Training Your Pony In The Round Pen

September 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I strongly advise all beginner horse folk to get some groundwork coaching laid in well before they even think about putting on the saddle. Smooth groundwork is the precursor for smooth riding, and if I had my way, I’d make it compulsory for newcomers to coach their horses in the round pen.

The secret to success in pony training is repetition. Regardless of how much it strains your schedules, you should stick to your groundwork training until it is completed satisfactorily. Whatever form the training is taking: sensitizing a horse to the subtleties of pressure by repeatedly getting it to obey or desensitizing it to ropes by repeatedly exposing it to the rope, the only way to get the task well done is to repeat and repeat again.

If the pony is at present new to a saddle on its back, it may be a good idea to do the groundwork training with a saddle on your pony? Without sitting on that saddle. Get the pony used to the saddle, its weight and its handling. This will be of significant help to you when it’s time to get into the saddle, because you’ll have already achieved one desensitization process.

Try to keep the saddle tight enough to avoid slipping, but loose enough to let the pony feel relaxed. As long as you aren’t actually going to be riding the horse, you don’t need to cinch up tightly. One way to check if the saddle is just right is to work out if there’s a tight fit of your hand between the horse’s girth and the strap. If there is , you have done it right.

After you have gone thru all of the initial preparations, your first exercise in groundwork is to hook on with the horse.

Hooking on

By getting your horse to hook on, you are solidifying your accord with the horse, while at the same time gaining more respect from it. While steering your horse round the pen, keep to the outside. When you would like your horse to come to a stop, step out in front of him and indicate that he should stop. If things have worked out the way they should, your pony should follow you when you turn and walk off. This is what is referred to by ‘hooking on’. If the pony didn’t stop when you stepped in front him and commanded him to, it indicates that you have not been forceful enough when facing the horse.

You will have to keep repeating the exercise until your horse responds with perfection.

Body language

Almost exclusively, you use body cues when handling your horse. Since this sort of communication calls for great consistency to avoid confusion, you should have mastered physical communication skills, and you also should be adept at reading your horse’s body language.

As a amateur, you should not try to command your pony with any cue apart from physical. Whether it is a matter of getting your pony to switch direction or execute inside turns, you need to communicate using special body language techniques.

The horse’s power generating plant is in its hind quarters, so keep that under consideration. Move toward him, clicking as you do to get him moving forward. Pay constant attention to the horse’s physical centres of power when radiating body signals. When you and your horse have become adept, you’ll manage amazing mutual coordination.

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Essential Horse Training Equipment

September 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In the act of perfecting your equestrian skills don’t forget in your eagerness to put your talents into use to make sure that you have rationally laid out your training area and your tools to expedite easy access. Preparation for horse riding is like preparation for any sport, you want the right structure, the proper tools and the right training. You want a schedule to which you’re going to stick, and you want a set of progressive goals. As your abilities in horse riding grow, your requirements for land area might also grow: you are going to move from ground work on foot to mounted work, and that means small pens are now not going to be adequate.

Gradually, areas you’ll require include:

– A round yard of 22 ft;

– An arena or a fenced in area of 40 x 60 ft.:

– An open ground area of at least one acre;

– Massive, open areas appropriate for trail riding.

There’s no way of reading a horse’s thoughts, but I bet that if you managed to, you would find that every time you enter a barn with, say, 9 horses, you would hear them all exclaim something like, “Here comes number 10!” Horses have their own hierarchies, and the 9 horses in the barn would have already received their own rankings between number 1 and number 9. That leaves you with the obvious number 10.

Whether or not this is essentially true or not, you must keep 2 things in mind: you have got to ensure your pony knows you’re the chief, and you’ve got to impress it on him without resorting to any vicious measures. When your horse is pliant and accepting of your superiority, your training and riding sessions will go thru with great smoothness. Your horse is relaxed and enjoying the sessions, and so are you. Obviously you know your work outs with your horse are a hit when you both look forward to the next session as soon as one is done with.

Horses that have issues adjusting to bridles and bits sometimes respond much better to ‘natural’ Hackamores. Hackamores are not nearly as harsh as bits, and when you use hackamores, horses relax, their tensions with their rigidity originating from the bit disappearing and they are more eager to get to work.

You want to get very well versed with the hackamore and its uses, and you need to become adept at its use in the yard before you attempt using it on trail rides.

Essential coaching tools you’ll need include:

– A knotted natural type halter, like those manufactured by Nungar Knots;

– A natural type hackamore, including reins;

– A snaffle bit of the loose ring joint type, preferably with a sweet iron bit;

– A simple bridle without Cavesson and without nose band (effective coaching does not need them);

– Reins for sportsmen;

– Lead ropes of 12 ft and 22 ft.

The ropes of 12 and 22 feet help distance responses from your pony and also permit him to move away if frightened, without losing his connection to you. All of the tools mentioned here facilitate easy communication with the pony without compromising comfort. Simple communication is the pillars around which effortlessness of equestrian abilities are built.

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The Easy Way To Feel Your Horse’s Hind Legs On The Ground

September 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Are you an adequate rider that you mostly know when your horse’s rear legs are grounded? This is a capability that you just cannot do without. It is essential that you give leg aids just when your horse’s rear leg is grounded? Really at the precise moment it is prepared to take off. This is the one precise moment when you can impact the hind leg.

I know where my horse’s rear legs are by sensing the position of his hips. When a given rear foot is aground, his hip goes higher. I get the sensation of my seatbone being pushed forward.

Below are some pointers to help establish when your horse’s rear leg is aground:

1. When waking, keep your eyes shut. Get your focus on the inside seatbone. I have known people describe this as a feeling that their seatbone is ‘higher’ others say it is like the seatbone being ‘pushed forward’. Try and fine tune your sense of timing by saying ‘now, now, now’ every time you sense your seatbone has been pushed forward. This way, you’ll be able to get yourself sensitized to the instant the hind leg is on ground.

2. Get a chum to keep a record of one hind foot and shout ‘now’ every time it is aground. Ensure you are aware of the feel underneath your seat every time. That way, you’ll soon become adept at it.

3. If you have got no one to help you watch the horse’s shadow, or make use of a mirror. Make sure you are getting it correct by calling off footfalls and checking now and then with the shadow or the mirror to confirm if you are doing fine.

4. Closely watch other riders and horses and with regard to one specific rear leg, keep watching the position of the hips of both the rider and the pony when that leg is grounded.

5. At the canter, learn how to sense when the inner hind leg is grounded by studying the horse’s mane. The mane flops up at the canter’s 2nd beat, when the inside hind leg is grounded. Repeat the word ‘now’ to yourself every time you see the mane flop up. This way, you are able to synchronize whatever you are observing with the word ‘now’ and whatever you’re feeling beneath the seat.

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Overcoming Fear In Horses

September 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Why are horses fearful? Do they have nightmares or do they fear spooks?

They’re fearful because of their evolution survival instincts.

Let me do a little deeper. Nature has made horses to be a part of the fodder in the food cycle. They have been preyed upon by predators from time immemorial. That is where the evolution part comes in? Horses are skittish because they have survived by being alert and canny. These marks, have gotten to be part of their in-built nature, and tend to dominate even if they’re in relative safe settings; it is these that will make them fight or flight on occasion.

You can’t entirely remove these instincts, but you can definitely curb their influence over the behavior of a tame horse.

You begin by checking yourself out. What type of impression do you portray when handling your horses? Do you portray assured fearlessness or nervousness? When your pony abruptly shows skittishness, how do you cope with the reason behind this behavior? Say some machine that your horse hasn’t seen before is spooking him. Is it your first instinct to shut down that machine?

You aren’t doing your horses a favour if that’s how you react. You are adding to the difficulty rather than solving it.

Your pony looks up to you as a protector. He comes out of a species with a herd mindset, where a powerful herd leader cares for the remainder of the herd. If you have just a pony or 2, you are their direct herd leader. If you happen to have a herd, they are going to have their own equine herd leader, but you will continue to be a notch above that herd leader. Either way, you are the final authority.

That implies that your response to situations is mirrored in your horses attitudes. If you’re nervous, they’re going to be. If you’re cool and courageous, they’ll continuously learn to be as well.

To return to the piece of machinery that spooked your horse, what you shouldn’t be doing is turning it off or taking it away. Go to your pony with total poise. He may back off, but stay firm. Stay by him until he quietens down, then rub him affectionately at the withers. This way, you are informing him that there is no threat from the machine. You are informing him that you are feeling no fear of the machine, and neither should he. Once you’ve calmed down your horse adequately you advance towards the machine rather than away. If at any stage your pony shows nerviness again, you take the same steps and keep soothing him. Shortly enough, your horse will get so used to the machine that he won’t notice its existence anymore!

You can follow this procedure or adaptations of it to help your horses out of their fear of virtually anything that isn’t actually a real challenge to them.

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Mastering The Sitting Trot With Your Horse

September 2, 2012 By 1 Comment

As a coach, a lot of questions I’m asked are basically repetitions. One question that I’m frequently asked is, “Can I learn to sit better while on the trot”?

If that is a question that’s bothering you, also , here are some answers for you.

1. The main need is that your pony is on the bit. You’ll struggle to sit if your horse’s back is stiff, hollow or tight. And it is pretty much a certainty that if you’re uncomfortable, you will somehow cause discomfort to your pony, too!

Put your pony on the bit by getting the connecting half halt right.

2. Slow down the trot. Ride on very low throttle and when you’re able to sit easily, step on the gas in a couple of stages, a little bit at a time. Slow down once again.

3. Get the pony on the bit while at a posting trot. When your horse is round, sit quiet for 2 or 3 strides. Get to posting once again, before you give in to the desire to utilise your legs to grip your pony. Set your body right, relax the legs and again sit quiet for 2 or 3 strides.

4. Cross the stirrups over at the saddle’s front. Do posting without using the irons till your legs tire. You’ll be unable to grip with tired legs, and that will make you sit deeper.

5. Concentrate on your own hips. Make a note of the way they close and open on the walk. Try and imitate that precise motion on the sitting trot.

6. Make believe that you’re a practiced belly dancer. Swivel your hips.

7. Grip the saddle’s front with the inside hand. Using that same hand, pull yourself more deeply into your saddle. This way, you will be able to experience the feel of sitting in sync with your horse on the sitting trot.

8. Relax your thighs and knees; take them off saddle briefly, about an inch or so. Let them drop back, this time very lightly.

9. Go thru some lunge lessons. There’s no better way to master the kind of independent seat that can let you sit comfortably through a trot. Avoid using stirrups or reins for the lessons. Leave the steering and control of speed to the individual that is lunging you. Go through some exercises: move part of your body while keeping the rest positively still. You can do exercises like scissor kicks and arm circles. Practice deep seats while your horse is in travelling gaits; continue to practice through down or up transitions.

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How To Ride A Horse Down A Slope

September 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

When trail riding, you’re expected to follow proper riding etiquette for uphill or downhill riding. As is the case with all aspects of horse riding, success is dependent upon good balance.

Even when freed from riders, a pony finds travelling downhill tricky. The problem is compounded when he has a rider astride. It is necessary that you ease his strain as much as you can. Your pony will signal his trouble in terribly obvious ways: he will tend to rush or to throw his head. He may even try some bucking. All of this indicates that he’s having a hard time with his balance.

Again as is the case with all aspects of pony riding, make sure your saddle is fitted completely correct. Shifting saddles cause discomfort, even agony; horses tend to go faster than necessary, even when they are on a slope, to get away from the discomfort. You need to also find out all about riding on slopes before you attempt to do so. Remember, it’s not just the pony, you also , as the rider, can make a major difference.

Here is the common mistake made by riders, particularly the beginners, while going downhill: they get their horses to zigzag down the slope. They have the mistaken impression this is more safe. In reality, though, this isn’t a good idea on slopes without trails or switchbacks. When you get a horse to go diagonally down a slope, your pony will be incapable of finding balance at his hindquarters. He is most balanced when his hindquarters are aligned with the rest of his body; otherwise he is likely to keel over. That would not be a nice thing, would it?

The great temptation is to fiddle around with your position in the saddle when riding down a slope, however it is dangerous to give in to this temptation. You must stay put as you are , balancing your body over your feet and with your weight bearing down on your heels. Continue looking up and forward, not downward.

Another tendency is for riders to lean back in the mistaken impression this’ll help the pony. It does not. The horse desires free hindquarters to move easily, and you will obstruct rather than help by leaning back. It is really better to lean slightly forward.

In general, it is recommended not to interfere in the slightest. Beginner riders feel safer gripping the reins hard when on the way down a slope, but ideally you should let your horse have tons of free rein so his head and neck can move freely. By tightening up on the reins, you are hampering him and putting him off balance, therefore endangering both his well being and yours.

As a beginner, you must practice going down some mild slopes before you progressively move onto the big bullies. Practice keeping your position and your balance, and letting the pony have his way. Try and make it second nature to relax on slopes.

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How To Switch A Dressage Whip

September 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I see that a lot of dressage riders face difficulty in smoothly switching their long whips between their hands. When I ask them about their problem, they respond that they feel constricted because of their fear of making their horses uncomfortable and of disrupting contact by twisting the bits in the horses’ mouth.

In the paragraphs that follow, I describe a detailed a procedure to switch the whip from one hand to the other without disrupting contact with the horse’s mouth. It would be best if one was to at first practice this technique with a bridle hung from a hook on the wall or by running a length of rope round a horizontal bar ‘like in a fence’ and using it like your two reins.

Your objective is to practice the process until it becomes deep-dyed, a second nature reaction. It’ll be absolutely necessary for you to keep practicing it in a mechanical left-brained kind of way till it shifts over to the brain’s right side and becomes an automated habit. This is precisely why you have to practice it when you are not on a horse.

1. Take up both whip and reins in one hand. For the sake of this, we’ll assume it is your right hand.

2. Turn the right hand until the thumb faces down and the small finger points up. When your hand is in this position, the whip’s butt end should be pointing at the horse’s withers and the lash end should point straight up.

3. Turn your left hand over and place it so the left thumb rests on top of the right little finger.

4. Keep your left hand in this ‘upside down’ position and curl its fingers around your whip.

5. Release the whip from your right hand and move the left hand so that the whip points straight down. The whip should be gripped in your left hand and the reins in your right.

6. Split up the reins and pass one to the left hand.

You should have succeeded in smooth switching the dressage whip from one hand to the other and have avoided disturbing the bit in the horse’s mouth.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers http://horsehorses.net/

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Why Riding Horses Is The Best Fun Ever

August 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you have ever been an equestrian event rider, or a ranch hand, or simply a pleasure rider. Well, even if you have been around horses without really riding them, you know exactly how much fun these animals can be. If you’re among those lucky few who actually own horses, then you don’t need me to tell you just how fortunate you are. Caring for animals, especially horses, can be very healing. Horses are like cats, they make fascinating, intriguing animals, only horses are a ton warmer and responsive than cats. Again like cats, horses come in a container load of breeds, colours and sizes.

For plenty of people, the first ride on horseback can be a bit of a scary experience. But invariably, once these nervous beginners start to get into it, they find horse riding addictive. They just don’t appear to get enough. There are a few types of riding styles and there are lots of options in gear, too. Western and English style saddles make for 2 of the most popular saddle types. In America, your first ride plus several of your future rides are bound going to be on saddles of the western style. You will find a whole range of saddles designed for definite purposes: racing, eventing, rodeos and such like but the western saddle is more generally used for pleasure riding.

If you go through a proper horse riding instructional course, one of the first things you are taught will be the significance and usage of the reins. You will also be taught basic cues and commands. If your learning is taking place at a ranch or a riding stable, the horses are very aware of the routine, and don’t need any prodding. They simply follow each other in giving their riders slow, secure and cushy rides.

Even for the most hoardy horseman, horseback riding remains a great excitement. Whether you are a veteran or a newbie, and whether your pony is a docile or a bit of a scamp, you can have superb fun pony riding as long as your horse doesn’t fool around too much. Horses employed in events like barrel racing or jumpers have been put thru the grind of countless hours of practice, as you’ll learn if you ever go to one of those events. You’ll see for yourself the trust and coordination which exist between pony and rider. The trust and coordination is a vital element of horse riding, whether at a rank beginner’s level, a non-professional level or a professional level. Horses that are used in riding schools and dude ranches are trained to adapt to different people, and they are at ease with practically anyone who rides them. A lot of these horses have a tendency to be tame and lethargic, though some still breathe fire.

You can ride your pony on mountain rides, trail rides, freestyle rides and pony rides. When you have your own pony, you will soon discover a favourite route to a favourite destination. Remember that horses need to be trained to go across bridges, wade through water and negotiate water.

Every pony needs only the right gear to ensure the comfort and safety of itself and its rider. Horses are shoed to keep their hoofs from harm.

Sometimes, horses are groomed and made to relax after an arduous day of effort. They are washed and brushed and left all alone for the night.

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The Advantage Of Horse Training With Friends

August 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Forming a group is a good way of improving your horse riding talents. When you do your learning and practicing in the companionship of others who share your enthusiasm for pony riding, you are greatly accelerating the prospects of a very successful outcome to your efforts. You must practice together, attend clinics and workshops together and debate techniques together. Obviously, your group should ideally include your trainer.

As one part of a group, you are given occasions to watch other riders learn and implement, and you can learn a load more simply by watching, assessing and absorbing. It is usually simpler to be objective with others than with yourself. You can see your trainer and his trainee horses and riders at work, and that will help you remove any doubts or confusion you’ll have about any particular aspect of your trainer’s instructions. Naturally, if you are uncertain about something, it’s possible to ask!

Human beings use written, spoken and cultural mediums, amongst others, to communicate and learn . As far as horses are concerned, communication consists largly of body language as their most significant medium. Since you’re the one with the capacity to think laterally, it is up to you to reach out to your pony with language it’ll understand and pay heed to. It is up to you to get your pony to execute its moves superbly.

Have you any idea of the way Spanish riders work with their ‘Lizzipaner’ horses?

Whether you live bang downtown in a giant city or out in the country miles from your nearest neighbour, you can always keep in touch using the modern miracles of communication: the telephone, fax, and most of all, the email and other computer-based communication systems. You can receive and send text, graphic, video and audio files, If you live in a convenient distance with other members of your group, you can have regular joint riding classes, regular meetings and interactive sessions where you can regularly compare notes and improve yourselves.

There is strength in unity, and the load of learning becomes very easy to bear when shared.

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Some Horse Groundwork Training

August 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The fundamentals of groundwork are an indispensable component of equine training.

The 2 most imperative issues in horsemanship are the understanding basic equine nature and conscientiously performing strong foundational groundwork. The previous opens channels of communication between human and pony and the second consolidates that relationship. You can’t do a good job with your pony unless you are bonding strongly with it. Groundwork assists you in mastering the subtleties of advanced horsemanship because it gives you essential insights into the personality and character of your horse.

It is critical that both you and your horse enter the pen in a positive mind-set. This helps achieve total concentration on teaching and learning, and it helps achieve total coordination. Neither of you is going to be concentrating much on matters at hand if you’re grouchy. You need to make your groundwork sessions the type of fun that expedites comprehensive teaching and effective learning.

The round pen

Don’t think of your round pen as just another piece of real estate. It’s not a venue to get your pony going around in circles. It is an arena where much is to be accomplished. You use this arena to put your pony through the paces while at the exact same time strengthening your bond with him and yet establishing your dominance in the relationship. This arena helps you and your pony to appreciate and respect each other, and to realize top mutual communication and coordination. It is where you introduce your horse to new thoughts and actions and make him adopt them.

A critical part of groundwork is moving your horse’s feet. The most important teaching tool you can employ is patience, You will find frequently that your horse doesn’t get it the 1st time, no matter how accomplished you are at conveying what you need. You have your way by dint of sheer repetition and tolerance. Keep your cues clear and unmistakable; horses are attuned to body language and pressure application. Ideally, repetition will permit you and your pony to master things to the extent that the desired actions and reactions become automatic.

Groundwork

– Your horse must be comfortable with the fit of his tack and be kept in a happy mood; these issues are absolutely mandatory if he is to take in his coaching well.

– Use less oral and more physical cues, but if you find that your pony likes to hear you prattling on about things in general, give him some conversation without letting it interfere with the training.

– Be consistent in your actions. You have got to make the horse totally sensitive and responsive to your physical cues.

– Pressure is your principal instrument, learn to use it effectively. Don’t forget that horses try to escape pressure.

– Ensure both diagonals are exercised equally by working clockwise and counter-clockwise.

– It is just as important to learn how to spontaneously stop your pony as it is to have him advance on command.

– In a rather subtle way, all endeavours in the pen are a clash of will, and so it is vital that you establish your domination straight away. Your pony will attempt to get the better of you by testing ways of escaping the pressure you are exerting. Be gentle but firm. And don’t forget to reward your pony for everything he does right, more positive reward than negative.

As time rolls by, your pony will awake to the incontrovertible fact that he is far better off bending to your will. When he comes to that realisation, he will be able to also accept that you know what will be best for him.

Be very sensitive to your horse’s body language. Don’t ignore the messages he’s making an attempt to convey to you.

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