TRAINING TIP:

Most horses in training, especially during a difficult session, will "regress." That means that they'll suddenly start getting worse instead of better. This is perfectly normal and not something you should worry about.

For example, I was trying to teach a young horse to accept a plastic bag dangling from the end of my lunge whip. At first, he was very frightened of it when I was bouncing it up and down on the ground about 6 feet away from it. He ran in several circles around me (with me still following him with the bouncing bag) before he was finally able to stop and face it. I stopped to release the pressure, praised him then started again. Soon, he was able to handle the bag bouncing right beside him without fear.

We had the same problem when I moved the bag in front of him. He was afraid of it again. But I knew he would be, since now he was seeing it out of both eyes, so I just continued desensitizing him with it until he lost his fear of it.

Now that he could tolerate it on either side of him and in front of him, I started swinging it high over his head and smacking the ground with it first on his right side and then on his left. He got a bit wide-eyed but this didn't really bother him too much. I stopped, praised him then moved the bag back to his right side. Suddenly, it might as well have been a cougar coming to eat him! He acted terrified of it!

But, fortunately, I was expecting him to regress at some point. It had been an anxious training session for him and his brain had suddenly kicked out of "thinking" gear and back into "reacting" gear. He ran about 20 circles around me before he finally remembered, "Oh yeah! It's just that plastic bag thing!" As suddenly as he'd started, he stopped, looked down at the bag, and took a deep breath. From then on, I couldn't frighten him with the bag anywhere near him. (I wasn't trying to touch him with it yet.)

So, when your horse "regresses" suddenly, and he will at some point, just keep on working and don't get frustrated or angry. Remember that he'll start thinking again in a few minutes and everything will be fine. Just hang in there and keep training until that happens.

Teaching your horse to set up for halter class without breaking your back.

Lots of Miniature Horses are shown in halter classes, and most people who show them squat or bend down to move their feet into proper position. Having bad knees, I can't do this. And, coming from a Quarter Horse background (where it's not kosher to move their feet by hand), I feel that it's unnecessary.

So, I teach all of my halter horses to stand squarely with mainly halter cues. I'll teach you how to do the same.

First, make sure you horse isn't too fresh or too frisky before you start this lesson. If he's been in a stall or a small pen, work him a little first either on a lunge line or in a round pen. Let him get all of the buck and play out of his system. Then, put him on a regular lead rope, preferably with a rope halter, and start the lesson.

The first thing you want to do is to face your horse and move him forward a step or two until his right (off-side) hind leg is about where you want it. In other words, it's not too far behind him or too far underneath him. Tell him "whoa" and pet him briefly when he stops moving. Stand slightly to the side and look down at his back feet. You're going to move the left (near-side) back foot gently forward and back using pressure on the halter. Your goal is to have him stop with his left hind foot about even with his right one.

At first, his steps will likely be too big. He'll step past where you want him. That's to be expected. Hold onto your patience and keep asking, trying to use smaller and smaller movements of the halter. Eventually, he'll get close to where you want him.

Close is good enough at this point. As soon as his hind foot is somewhere in the vicinity that you want it, tell him "whoa" and reward him with a brief petting. Now, you should take a step backwards and look down at his front feet. This move on your part will eventually tell your horse "we're done with the back. Now let's move the front feet."

One of his front feet will likely be either too far back or two far forward to line up with the other front foot. For the sake of this lesson, we'll assume that the left one is too far forward. Gently push backwards on the halter. At the same time, use your right foot (the one which is closest to his left foot, since you're facing him) and tap the ground near his toe. If he doesn't move that foot, and he likely won't, reach further forward with your toe and step on his coronet band right above the front of his hoof. Do it gently. The object is to make him uncomfortable, not to injure him. Keep pressing backwards gently on the halter. Eventually, he'll move that foot, even if you have to increase the pressure with your toe to make him do it.

As soon as he moves it backwards, even a little, stop, straighten up, and tell him he's a good boy. If it's still too far forward, repeat what you just did, both the halter cue and the toe-tapping or stepping on him cue, until he moves it again.

Eventually, he'll get it close to where you want it. As soon as he does, tell him "whoa," straighten your posture so you're no longer bent forward, and reward him with a little pet on the face or neck.

When you do get him set up well enough, don't ask him to stand there for more than a few seconds. Later, when he learns the cues, you can increase the time he has to stand squared up. Right now, however, it will only bore him and discourage him. And, don't try to set him up a dozen times in a row. Once or twice is enough. Then, go do something else before asking him to set up another time or two for you.

Every time that you work on setting your horse up, he will understand it a little better. He'll get quicker and quicker to respond to your cues and he'll take fewer steps forward and back to get him set up squarely. As he improves, start asking for more perfection in where he plants his feet. In other words, as he learns, "almost there" will cease to be good enough and he'll have to learn to place his feet exactly where you want them.

Once I start teaching a horse to set up, I try to do it twice every time I handle him. If I take him to the round pen to work or to the pasture to turn him loose for the day, I set him up just before taking off his halter. When I take him back to his stall or pen for the night, I set him up again just before taking off his halter. This teaches him that setting up quickly means that he'll get turned loose quickly. It gives him some incentive to do his job.

TRAINING TIP:

Don't tip toe around your horse. I see a lot of people, especially when doing something that they think will frighten their horse, moving entirely too slowly and trying to soothe the horse with their voice.

"Whoa, boy. Easy, boy. It's only a blanket, boy," is NOT the way you want to have to blanket your horse from now on. Instead, desensitize him with it and convince him that it's perfectly safe. Then you can just walk up and toss it across him from either side without him being afraid. Now THAT'S the way to blanket a horse!

In the same vein, resist the urge to pet him too much. No, I'm not advocating that you stop loving on your horse. But leave that for after the training session, when he's not supposed to be learning something. If he's trying to concentrate on his lesson, a brief touch to his face or neck won't distract him, while a five minute "love and hug" session will.

NEXT: Teaching your horse to set up for halter class without breaking your back.

Teach your horse to come to you when you call him.

Ever watch some of those old Westerns where the cowboy whistles for his horse and the animal comes running to him? Or do you enjoy watching or showing in the Liberty class and admire the horses who come when they're called instead of making their owner trek halfway across the arena to fetch them?

Well this training lesson is going to teach you how to train your own horse to come when he's called. Keep in mind that, even after your horse learns this lesson, he might not come to you when he's out in the middle of the pasture enjoying the green grass. But it should make him come to you whenever he's in an arena, round pen, or a stall.
First, arm yourself with the tools you'll need: a pocketful of his favorite treat, broken into small pieces; a long lunge line; and a safely fenced area in which to work, preferably not too big. A round pen is best if you have one.

Start by exercising your horse a little. If he doesn't know how to work on a lunge line, now is a good time to teach him. (Don't know how to teach this? Refer to my horse training hubpage, http://hubpages.com/hub/Natural-Training-Methods-for-Small-Equine for this and other great lessons.) The lesson you're looking for is "Getting your horse over his fear of plastic and teaching him to lunge." It's about one third of the way down the page.

Work him on the lunge line until he's breathing a little heavily or until he starts wanting to stop. Don't, however, let him stop whenever he wants to. If you notice him trying to stop, or if he DOES stop on his own, work him at least a minute longer. He needs to stop when you ask him to, not when he decides he's ready.

Just before you ask him to stop, reach inside your pocket and pull out a piece of his treat. Tell him "Whoa" and give a tug on the lunge line if you have to so that he stops. Pull just enough that he'll face you, then bend forward slightly at the waist and hold out the hand holding the treat toward him. Call him by his name and tell him "Come here," or whatever words you want to use.

Chances are that nothing will happen. So, still maintaining your slightly bent posture, give a gentle tug on the line to try to get him to start walking toward him. If he does, wonderful! Let him come as far as he will on his own. If he stops before he reaches you, gently tug the line again and repeat your verbal command to come to you. Do this as many times as you have to until your horse is finally within arm's reach.

Now, straighten up, smile at him (horses are great readers of body language), and verbally praise him as you feed him his treat. Pet him on the face while he's eating it, all the while telling him what a smart, clever horse he is. Let him stand there for a few minutes, then send him out to lunge some more.

You don't have to work him as hard this time. Let him go a few circles around you then tell him to whoa. Immediately, bend forward, hold out your hand (with a treat in it) and call him to you. Use the same words every time. As before, let him come by himself if he will, but draw him in with the lunge line if he won't. Once he's there, praise him, give him his treat, and pet him. You want to show him that coming when you call is the BEST thing in the world. Not only does he get a treat and praise, but he also gets to rest for a few minutes and get his air back.

Repeat, repeat, repeat. If you're having to physically pull him to you each time, then try to get him a little better this session before you stop for the day. In other words, try to keep working until it only takes a few tugs on the lead to draw him to you.

If he's already at that point and you and your horse aren't too tired to continue, then take him off the lunge line and see if he'll come to you on his own. As before, send him off to the fence and make him go a few circles around you, preferably at a trot. When you're ready, say "Whoa" and call him to you, holding out the treat and bending slightly toward him. If he takes even one step toward you then stops, praise him anyway. He's trying, and we always want to reward our horses for even the slightest attempt to do as we ask.

Call him again. If he takes another step or two, praise him again. Wave that treat at him and keep calling. If he eventually comes to you, give him that treat and perhaps a second one, all the while telling him how smart he is.

What if he absolutely won't come to you? Don't worry – this is normal. If he won't at least take a step toward you, then you need to put him back on the lunge line and work that way a few more minutes. You might even need to work him on the lunge line, drawing him to you when you call him, for several more training sessions. So what if it takes you a few days to make him understand? There's no time table in horse training. Let him take as long to learn this lesson as he needs.

If he takes a single step toward you, or even several, then stops and refuses to come any closer, don't despair. This, too, is normal. Keep your hand extended to he can see the treat and take a few steps toward him. Keep calling him. Stand still for a moment and see if he'll take a step or two toward you. Do this as many times as necessary until one of two things happens – he either steps up to you finally or you finally step up to him.

If he actually steps up to you, give him his treat and praise him. If you have to make that final step to reach him, don't give him the treat. Instead, wave it under his nose until he's interested and then take a step backwards, trying to draw him with you. Keep calling him. You need him to make the effort to come to you, even if it's only one step, before he gets that treat.

Praise him and pet him briefly, then send him back to the fence and make him work a little longer. Repeat the "Whoa" and call him to you again. As before, do whatever you have to do to get him to take that final step toward you, even if you have to meet him somewhere in the middle.

When you've accomplished that at least twice, you're going to change your tactic. Now, when you have to move forward and wave that treat under his nose, you're not going to take just one step backwards; you're going to keep backing up, a step at a time, and try to draw your horse clear to the center of the pen. Tempt him with that treat until you get him to follow you. Only when you're back where you were when you called him can he finally get his reward.
Work on this lesson through as many training sessions as necessary. Don't get discouraged. Some horses just aren't as motivated by food as others. If you find that he really isn't that crazy about your treat, find something else. Green grass, alfalfa, sweet feed, apples or carrots, are all things you can find. You can also move your training session to right before your horse's meal time, when he's really hungry. Do whatever works, and soon you'll have your horse coming to you whenever you call him.

NEXT TIME: Teaching a horse to lead the Natural way!