Here’s a scenario to ponder: A person who’s never even been near a horse before, attends his first riding lesson. The teacher says, ‘Welcome, we’ll start by putting you on a horse that bucks. Don’t worry, just work your way through it. We’ll teach you coping skills and tomorrow you can do it again. After … Read more
In my opinion, advance and retreat is the key to introducing everything to every horse without frightening them. Equally, when a horse has previously been frightened by a specific item, advance and retreat must be used to overcome the bad experience. When advance and retreat is used, two components of learning theory are at work: … Read more
I’ve heard at least a thousand times that you must gain your horse’s respect. It’s a mantra parroted off by horse people everywhere and many trainers say that respect is the first thing you must achieve. There are countless videos, articles and books on how to gain respect from your horse. Respect is often explained … Read more
Our feedback is both heartwarming and encouraging. I’d like to share this letter that arrived in the mail today. Dear Neil, Thank you and your wife, without whom I doubt you could have written us another book. I can only imagine your frustrations between books. I am stunned when people comment on our horses / … Read more
Review Fear-Free Horse Training Every Step of the Way By Joan Klenger We live in a Hurry Up Quick world, moving a million miles a minute. We are inundated with information, a constant barrage of data, so much detail, in fact, that there isn’t really enough time to stop and think about what we’re … Read more
Last week, I read an article in an old issue of a prominent horse magazine on tying a horse for the first time. There were graphic photos of a terrified horse pulling back and fighting against a post. The article recommended the use of hobbles and ‘special’ headstalls while the horse pulled back. Here’s my … Read more
The most misunderstood part of horse training is the idea that you have to get horses ‘used to’ new things. Many trainers advocate to keep exposing horses to things that frighten them and they’ll eventually ‘get used to it’. Others say, when a horse is frightened of something, just keep frightening him with it and … Read more
The same theory applies to your horse. Instead of cow; think horse. If you want to move a horse or cow forward, you must apply pressure on his rear end in the ‘flight zone’. Pressure in front of the ‘point of balance’ will move a horse or cow backwards. This is a very simple concept. … Read more
This was filmed in Australia in 1989. I’ve been dong this for a long time. Learn more here
