What precisely does a conversation on success have in common with handling horses? How does one define success in handling horses?

Well, let me put it in an alternative point of view. You have to have heard of the saying, ‘Fail to plan, plan to fail’? It is a fairly obvious saying that does not really require much explanation, and it is as pertinent to the training and handling of horses as to anything else.

If you are planning to train a pony, you want a plan that includes details of what you need to achieve, how and by when you would like to achieve it and what are the parameters which will help you conclude that your mission has had success. When you have a time-bound plan, you are galvanized to go hell for leather to achieve it. When you don’t have a plan, you are going to be chased all out by failure.

You also need to break down your targets into little, logical and time-bound steps. Every step covers one specific task, and when the horse has passed the test convincingly, the following step is taken up. Success can be claimed just when all the steps have been completed, and the horse has improved in its skills, its attitudes and its responses just the way it was initially planned.

When talking about horses and coaching, I also define success as not just getting the horse to respond fantasically to cues and commands with his regular trainer/rider, but also with all others who ride him. If your pony recognizes only your cues and commands, you cannot be said to have succeeded. It is understandable that your horse feels most happy with you and resents being ridden by others, but his coaching must be of such quality that his training-inspired responses work every time, irrespective of the rider.

By implication, that also means that before you initiate his training, you take the trouble of making yourself acquainted with the character type and history of your horse. You get detailed information on his idiosyncrasies and eccentricities, his likes, his peculiarities. You design your training to rid your horse of his idiosyncrasies by catering to them to begin with, and eventually weaning him away from them.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that success is most frequently the result of a reasoned approach that involves do-able bites. These steps should not be tough to achieve, but should involve consistent work and dedication.

One way or the other, you have to gain the unquestioning faith and obedience of your horse. That is one of the vital ingredients that is going to result in success. The way to start this is to use a soft approach, to reward your horse each time he does something right. When he makes a mistake, you make him do it repeatedly, taking care though not to wear him out to a frazzle. You follow up on each step till the right responses become natural to your horse.

Success is reached when every second person wants to ride your pony and every third person wants his pony trained by you.

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