My wife Christine always spent lots of time rubbing and scratching her horses. Our grey horse ‘Kip’ soon learned to come to her and present the spot that he wanted rubbed or scratched. Sometimes it was his rump, sometimes his ribs, withers, neck or head. He’d back up to Chris to have his tail scratched. … Read more
THE HORSE’S LAMENT By Neil Davies He puts a dreadful halter on, it’s made from rope and knots And when he jerks and jerks my head, it really hurts me lots He flaps a stupid flag each day, I don’t know what to do And though I try to please him, he hits me … Read more
I watched a TV show the other night where a film crew followed rodeo contestants through a season of competition. The programme featured bull riders, saddle bronc riders, bareback riders and two barrel racing ladies. One of these ladies had a problem. About half way through the season, her horse started knocking over the second … Read more
The biggest problem to overcome in horse training is human behaviour. Humans come up with all sorts of theories and methods, then try to make every horse fit their set lessons. Many people cling to traditional theories and set methods, no matter how their horses react. Instead of trying to make horses adapt to … Read more
I recently watched a video of a trainer trying to handle a horse’s legs. The horse was seven years old and kicked quite badly when anyone attempted to pick up his hind legs. The trainer was obviously frightened of being kicked, so he flapped a rope around the horse’s legs to ‘desensitise him’. Though the horse kicked … Read more
Many horse trainers make lots of money selling all sorts of gadgets and widgets. You can buy ‘special’ lasso ropes to catch your horse and ‘special’ halters to make him ‘respect’ you. There are the ‘special’ sticks with magic powers, all sorts of bridles to solve all sorts of problems and halters to ‘cure’ a … Read more
Many horse people like to think they are at one with nature. They feel it’s perfectly natural to chase a horse in a round yard. They have a warm fuzzy feeling about being a member of the horse herd. When their horse eventually faces them or follows them, it appeals to their ‘inner spirit’ to … Read more
We’re often told that horses are mimics and will copy whatever their ‘leader’ does. I’ve seen trainers run along in a trotting motion when they want a horse to trot alongside them. Even better, when they want the horse to canter, I’ve seen trainers skip along pretending to canter, thinking that the horse will copy … Read more
People often say “but my horse doesn’t like having his head rubbed”. I know this is true in many cases. No horse likes having his head rubbed when he’s first handled. Every horse will be worried when your hand first comes near his head and ears. If a horse doesn’t like having his head rubbed, … Read more
Horse training isn’t complicated. Your horse concentrates on three simple things, every time you ride or handle him. When you concentrate on the same three things, you’re thinking on the same level as your horse. Understanding this is the key to horse training. Every movement you teach every horse comes back to these three things. … Read more