No equine coaching is totally complete without some lessons on correct ground manners. The deportation of your pony around you, and more significantly, around others would reflect on your ability as a horse person. When you’re out to teach your horse manners, make sure you are in the right mind-set. If you’re in the blues, play hooky and give your horse a rest.

And incidentally, that’s only 1/2 the tale. The other half is your pony and his mood. Be sensitive to it. You horse isn’t going to be very receptive to training if he is not in the right mind-set. You can learn much by tuning in on your horse’s body language. If he has his eyes hooded in a lowered head, you can rest assured that he’s at peace with the globe. If he is not amenable, skip the coaching. Another day will always come along. If your horse is showing a marked degree of unusual behavior, then clearly you need to do some investigation.

Teach him who wields the reins

Your horse will treat you mounted the way he treats you unmounted. To paraphrase, if he doesn’t respect you when you’re standing on your own two feet, he will not respect when you are astride him. If you fail to get his respect, the probabilities are very high that you have yourself to blame , because most trained horses are superbly glad to be led, and are receptive to someone who can take control. It is not really difficult, either, to create a synergy of equals with your horse, with you as the more equal equal.

You have to be deep into horse psyche and work with them, not against them. Young horses are frolicsome and easily diverted. They’ll give you some anxious moments, and you should be prepared. They may horse around with you, treating you also like a frolicsome mate, and you should use their approval of you to play with and work with them while slowly asserting your dominance.

Never allow your horse to get his way even in the littlest thing. What starts off as tiny and insignificant can end up in much bigger issues. Nip it in the bud. Don’t let him bully you or anybody else. The smallest weakness on your side will be milked. You can’t afford to be seen as puny or tolerant.

Be the alpha entity in the relationship. Don’t let your horse intrude into your private space.

How to read the right signs

Emitting the right body language yourself and reading your horse’s own body language correctly are crucial necessities. Look for the correct indications of submissiveness in your pony before you commence coaching.

Characteristic body language of a receptive pony

– His ears are forward; he looks to be relaxed

– His head is down

– He licks his lips every now and then

– He’s standing on one cocked leg

– He’s breathing deeply.

You wont find a better time to train your pony than when he is at one with the world.

One other thing to do before commencing training: make sure you know what treat your horse loves and have plenty of it to hand. You need to reward your horse every time he does a good job. That is one of the best strategies you can use to coach him effectively.

Positive reinforcement is the secret to success in equine training.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about horse jumps