Some trainers claim they can saddle and ride every young horse in half an hour. They often time themselves and make a big deal of how quickly the horse was ridden. This makes no sense. Starting a horse under saddle isn’t a race. There’s no prize for how quickly you can ride a young horse. … Read more
People often describe how their horse feels when they’re riding. Some say their horse is soft in the mouth and light and supple. Some say their horse is stiff and hard and they need to flex him to one side to soften his neck and poll. Others say their horse is hard in the mouth … Read more
In every group of horses, there’s always some form of pecking order. When you feed a mob of horses in the paddock, there’s always one horse who will chase the others away so he can eat more. If you take this boss horse away, another will take his place. In the wild, a stallion keeps … Read more
Campdrafting started to become popular in Australia in the late 1970s. I was about eighteen when I started competing at local campdrafts and like most eighteen year olds, I thought I knew everything. However, after getting cracked off (disqualified) more times than I care to remember, it finally dawned on me that maybe I didn’t … Read more
Lots of horse owners are obsessed with the idea of tying young horses up. One of the first things they do is tie their foals to a post. When the foal pulls and fights, people often say ‘It’s okay, leave him and let him pull. He’ll work it out for himself’. This makes no sense. … Read more
In my grandfather’s day, horses had to earn their keep. A horse eating his head off out in the paddock wasn’t much use to anyone. Not many people could afford to keep a horse as a pet or just to ride on Sunday. Grandfather managed ‘Abbotsford’ at Picton, about 60 miles south west of Sydney. … Read more
When I was about 14, people often sent ponies to us to be ‘broken in’. I got the job done on weekends and after school, with my father’s help. Looking back, we took a pretty crude approach. For the first few days, we put the girth and mouthing gear on and left the pony in … Read more
People always ask me how to overcome horse problems or does my book cover this or that specific issue. Here are some examples: My horse: Doesn’t trust people, Is herd bound, Is barn sour, Bites when I do up the girth, Has head-tossing syndrome, Shies or Rears, Kicks and Bites, Pulls back, Bucks, Won’t back … Read more
Most horse training is based on pressure and relief. Everyone uses pressure and relief in some way shape or form, even those who say they don’t. Pressure can be described as anything that a horse finds uncomfortable or unpleasant or worrying. No matter how slight the discomfort, unpleasantness or worry may be, it’s still pressure. … Read more
When your horse is overfed and fresh and feeling frisky, lungeing him before you ride will help to get the excess energy out of his system. However, if your horse shies, rears, kicks up or uses other unwanted behaviour when you ride him, there’s absolutely no point getting off and chasing him from the ground. … Read more