs.
Cold Weather Pet Care
As we find ourselves in the middle of winter, it's important to pay particular attention to our pets when they're outside. When temperatures get into the twenties and below, with whipping winds, pets can suffer serious health problems.
RecoveryPets.Com vs. Other Pet Registration Services
For those pet owners who do not know what a pet registration service is, or the benefits they provide, this article will try to explain these services. Pet registration is how lost pets get returned to their owners, it as simple as that.
Sugar Gliders: How to Select a Sugar Glider Breeder
It is important to choose a sugar glider breeder carefully. A breeder should be able to tell you a lot about the particular glider(s) you're interested in (lineage and genetics, any health issues, etc.
Pros and Cons of Buying Pet Medicine Online
Pets are many things in many ways but they are not responsible. Not outside of very limited doggy parameters.
Dog Training -What You Should Keep In Mind When Playing With Your Dog
Dogs, especially young dogs are very playful by nature.Play provides them with the opportunity to exercise and also to form bonds with littermates.
Indoor Dogfishing - Fun Way To Exercise A Small Or Medium Size Dog
When I had a Toy Poodle, I used a small beanie baby toy tied to a twenty foot long cord to exercise him for at least ten minutes at a time, twice a day. I'd throw it across the room and he'd run after it to snatch it up, fueled by canine fantasies of ripping it apart.