How To Get Your Horses To Do A Great Free Walk

August 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

1. What is a free walk?

It’s a relaxed gait.

2. What should a free walk look like?

The frame should be lengthened, and your pony should lower his head and neck in just such a way it seems like he’s grazing. His poll should be lower than the withers.

He should open up his throatlatch angle so that his nose is pointing rather forward. He should appear to be stretching at the bit.

His strides should get longer so that he begins to cover more track.

3. How is transition at commencement of a free walk done?

A good free walk depends on correct preparation. You prepare for a free walk in just how you prepare for a ‘stretchy’ circle on the trot.

While still in a medium walk, you execute a connecting half halt over about 3 or 4 seconds on your short side.

You give a connecting half halt by creating energy: you close both your calves like you are asking for a lengthening. But in reality your horse shouldn’t lengthen.

Make a fist of your outer hand to capture and contain, then recycle energy to the horse’s hind legs.

Maintain closed legs and outer hand for 3 or 4 seconds, and while in this position, squeeze or vibrate on the inside rein and release it to stop your pony from arching his neck outwards.

Ensure your legs are relaxed while going into the diagonal and open your fingers to allow your horse to get rid of the reins from your hands.

4. How to transition back to a medium walk?

You do so with the connecting half halt that you used for your free walk preparation.

Press gently with the calves even as the reins reman long.

While shortening the reins, maintain a closed fist of the new outer hand; squeeze with your new inner hand and release it.

5. What do you do with a lazy horse?

‘Breathe’ with your legs if the pony isn’t showing much energy,

You do this by:

– Raising your legs off his sides

– Moving them back an in. or so and replacing them lightly.

You achieve two things by breathing your legs. Your horse is probably numb to the feel of your legs if you’ve been indulging in excessive gripping. Removing your legs and replacing them lightly enables him to get back his sensitivity. When you move your legs back, you place them nearer your horse’s ‘engine’; this is a reminder to him that he should more actively use his rear legs.

6. What do you do with a horse that appears to want to jig?

If he is showing an inclination to jig, execute 1 or 2 transitions to the halt.

Give your horse some praise after each halt.

He will be able to soon be able to predict a stop or a slow down.

That’s the time you use ‘stopping aids’ in a little way to remind him that he should stick to a flat-footed four-beat walk while you go across the diagonal.

If your pony has a predisposition to jig as you raise the reins after a diagonal, come to a halt first and pick your reins up on the halt. This way, you’ll train your horse to keep slow on occasions you are doing a transition.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers go here

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

How To Train Your Pony To Not Resist Being Tied

August 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you’ve been around horses, you must have seen horses that just didn’t take to getting tied? They set back and struggle against their rope. It doesn’t make for a pleasant picture, and it can essentially be deadly. I recollect a girl went inside on a brief errand, leaving her horse tied to the porch railing. When she returned, the railing had a gap in it and the missing piece was tumbling and twisting after her pony as he ran around attempting to shake it off. He was injured as it kept banging into his legs, and the vet bill that resulted was stiff. That was a point learned hard and costly. You don’t tie a pony to something that might give. Most horses don’t react well to that.

What’s the best strategy of grounding a pony? Over the years I have experimented with plenty of techniques that I heard of and read about here and there, although not one of them was really effective. I finally found that what natural horsemanship teaches you is the best solution: it is really easy on the pony and raises no difficulties at all. You teach your pony to give to the smallest of lead line pressure.

Get started by putting a rope halter on your horse. Don’t use the leather or the flat web type. Horses feel rope halters better and cannot ignore their pressure by leaning against them. With delicate and steady pressure on the rope, get the horse to incline its head toward you as you stand by his shoulder. With each movement of his head, however slight, give him a rub. Repeat the method again and again from one side, then switch over to the other side. You should achieve instinctive response to the cue, and also a fuller bending of the head. It is important to release the pressure as fast as your pony gives, even if it is just a bit.

Then go to chapter two: put some pressure on the rope to get your horse to come towards you as you stand in front of him. Don’t fight resistance; just maintain steady pressure till the horse gives. As quickly as he does so , release the pressure.

You can test your horse to determine if he has actually learned to give to pressure by watching him while he’s grazing. If he makes an attempt to jerk his head up when he steps on the lead, you know there is some way to go. If on the other hand he keeps his head down as he steps off the lead, you know he has learned well.

And now, of course, we come to the crux: how is all this connected to tying your pony? When a pony develops the practice of giving to pressure, he’s going to stay tied. When he responds by giving rather than jerking away, he won’t resist being tied. You should not fret if the method of teaching your pony to give to pressure takes time; you’re getting rid of his ingrained bias of setting back. It will be worth all of the time and labour you spend on it, because once your horse is absolutely trained you’ve got an animal who is responsive and safe. In addition, you will be ready to lead your horse without constantly yanking at the rope, and obviously, when it is time to ask for collection under the saddle, you have got a horse that gives to pressure instantly.

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

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

Understanding Horse Actions

August 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

At rest, a horse puts his weight on one front leg and on one rear leg on the opposite side. If you consider the 4 legs as four corners of a rectangle, the horse stands with his weight on diagonally opposite legs. If you study a still horse for some time, you will see him shifting weight every once in a while from one set of diagonally opposite legs to the other.

That is the way in which he moves, as well. He leads off with a rear leg, followed by the diagonally opposite front leg, then the other rear leg and the other front leg. The various speeds of his forward movement are called gaits.

To understand a horse’s motion and momentum, you only need to realise the idea that each front leg, though independent physically, takes up and continues the motion activated by the diagonally opposite rear leg.

It could be tough to grasp this concept because the average homo sapien never bothers to think rationally about the way 4 footed animals loco mote. Yet it is sensible if you keep at the back of your mind: no 4 footed animal can launch itself by lifting both feet on one side off the ground. It is going to lean over and go crash on to the ground. Try and imagine a horse with a rider astride taking off by lifting both feet on one side!

And some animals, especially the canine and feline species, alternate between both front feet and both back feet only when they are running at high speed. Ever seen a leopard on screen or in real life at full glorious stretch?

So, for most gaits the horse goes through a first rear-opposite front-second rear-opposite front cycle. Clearly, the faster the horse is moving, the speedier the cycle is repeating itself.

Before we are able to proceed past this point it needs to be accepted that each pair of legs have a specific task to perform not just during standing, but also particularly during the movement cycles or gaits.

Apart from their role in sustaining motion, the front legs are used by the horse to switch direction, and the rear legs are the prime mover. They provide the thrust. They’re the more powerful legs, attached to the massive muscular mass of the horse’s lower torso.

Hopefully, that should have given you an idea of the particular mechanism involving his 4 legs that a horse uses to push himself forward. You can call it a four-stroke mechanism if you like. The momentum of each cycle is composed of 3 parts:

1). Creation of momentum, when the first movement is begun with either of the rear legs;

2). Continuance of momentum, when the opposite front leg takes over more to sustain balance and direction than to add power to the forward thrust, followed by the thrust of the other rear leg and the balance and direction of the other front leg;

3). Sustenance of momentum, when the four legs alternate in repeating cycles; the quantity of cycles per unit time determines the speed of forward movement.

You need to appreciate nature’s diversity. Ever tried to go down on all 4s and advance in imitation of a horse? You’ll find your own shortage of coordination funny.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers read more

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

How Natural Horsemanship Trains Horses

August 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

When teaching horses, you must remember that the equine species needs repetition and more repetition to learn well. A horse may often need 5 or 50 repetitions of instructions to finally grasp the action, and the point is this: if you are incapable of exercising great patience, you haven’t got any business teaching horses. If you approach your pony the right way, you’ll find that as the training advances, your bonding with your horse swiftly improves, and in turn, that reduces his learning cycles.

Try to stick to those systems that have successfully withstood the test of time. To my mind, pony coaching isn’t a matter that calls for extensive creativity. The strategies that have come down through the ages are the ones that have appeared successfully through years of trial and error, and they have served generations and generations of horsemen very well. You can use innovation to adapt them to your precise circumstances, but don’t tinker with the basics.

You will struggle to find a better approach than natural horsemanship. This method emphasises the need to understand equine psychology and a bit of the history of horsemanship as a prerequisite to pre-eminence in coaching. It is very important to be well capable in these subjects to gain maximum effectiveness.

Some significant features of coaching primarily based on natural horsemanship

* Natural horsemanship eschews force and negative reinforcement while coaching. This strategy believes in the efficacy of easy-handed convincing. It is attested for by famous reporters like Laura Hillenbrand who have specialized in equine matters.

* Each problem related to pony training has a solution. The responsibility lies on the trainer to come up with the ideal solution to every issue that arises. You’ll find that as you pursue your coaching endeavours, you become a much improved human being even as your horse learns more and becomes a better animal for it.

* Keep one thing in mind: if the pony is not responding well, the issue most probably ensues from the coach.

* Keep your consciousness and perspective free of the sort of unhealthy attitudes that surface from ownership pride.

* In the opening stages, don’t spend time on aspects to do with riding your pony. The much more important thing is to bond fully with the pony; this makes him a miles better learner and makes your future coaching a cake walk.

* Horses have herd instincts. Since they’re prey animals, they have also got robust survival instincts. They naturally have a tendency to form herds as a survival mechanism. You must keep this under consideration as you train your pony, because this knowledge will be instrumental in helping you understand horses.

* Horses use body signals extensively as a means of communication with each other. You may gain hugely by watching them closely. Be especially alert to their use of their ears, eyes and body position to convey emotions, alerts and moods.

* The horse’s head position is a good indicator of its mood. If the head is bowed, the pony is feeling submissive; if the head is raised, the horse might be feeling anxious or rebellious.

You need to govern your pony with an iron fist in velvet gloves. NEVER use the fist to strike, though. Once he becomes used to the idea that you are the leader, your pony will enthusiastically follow you. But before things reach that stage, he is perhaps going to try you out. He is going to go against you simply to check if you are resolute of purpose. Once you convince him that you are , he’ll be fine. Just accept the incontrovertible fact that even as you are teaching your horse, you are learning things yourself. Have patience and you’ll soon see the massive benefits of natural horsemanship.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers click here

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

Why Perfect The Art Of Horse Riding Without Stirrups

August 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

You can’t deny the importance of stirrups to a rider. Stirrups are an essential item on the pony tack list. Riders use stirrups for mounting, dismounting, balance, pony control and occasionally for protecting themselves from a potential fall.

So why in the name of all that is horse heaven do instructors demand that their students learn to ride without stirrups? If you’ve ever been baffled by this question, I’ve got some clarifications for you.

Before I answer the problem of why instructors ask students to ride sans stirrups, I have got a bit of information for you. When riding without your stirrups, lay them across the horse’s neck or the shoulders, but don’t lay them across your saddle. It will take you simply one experience with severely bruised things to learn this lesson yourself the tough way, but I am protecting you from that experience. Laying the stirrups across the horse’s shoulders and neck will cause him no discomfort. The stirrups will bounce in complete harmony with the horse’s movements. Try to get the buckle away from the stirrup bar, and place this across the horse’s neck. You can avoid pinching and bruising your upper legs by doing this and shoving the stirrup leather flat underneath the saddle’s skirt.

Riding without stirrups is designed to help you analyse and enhance your sense of balance and stability. When you’re riding without the security of the stirrups, you are presenting your instructor with a naked view of your capabilities, or absence of them. When you’re without stirrups, you’ve got to sort of feel out the position astride your pony that works best for you , and that may involve a large amount of wriggling and shifting. While the natural bias is to rock forward so that you can absorb the impact of the horse’s movements better thru the upper part of your body (and also because the horse’s neck can be grabbed if required) this will make the horse tense. You must relax and sit back. You have to learn how to absorb the impact of movement thru your lower body areas: the lower back, hips and pelvis. The higher part of your body should be upright and still, moving just enough to flow with the horse’s movements. You need to attempt to sit as loosely as practical in just such a way that your weight presses down on the horse’s centre of gravity.

Riding without stirrups helps nervous riders gain some confidence. Although it can be a rather terrifying experience at the outset, riding a gentle pony without stirrups will improve your sense of balance and give you better control of application of aids. If you are especially uncomfortable at the beginning, you should not feel humbled to suggest that you start at a walk. Once you feel comfortable with that, you can slowly progress to a trot and then to a canter. No-stirrup work actually develops your sense of security, but you shouldn’t be averse to admitting your 1st fear. It’s better to begin slow and build up. Excess fear can communicate itself to the horse.

The rider with more experience benefits from no-stirrup work in that she or he is able to develop a sense of feel and reduce riding stress. Stress can build up without the rider even being mindful of it: it can begin at the ankles, at the neck or at the back and shoulders. You become a better rider when you’re really aware of your body and the signals it is transmitting.

The inception of stirrups is military, they were designed as part of horse tack to enable cavalry riders to stay stable during battle. Clearly, in the days before stirrups were invented every rider rode without them, many riders rode with no pony tack of any type whatsoever. Accesorios fluo . Since horseback fighting is kind of a part of history now, it can be contended that we do not need stirrups anymore. But like all devices that ease life, once we have got it, we don’t wish to give it up. If you really intend to become a top class rider, though, you must perfect the art of riding without stirrups.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers visit HorseHorses

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

How To Saddle Break Your Horse The 1st Time

July 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I wouldn’t venture to suggest that there is the standard formula to preparing a pony for riding. Each pony is an individual in its own right, and you have to work with each horse according to its nature. You also need to take into account regular changes in the current circumstances. Often, circumstances can change every day for a young horse.

Here are some steps that will help you ease your pony into its first ride. While these are steps that have worked habitually for me, I should remind you that every pony has his or her own quirks, and so you could need to do some modifying here and there.

Step 1: Let your pony get acquainted with a saddle pad. Be certain to do this in a circular pen after you’ve your pony on a halter and a lead rope. Introduce the pad casually to your horse. Let him nudge and smell it. The idea is to get him acquainted with it. Rub him gently all over his body with the pad, especially on the neck, the back and the hindquarters. Be sure to cover both sides of the horse with the same motions. Don’t go to the very next step till you have the distinct impression your pony is happy with the pad. Lay the pad on his back delicately without any abrupt motions and retreat. After a bit take away the pad. Lay it on your horse again. Take it off, keep repeating. When you are reasonably sure your horse is relatively used to the pad, walk him around a bit with the pad on. Take the pad off and rub him down a bit, before putting the pad back on. Be exceedingly patient, and repeat this as many times as necessary till you feel your horse has become just about uninterested in the pad. Remember, haste at all stages may destroy everything you have realized till then.

Step 2: You are ready to bring on the saddle now. Get your horse used to it just like you did with the pad: never hurrying, always persist. Use your right hand to hold the saddle, with the lead rope in the left hand. Once you are sure the saddle causes no further apprehension in your pony, it’s saddling time. With a swift but gentle motion, get the saddle onto your horse’s back. Take it off and retreat. Do this numerous times, with a rub down or two to keep your pony calm. When you think it is time, put on the saddle with the intention of cinching it. If your pony is in motion, yield the hindquarters to bring him to stillness. Be sure to knot the cinches tight so they don’t drop and spook him.

Step 3: Get round to your horse’s right. Let the cinches down easily. Get back to your horse’s left, Now with total confidence walk back on the left hand side of your horse and take hold of the cinch with your left hand without looking down. In easy motions, take hold of the latigo and tighten up the cinches. Don’t make them too tight, but sufficient so the saddle will not roll around to the base of the horse’s body. That would possibly be disastrous. If there’s another back cinch, tighten that too, again, not very tight, but satisfactory to guarantee the pony won’t snag his rear leg. Normally a back cinch functions to prevent jumping of the saddle. Never forget: keep your cool, and more important, make sure the horse keeps his cool. Back off temporarily at the slightest sign your horse is getting upset.

Step 4: When you’ve saddled and cinched the horse, stand loosely next to him and let him get use to the saddle. Don’t be in a hurry to move him or yourself. When you consider that he’s relaxed satisfactorily, walk him a touch, then come to a halt. If he starts bucking let him, just get out of the way. When he’s got the kinks worked out, return to him and give him a rub to soothe him.

You have just saddle-broken your pony.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers read more

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

Why Be Aware Of Horse Show Rules

July 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Most riders find shows to be marvelously satisfying and inspiring experiences. However , participation in shows can bring along a lot of confusion and stress. Rather regretfully, a lot of novice riders begin showing even when they are not completely conversant with the rules and regulations that apply to show classes. Due to their over enthusiastic and under prepared approach, these new riders fail to grasp the reasons behind the allegedly illogical harshness of judgment of some show classes and similarly illogical easy-going judgment of others.

Basically, judging gives merits and demerits for 2 types of rider or horse action: doing something pertinent with true quality and doing something that’s taboo without or with quality. You might say that often the winner is the rider and pony pair that commits the least number of blunders. Some blunders are way more major than others: a rider’s heel rising and his leg shifting back while the pony is taking jumps could be a lesser sin than a rider who lags. Some of the deadliest sins concern dangerous riding, abusive riders or obstructive riders.

In equitation hunt seat divisions, judges give scores for rider control and position. Other considerations that count are leads, diagonals and the disgraceful rider’s crime of dropping the head to determine the correct diagonal or lead. In divisions related to equitation over fences, the punishable transgressions include break in gait, refusal and erroneous leads.

Judgments are made of the horse’s motions and perspective in hunter classes like hunter hack, hunters under the saddle and over fences. The hunter needs to give each impression of a participant who is enjoying himself, with apparent awareness, quietness, relaxed attitude, balance, contentment of expression and eagerness in process. It doesn’t need to be said that the pony should not be stiff, not to mention lame. He displays great balance. His back is soft and round and he travels on his bit; he shouldn’t be hollow backed, nor should he evade contact from the rider. Penalties are prescribed for swishing tails, pinned ears, spooking, kicking, bucking and failing to keep up a consistent gait full of rhythm. Over fences class players are penalised for dangerous or defective form like dangling legs. The best hunters over fences jump with great calmness and rhythm; they do not dash right to the base and scramble over. They tuck their legs up and maintain soft roundness in their necks and backs while going over fences. Bucking, refusals, knocking down of rails and lead change misses invoke penalties. Elimination is the result for horses showing potentially hazardous behaviour like lameness, rearing and kicking.

Riders must be fully conversant with the permitted/not permitted equipment lists for the classes they want to participate in. Simply by way of illustration, rules about bit use are harsh in dressage shows; riders are required to ensure that the bits they use are regulation types. In a fairly similar way, martingales are taboo in hunter under saddle classes. Boots are allowed for horses in equitation over fences and jumpers, but are banned in hunters. Some bits are acceptable in jumpers although not in hunters over fences.

Before you take part in any class in a show, save yourself tons of confusion, heart-ache, penalties and money waste by boning up on all applicable rules, regulations and guidelines. Remember that old saw about an ounce of prevention?

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers read more

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

Choosing A Horse Related Career That Suits You

July 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you truly are a horse nut, then you could have heard about Robert Botine Cunningham-Graham, Scottish writer, adventurer and horseman extraordinaire. He first told the opinion that heaven cannot exist without horses. If you, too , are the type of horse person who lives for horses and wants to die on horseback, you should mull over taking up a career that has to do with horses. Certainly you can’t think about a better way of life?

Recent surveys indicate that the US has about 7 million horses. The North American Horse Council estimates the horse-related industry supports in excess of 1.4 million jobs. There are any quantity of support vocations that revolve around the horse hub, like vet services, farriers, feed supplies, gear supplies and so on. You can find jobs in a heap of horse-related fields: health, breeding, feeding, training, showing? The list is reasonably large, actually. Certainly you will find just what is ideal for you in one or two of these fields.

Just what is the thing that should be done to get into a horse-related career? Don’t jump to pumping out resumes left and right without doing some homework. Your first job is to ascertain just what part of the industry appeals to you the most. An accompaniment task is to figure out if you are suited for it. You have to work hard to get to where you want to be. If you would like to be a vet, you have to go thru the academic part and the tutelage part first, before it’s possible to get into the practicing part. There are no short cuts.

Are you all set to analyse yourself? Put yourself through an examination based mostly on the following questions:

What is it I desire?

Does my ideal career enable me to get into daily contact with horses, or will I be happy with support areas that wouldn’t involve daily contacts with horses? As with everything, you can disagree both sides of this issue. A direct role may satisfy your urge to be physically around horses all the time, while a supporting role of the more remote type could mean better revenue, stability and regular working hours. What suits your personality and interests better? The simplest way to approach it is to scribble down things.

What are my present qualifications, educational or alternatively?

Experience is a great qualification, but there are occasions when it’s no substitute for academic certificates. It is dependent on the type of job being sought, of course: for practical jobs like coaching and teaching or horse farm managing, intensive and close experience would potentially count for lots more than formal education. On the other hand, you cannot hope to become a veterinarian without going through a relevant formal education and a bit of proactive experience.

Am I happy to do… Am I Able To afford whatever is necessary to achieve my dream career?

If being a veterinarian is your goal, you want to budget time and money to go thru a proper academic course. You want to work out methods to get admission at a reputed establishment.

What type of financial ambitions do I have?

I know plenty of folks who love to be doing something around horses. They are less worried about what they earn than about being with horses. A lot of jobs offer low pay and benefits, and the only productive compensation might be the constant presence of horses. While salaries do improve with experience, that implies giving up years to gain the sort of experience needed. Support jobs often offer the best monetary returns. It is common sense that before you leap into a job, you ought to have a clear idea of what amount of money will allow you to live comfortably. You should then determine which jobs will permit you to make at least that amount.

What’s the best entry point which will take me to where I want to reach?

You should take care to get into a scenario where not only are you able to meet all responsibilities with your present level of abilities and knowledge, you may also work towards the ultimate career position you value.

Just remember: it is better to go in slow and easy than to bite off more than you can chew!

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers click here

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

Slow Equals Fast With Pony Training

July 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Ever had the privilege of watching a natural born horse person in total harmony with his pony do nonchalant tricks with it that you wouldn’t have imagined possible and cause them to look so ludicrously straightforward? And ever tried out the same tricks with your own pony and made a total hash of it? You must have been pretty frustrated.

If you did anything like that, you were guilty, as so many people have been, of forgetting that what looks like perfect harmony is the results of hard training repeated time and again until perfection was reached. We human beings are frequently guilty of needing too much too quickly without having to go through the due process. In the case of horses and their achievements, we forget that every accomplishment is the sum total of lots of tiny steps that have practically become 2nd nature as the result of repeated practice. When we suddenly try out something new to our horses, we’re going to puzzle the wits out of them and achieve nothing except total frustration for both.

Just look at easy scenarios involve horse coaching. Take an example when you are training your horse to back up between two parallel poles laid out on the ground. It may appear to be the simplest of tasks to you, but your horse will not agree. You might think that all you’ve got to do is get him aligned and moving, but he’s not going to be comfortable with the idea of moving through 2 poles of which only one is visible to each eye. This tends to distract the horse, and they will not even allow themselves to be aligned between the poles. If they are somehow aligned, they’ll try to work out what has happened by moving their rear ends to one direction. And if you come up with a way to get over that problem then the horse will keep barging into one pole or the other, rather than backing up in a straight line.

Unless you are knowledgeable on pony psychology, you will get frustrated. If you do know horses, you may appreciate that horses need to get comfortable with any new action before they can be made to do it. In this example, your pony needs to get used to a pole on each side. You can facilitate the process by breaking it up into tiny bite-size chunks and handling them one at a time.

First, get your pony to walk forward between the 2 poles a few times, so that he becomes used to seeing them there and to seeing one pole with each eye. Once he goes through like a shot, ramp up the coaching one notch. Get him to stop at random points while progressing between the poles. Get your pony to repeat this until it becomes second nature for him. Eventually, get him to take a single step backward. Let him take that step and ruminate on it. The stop after just one step is his reward for doing what you wanted him to. Take him through one or two one step forward and one back cycles at various points between the 2 poles. Then take him back thru more than one step, even with his body out of alignment with the poles. Once he is completely used to the idea of going forward and back a couple of steps (keep increasing the distance), you can walk him forward from one end of the poles to the other, and then get him to back right up. He may start dodgy, but he is going to pick up and soon he will be progressing thru the poles either way like he had been doing it all his life. Remember the old Chinese saying about a journey of a thousand miles starting with one easy step, it is especially applicable for horses.

You can begin by teaching your pony while you are on the ground, then when that stage has been successfully mastered; you take it to a higher level by getting your pony to do it while you are astride him. Start slow and simple and soon enough you’ll find that your pony is setting the pace, a faster one.

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

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,

What To Wear To Your 1st Horse Riding Lesson

July 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Getting all set to realise a long-held dream: ride a pony? This forthcoming first experience of yours probably has you otherwise nervous, anticipative, anxious, jubilant. You can get over a large amount of your nerves by simply ensuring you make all of the right preparations.

Start by guaranteeing you’ve got the right attire. Your attire should be selected only on consideration of comfort and safety. Leave the bling for later on the more advanced stages in your pony life.

One thing you just can’t do without is a helmet that is properly certificated. Most riding schools do let you use one of their helmets for the opening few learning sessions, in the expectation that after you make up your mind to keep on you’ll get your own helmet. You should bear in mind that a borrowed helmet will have been utilized by countess other hopeful riders, and even while they’re routinely disinfected and sprayed in front of you, you may still prefer to go along with your own helmet.

Note that helmets to be used with bikes are inappropriate for horse riding because they are made to different standards of impact measures and safety. The better riding facilities will not allow you to use helmets without ASTM/SEI validation, so be sure not to let some silver tongued tack shop man charm you into getting a barely suitable helmet. Do some homework, learn all about the coolest brands, get a helmet with a correct label, your riding school will most likely be doing some inspection of its own on the 1st day you turn up.

Your next procurement should really be composed of a pair of boots with square heels and smooth soles. You can think about cowboy or jodhpur boots when you purchase them, but don’t splurge just yet on real riding boots. Just settle for a good pair of ankle boots with smooth soles and square heels. Preferably, your boots cover and support the ankles. Sneakers, military boots and dockers are absolutely not acceptable. Army boots come with very thick treads, and your foot could well get caught in the stirrup if you tumble, with the chance of bad injury ensuing. By the same rule, footwear without square heels let your feet slide right thru into the stirrup and again, this may be perilous. Remember: boots without treads, with smooth soles, with square heels.

Your next call is on suitable pants for riding. A lot of new riders find this choice a bit of a dilemma. Denim pants often fit loosely and have prominent seams, which can badly scrape your legs and knees and perhaps your calves, as well. Jeans also have a tendency to ride up the legs, exposing your calves and letting them get chafed by the stirrup leathers. Most leg wear for running is rather slick on the exterior, which may make you slip while you are in your saddle. All of this means you need pants that don’t have thick seams, don’t rub and do not ride up. You might try jeans with pantyhose beneath, don’t giggle, I’ve known masses of men to use this combination , or you need to use thick tights. Instead of panty hose, you could use long johns with jeans, but this will be workable only in winter. If you use long johns, ensure you tuck them into your socks, so they won’t ride up. In winter, thick tights usually work fine with leg warmers, which have recycled into fashion. Ultimately, you need breeches or riding tights. You could also try out jeans especially made for riding, which are made from stretch material and have no inner seams.

You are all set: you have got your certified helmet, correct shoes and approved attire. It’s time to get onto that horse and have some fun!

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers visit HorseHorses

Filed Under: Horse Racing Articles Tagged With: , ,