| Baby Steps.. Horses Never Ever Assume!
That's a human thing... |
| Using the K.I.S.S. method (Keep it simple stupid) as passed down to me... |
Horses have a small mind so give them little pieces
to understand in working toward a total. In a 1 + 1 = 2 solution,
(TRAINING) Teach the 1 and what 1 is before teaching
the + and then the next 1 and then the =
and the horse will give you 2, which is what you wanted.
Save
yourself and the horse a lot of time and trouble.. simple instructions = simple solutions. Don't assume........ever.
TIP 4
Horses
fix impressions into their nervous system.
Repeated
impressions that you want are good habits, and
repeated
impressions that you don't want are bad habits.
But,
There is neither a good habit or bad habit to a horse, only people do that.
It
is your business, (if undertaking an animal to train) to see that the horse knows what you want him to do, and repeat
and continue to repeat it quickly until it is fixed in their system..
TIP 5
TEACH
the horse to drive. That's right -- driving lesson from their shoulder (beside them on BOTH SIDES) or from
behind the horse, at a safe distance.
*From the shoulder is 10 times faster and makes a
horse much lighter in the bit.
Teach them
everything you would from driving that you would use from the saddle..as this can be done in a short amount of time...
Make sure they
got it down perfect. Left, right, going, stopping hard,
Use very little English, if any, when you start. Wait
till later to use words.
Teach her to stop first
before saying the word Ho..feeling the reins..
After
she feels the reins start to stop her, she should stop.
After
she responds to the driving reins real good and stops from the reins, then and only then, start with words like Ho as a pre-warning
to sit down and stop.
Give them a chance before picking up the reins..
Do this all along when adding ANY words to physical
action.
Action first, words second only after
the horse learns the action.
One thing at a time
or confusion will set in, such as swishing of the tail, antsy, not walking straight,
throwing head, and raising the head.
Of course all training tricks are not tricks to the
horse. Everything is very real to them.
The
best way to explain this is each horses have a button that you can push that makes them do certain things every time because
they understand the commands. After you learn these buttons, it's just a matter of time before you can make a horse do what
you asked by adding them together. It's like a card trick with you knowing what the secret card is, and then you just play
the trick out until it's time to show the card.
That's
what the tv horse trainers do. They make the card game (trick) last a long time before
showing the card by pushing the right buttons on the horse in order.
It's
good for the cameras, but you don't see a lot of the buttons being pushed.
You
gain that part by experience as that price can be very high and I'am not talking money here...
Tip 7
A horse can't reason.
The horse has to understand why they are doing something.
A horse's brain is simple and has no connection between its several
parts. Parts of the horses brain works independently with the nervous system and that's the part that is often misunderstood.
exp.. Someone sneaks up on you in the dark and yells boo, you
jump...everybody's done that. Well horses are worse. After you see what it is that scares
you, you stop, but a horse DOESN'T they can't.
You
have to do more to calm the horse down.
You have
affected the horse's nervous system, and until you change the imprint left in the nervous system, the imprint will
remain.
TIP 8
Less is Best.
Use
as little motion as possible to get your point across as to what you want.
EX.
Rider wants to make the horse go left. You begin by banging on his rib cage with your feet, moving
around in the saddle, making a bunch of get moving noise, and moving your head around
like a chicken. Before trying to make the horse learn all those movements you're giving him to turn left, try a solution
like below with PATIENCE.
Solution:
Try sitting still and with the left hand gently bump the left rein with your fingers like you are scratching and squeeze your
legs a little. When the horse moves 1 inch to the left forward, quit and release. Mission accomplished. The horse got
it...that's it. Now you can add to it.
Tip 9
Bucking, How to know it's coming and stop it 99% of the time..before it happens. I'll leave the
1% for the odd horses out there that are going to buck no matter what at some point.
First Rule: Don't rush the horse unless you are prepared and able to ride out a buck.
*"Unless you have dealt with a bucking horse" be forwarned that a bucking horse can and will alter your world!! DO
NOT fool yourself..
Don't be fooled by what you hear or see, horse trainers
hit the ground way more often than they will admit to no matter what they tell you. Horse trainers got
smarter because the ground got harder every time they hit it. Using what they learned along the way to stop those problems
is what made them a good horse trainer, not a book.
#1. Teach the horse how to learn, and how not to be scared first, and the rest is
simple. Trainers mostly differ in how to fix the problems below that can cause a horse to buck. Here are some
time tested signs that will tell that you may be headed for a buck.
#2 If you can't touch him or her all over then you are a threat and in danger.
#3 If the horse does not handle well from the ground you are a threat and in danger.
#4 If the head is up high you are a threat and in danger.
#5 If you cannot stop the horse with your voice you are in danger.
#6 If you do not have control of the head turning left and right you are in danger.
#7 If you are scared you are in danger.
#8 If you don't know how to dis-engage the rear end of a horse you are in double danger.
#9 If you cannot read a horse you are in danger.
#10 If any of the above negatives apply to you and a horse you are in danger and
there is a good chance the horse can or will buck.
This can only serve as a guide that can help you understand what needs to be done or fixed for
the horse. Give yourself and the horse a chance by working through the above so the answers are clearly in your
favor, and positive.
The above is real good gauge for telling if a buck is coming your way before you get on.........This is from 40 years of breaking horses and some bad wrecks along the way that you can do without.
I've had to ride through bronks, mustangs, and some mules as a child cause
I didn't know any better. But then I grew up..and using different methods learned along the way to stop the madness just like
everybody else did to stay alive.
Nearly all horse training is close or is the same type one way or another. Horse training
that you see out there today is in general what all horse trainers past and present use in one form or another.
You still have to get on the horses back..
--------------------------------
A horse trainers eye's and ears will move his or her body first.
I've got to add that maybe 90% of the scars and broke bones horse trainers get are usually from "maybe" trained
horses worked outside the work pens. These horses have usually been trained ? by some other horse
trainer that was in over their head.
WARM-COLD BACK horse ( for lack of a better name )
Warning ....I have run into many many horses of this type, and there plenty more out there:
These type horses are the one's to watch out for..they know "or were taught" how to get you off by
surprise or ambush..
These have learned to hide some of the signs and are sold at a low price...taught just enough to be rode easy "but"
will unload your butt "hard and fast" when things don't suit them...
The cause is "the riders getting off at the last second" before trouble starts but have enough sence
to know something is coming there way and quits.
I call this people training, by the horse..
These type of horses store up and save that "hissy fit" for the next rider / buyer who doesn't know about it, and most
of the time NOT told....so look for it..
When the new rider rides and everything is going just great thinking, You got a good deal. Then you ride
to a stalling point ( here's your warning sign ) that comes from no where. You then start adding a
little bit more pressure to push through it, (everybody runs into that at one time or another) then..... BAM....hello ground................warm cold back..
