http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com en-us http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com N/A info@horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:19:52 MDT 20 http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/252/1/Training-Conflicts All training programs eventually come to an end. Maybe the horse gets old and is not ridden any more, is sold, achieves all of the goals that the owner wants, or gets soured out and becomes impossible to train. Lyle Jackson Mon, 19 Jun 2006 00:00:00 MDT http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/251/1/The-Basics-of-Circles-and-Straight-Lines After having had success in training and showing horses in about every western event people often watch me ride or take my clinics in the hope of learning some of the secrets of training and showing a horse. There are no secrets. You must simply understand a little of the natural behavior of a horse, understand what the judges want to see, and be confident in what you want to do. Lyle Jackson Mon, 19 Jun 2006 00:00:00 MDT http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/250/1/Training-the-Western-Riding-Horse The Western Riding horse needs to be trained to do much more than just change leads. The correct movement and position not only in the walk, jog and lope, but also within the lead change, while guiding, and while negotiating the log must all be taught. A straight stop and back is also required. If the rider omits any of these points in the training program the horse is not going to be competitive at the horse show. Lyle Jackson Mon, 19 Jun 2006 00:00:00 MDT http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/249/1/Guiding-One-Handed Western horse show disciplines for senior horses are to be ridden one handed. The rule book allows the use of only one hand to guide your horse. A big problem for some people........ and some horses. Lyle Jackson Mon, 19 Jun 2006 00:00:00 MDT http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/248/1/Training-the-Reining-Horse In order for a reining horse to perform well, consideration must be given to the position of his head, neck, back and hip. Without this frame being correct nothing else will work. The smooth stop, the fast spin, the pretty circles will not be possible. The question that plagues many amateurs is what should this frame be, and how do we achieve it. Lyle Jackson Mon, 19 Jun 2006 00:00:00 MDT http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/219/1/Training-your-horse-the-gentle-way---an-interview-with-the-international-Grand-Prix-rider-and-trainer-Uwe-Schwanz-from-Germany Uwe Schwanz, successful trainer and competitor through Grand Prix level, talks about how to bring on a horse correctly and how to avoid burnout of horse and rider. Tess Crebbin Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 MDT http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/201/1/The-Untapped-Power-of-Song-and-Laughter-in-Horsemanship Verbal communications of every sort help cement the bond between horse and trainer. Horses find the musical voice soothing and human laughter reassuring, similar to their ear as a nicker.The author has employed these practices with great success for many years alongside the traditional methiods of imprinting and sound training. John Nuetzel Sat, 08 Apr 2006 00:00:00 MDT http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/179/1/How-to-Handle-Horses-Safely Caring for a horse is an excellent way to gain new skills and build a strong bond the animal. However, it is important to practice safety procedures when handling your horse. There can be some risks involved in handling horses. Michael Colucci Mon, 20 Mar 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/165/1/Preventing-Injuries-During-Training The most common musculoskeletal injuries of horses in work include tendon and ligament injuries, stress fractures, chip fractures, joint sprain/strain and foot soreness. The severity of the injury a horse may have depends on the type of training. Harness racing horses rarely develop bucked shins, while most flat racing horses are expected to have some shin soreness during their early training period. A horse in dressage training is unlikely to develop a chip fracture, but may be expected to develop back soreness as it strengthens its back and neck muscles as it learns collection. Some injuries, such as joint swelling due to osteochondrosis (OCD), occur because of an abnormality in joint development. Dr. Andris Kaneps Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/154/1/When-Leaving-Home Horses often become very difficult to handle when they do not want to leave the homeherd environment. Leaving home usually involves being loaded into a trailer. A young horse or a horse that has been left with the herd for a long time usually develops a higher resistance to what should be a pleasant ride down the trail. Horses that are ridden regularly and are relatively confident really enjoy the chance to head down the trail. A horse with low confidence and little respect for the rider also resists, along with many other things, the situation of leaving the home surroundings. Kent Williamson Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/153/1/The-Two-Values-of-Horses Horses are admirable and a pleasure to be around but can be a challenge to relate to for riders. In this enjoyment and challenge, horses have very little requirements from a person except to be taken care of. After a horses basic needs are met, many people wonder what is going on inside of the horse. What causes a reaction or a certain behaviorism to occur? Kent Williamson Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/152/1/Horses---Patterns-in-the-Snow I was out riding a young horse through the deep snow the other morning trying to get the horse to move a little more willingly. As I was re-bounding from side to side in order to balance the horse I noticed the irregular patterns I was making in the snow. The patterns at the start of the ride looked as if I was riding a jack rabbit, when I was coming home the horse was nicely balanced on my leg and body signals. We achieved an easy rhythmic walk. Kent Williamson Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/151/1/Patience An excerpt from the Horse-one-ship manuscript which touches on the idea that good things take time, and anything worth waiting for is something worthwhile. If it was all easy what fun was derived from the challenge? Kent Williamson Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/150/1/Look-and-See We only truly see what we want to see. We may look at many things in an average day but what we recall is usually what we were interested in. Some things interest a person so much that they contemplate at length over the spectacle before them. To this type of person "life lies in the seeing" (De Chardin); while the next person ambivalently strolls by. Horses are very similar. Kent Williamson Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/149/1/The-Lateral-Horse The lateral perspective of horses is an important principle. Not only does it help us understand how horses relate to things, there are evolutionary reasons why a prey animal is primarily concerned with its sides and relies on these keen senses. With each eye located on the side of their head, horses do not view things in a uniform perspective as we do. Kent Williamson Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/145/1/Lateral-Thinking-with-Horses One of the most important principles to understand about the nature of horses is that they relate to things in a lateral perspective. Horses do not develop a bi-lateral linear perspective as we do. Humans tend to take in experience and assimilate this information to one thought were as, a horse uses each side in a uni-lateral manner to react to stimulus and experience. We could say a horse has a two-track mind by relating to things uni-laterally in order to gain a spatial perspective that is whole. Therefore the goal in riding is to develop balance in a horse. This is accomplished by conditioning both sides of a horse equally. Kent Williamson Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/144/1/Negotiating-Control-with-a-Horse By negotiating control in a horse through release and reward versus arbitrarily making a horse do things, it then preserves itself by constantly achieving place of contentment and knowing where to be with the rider. This is a place were outside pressure or physical changes cease to drive the horse to act. Negotiating with a horse by the release of pressure sets a foundation for the horse to trust and relate to when confused or scared. The idea is that giving and/or yielding to pressure, while not fleeing or resisting it, is the way to go and it has benefits. Kent Williamson Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/142/1/Learning-to-Lead%2C-All-Over-Again The first thing that has to be realized by the rider/owner is that to lead a horse implies leadership. To lead is part of being a leader in the first place. If the rider/owner does not represent leadership in a horse, then it has no choice but to naturally take on that role for them. In other words, trust and/or respect must be utilized in a horse by the rider/owner in order to develop a leadership role. Kent Williamson Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/141/1/Horses-and-Discipline Discipline to horses is a system of rules and a basic framework in which they derive an ordered way of being. A well-disciplined horse is a happy, responsible and dependable. Movement is a horse's prime motivator which enables discipline to occur. Kent Williamson Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/140/1/Horses-and-Change One fact of life is that everything changes. In fact, this is the only constant we can rely on in the human experience and in nature. However, change itself becomes something that humans fear and often seek to avoid. A horse is closer to nature and often handles change very well. The more natural a horse is the closer it is to the elements; therefore, the better it adapts to change. Kent Williamson Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/137/1/Causing-Pressure-Effectively-to-a-Horse The goal of horsemanship is to cause learning to occur without forcing a horse's will. Often reactionary behavior is a necessary derivative for responsive behavior. In other words, uncontrollable movements, such as moving away from pressure, enable controllable movements to emerge. A horse needs to learn the difference and to not fear any form of pressure. However, the necessary evil is that a horse likely will flee before it decides to draw to a person in trust, and a horse may do the opposite-innate movement before it does a responsive-desirable one. Horsemanship is not achieved by letting a horse act anyway it wants to; a cause and effect or pressure and release correlation has to occur for a horse to understand. Therefore, motivating a horse to respond willingly is a delicate task. Kent Williamson Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/136/1/Activating-a-Response-in-a-Horse To act with a horse involves activating responses. Conditioned responses, desirable behaviors, are not formed by letting a horse act any old way it wants to or making it behave using restriction. A horse learns that he must be good for something. In fact, true communication and control of any horse is not just about the pressure caused; the control must come from the release of pressure. Otherwise, improper tactics, even pain takes over controlling the horse. This approach would only curb the distrusting horse from wanting to move away from the rider. Kent Williamson Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/135/1/Understanding-the-Yield-in-Horses The difference between having control and losing control of a horse rests partly in the concept of yielding to pressure. Most riders understand that to have a reliable horse yielding must be properly established. However, yielding has some fundamental parts that have to be conditioned in a horse before a yield is clearly understood. To expect a horse to yield as a conditioned response before it gives and goes on pressure signals creates major problems with horses. Kent Williamson Fri, 17 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/101/1/Teaching-the-Young-Horse-the-Turnaround Your horse should have a basic education before you teach reining maneuvers. Also, he must be physically able and mentally trainable to achieve any degree of success. Gregg Lauder Fri, 03 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/100/1/Show-Pen-Advice This Training Tip article focuses on a couple concepts important to successfully showing a reining horse: Magnets, Prior Training and the Warm-Up Pen. Gregg Lauder Fri, 03 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/99/1/Fencing-the-Reining-Horse Fencing is a drill that I consistently utilize to school my horses, and to teach them to use correct body alignment, position and speed, thereby developing a great run down and ultimately, a great sliding stop. Gregg Lauder Fri, 03 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/96/1/A-Softening-Exercise-for-You-and-Your-Horse The ultimate goal of our ride is to have our horses maintain soft head carriages, with their backs round. The term is coined as "collected," "round," or "in a frame." We ask our horses to carry themselves like this so they carry more of their weight on the hind end. This concept goes against the horse's natural body carriage - normally the horse carries 60% of weight on the front end and 40% on the hind. Clay Webster Fri, 03 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/95/1/Compatible-Philosophies As a trainer, I am approached daily by people who question my methods. My answer to them has always been, "this is the way I do it based on common sense and trial and error. It's up to you whether or not you would like to do the same." Clay Webster Fri, 03 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/94/1/Woke-Up-On-the-Wrong-Side-of-the-Stall Horses can have bad days - there's no question about it. But before you decide to get on and make this bad day worse, there may be a few things you can do to relieve some of your horse's pre-ride anxiety. Clay Webster Fri, 03 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/93/1/Tools-of-the-Trade The primary component of teaching a horse to neck rein is to ensure the rider's reins are held and directed properly. Being able to do this requires the proper bit for the job you want to do. Clay Webster Fri, 03 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/92/1/How-Light-is-Light%3F Have you ever wondered how a reiner can guide his or her horse through a reining pattern with such ease and finesse? The pair seemingly float around the arena, performing a series of maneuvers and changes of direction with very subtle cues. Slack appears in the rider's reins yet the horse is accurate, collected, guiding softly and most importantly, willing. Clay Webster Fri, 03 Feb 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/29/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-11 The Training Tree: Putting it all Together Followed in the correct sequence, the steps in the training tree methodically prepare a horse both physically and mentally to play whatever game the rider likes to play. The training tree has ten levels that have to be mastered in sequence: rhythm, relaxation, freedom of gaits, contact, straightness, balance, impulsion, suppleness, putting the horse on the aids, and collection. Now, not every horse is going to have the physical ability or the mind to go the upper levels. And more than 90 percent of the time, a horse gets limited by his rider's ability level. But following the training tree sequence can help any horse be the best he can be.   Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/28/1/The-Riding-Tree-6 When riders become very good at coordinating the aids, they become capable of influencing the horse. Now they can show a baby green horse what to do or enforcing the requests made of a spoiled horse to retrain it. They have the necessary skills to use artificial aids like a whip or spurs to reinforce their requests without ruining their communication with the horse. The riders have now become capable of teaching.   Faith Meredith Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/27/1/The-Riding-Tree-5 Communicating to the horse involves much more than just a mechanical application of a specific set of aids. That's the beginning but if riders want to progress up the riding tree from merely applying the aids to coordinating them, they have do more that just use their aids in an "on" or "off" mode. Coordinating the aids means applying the right aids in the right sequence with the right degree of pressure and with the right timing. Developing a feel for this coordination requires some additional skills.   Faith Meredith Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/26/1/The-Riding-Tree-4 Aids are physical pressures a rider uses to communicate with the horse. When the horse responds correctly to the pressure, the pressure goes away. So a correct response rewards the horse. Think of individual aid pressures as "words" that have a specific meaning to the horsechange gait, go left, go right. As both horses and riders progress in their training, they begin combining several aids into "sentences" with greater nuances of meaning than a single wordget ready for an extended trot after we make this left turn, spin to the left when you come to the end of this slide.   Faith Meredith Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/24/1/The-Riding-Tree-3 The first step in developing an independent seat is learning to relax while sitting on the horse. The second is learning to balance your own weight over the horse's center of gravity. The third is learning to feel and follow the horse's motion at the walk, trot, and canter   Faith Meredith Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/23/1/The-Riding-Tree-2 Fear of falling creates both mental and physical tension. That's why relaxation is at the base of the riding tree, the set of skills a rider needs to master in order to develop an independent seat. In order to relax, you have to become aware of every part of your body--every muscle, every joint--and find any places where you are holding tension. When you can let go of all of this involuntary tension, you can move to the second level of the riding tree. When you can stay relaxed over the horse's center of gravity, you are in balance. When you are in balance, you can stay on the horse.   Faith Meredith Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/22/1/The-Riding-Tree-1 Before you can clearly communicate to the horse what shapes you want him to take at what gait and in what rhythm, you need to have control over your own body. You cannot simultaneously influence the horse's shape, gait, and cadence unless you are in the right position over his center of gravity to apply the right sequence of aids with the right degree of pressure and the right timing. To control your body to that extent, you need to have an independent seat.   Faith Meredith Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/18/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-10 The Training Tree: Collection Collection is at the top of our training tree and it is another one of those mythunderstood words out in the horse industry. A lot of people look at a horse and say he's collected when he's really just all bunched up in front. Maybe he's got a lot of activity drive and the rider is hanging on his mouth so he can't move forward and spend it as freely as he'd like. So he curls up his neck and prances around and people who don't know any better say he's collected. Or maybe the rider doesn't really know what it means to have an independent seat and put her horse on the aids. She just fusses with the reins and the horse, being an obliging sort, bends at the poll, tucks his nose, slows down so she thinks her horse is "on the bit" and that she's got collection.   Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/17/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-9 The Training Tree: On the Aids A lot of the terms that horse people use have been misused and overused to the point that they are no longer meaningful. Because the term means different things to different people, it is more apt to be mythunderstood than it is to be helpful, especially in a training situation. Saying that a horse is "on the bit" is one of those terms. As a horse gets near the top of the training tree, we like to talk about him being "on the aids" rather than being on the bit.   Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/16/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-8 The Training Tree: Suppleness Suppleness is another mythunderstood word in the horse industry. Suppleness simply means the ability to bend without stiffness. We want the horse to have loose, pliable jointshis hocks, his hips, his knees, his shoulders, his poll and his jaw. There are other joints that must be flexible, too, but generally when we talk about a horse's ability to bend, we're talking about one or another of those major joints.   Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/15/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-7 The Training Tree: Impulsion The horse has rear engine drive. Impulsion describes the powerful thrust from the hindquarters that propels the horse forward. Impulsion is the surge that occurs when the horse's hindquarters push off the ground. With impulsion, there's an elasticity and spring to the horse's forward movement. A rider needs an independent seat and an understanding of how to coordinate aids in order to ask the horse for impulsion.   Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/14/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-6 The Training Tree: Balance Balance is one of those terms in the horse industry that is so misused that it's become mythunderstood. All it really means is that the horse is distributing his weight equally on all four feet. We want him carrying as much of his weight on the ride side of his body as on the left side. We want him to carry as much weight on his two front feet as he does on his two back feet. That seems pretty simple. But there's a catch. A horse has this long neck with a big heavy head hanging out there at the end of it which naturally has a tendency to shift a little more of his weight onto his front feet. When he's just hanging around being himself, a horse typically carries about 60 percent of his weight on his front feet.   Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/13/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-5 The Training Tree: Straightness We get halfway up the training tree before we introduce the concept of straightness to the horse. We spend the first months of a horse's training working on rhythm, relaxation, and freedom of gaits. In this early phase of training, we want him to feel comfortable carrying the weight of a rider. In the second phase of his training, we start to develop the quality of his forward movement. We ask him to accept the contact between the bit and our hand. Toward the end of his first year of training, we put our focus on straightness.   Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/12/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-4 The Training Tree: Contact As our baby horse progresses up the training tree, we've given him a solid base of trust. We work with rhythm and relaxation doing anything we do from catching him to grooming him or putting on his leg wraps or giving him some play time before we put his tack on. He's comfortable with us and the general pattern of the work we do together. When we first got on his back, we allowed him to move with complete freedom, never interfering with or restricting his natural gaits. The next step is to get him working with freedom of gait while seeking and accepting contact with the rider's hands.   Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/11/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-3 The Training Tree: Freedom of Gaits When it's time to ride the horse, you introduce him to the saddle and the blanket and the bridle in the same relaxed and rhythmic way, breaking everything down into the smallest possible bites you can think of. The same goes with introducing the rider's weight. Now you've got the horse accepting the bridle and the blanket and the saddle and the rider mounting and the two of you are just standing there in the arena waiting for the next thing to happen. Maybe you're scratching him and patting him to keep his attention. At some point, the feeling's going to change for him and the horse is going to offer to move a step. Your job is to allow the horse to move however he wants and to just follow whatever he does. You allow his freedom of gait. Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/10/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-2 The Training Tree: Relaxation As the horse progresses in his training, you begin "layering" new things on top of what the horse always knows. If you have a problem, you go back to where the horse last accepted everything and start over from there. Rhythm is at the bottom of the training tree because doing everything in a consistent, predictable way gets the horse's attention and builds trust in the horse. When you're doing things rhythmically and you are never quick or abrupt or "startling" to the horse, then the horse will relax. Now you can start to work with his mind.   Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/9/1/Training-Mythunderstandings-1 The Training Tree: Rhythm Every animal handler or hope-to-be trainer needs to establish a relationship that allows the animal to understand them and figure out what they are asking them to do. The best and most effective system must be based on trust. The obedience or compliance we are looking for flows from that trust. The basis for a horse trusting you is that everything you do is routine and usual. There's never anything sudden or startling going on. And the way you start that feeling in the horse is by doing everything you do around him in a rhythmic way. Dr. Ron Meredith Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST http://www.horsemanshiphorsetrainingtips.com/articles/3/1/So-what-is-%26quot%3BHorsemanship%26quot%3B%3F So what is "Horsemanship"?  Horsemanship, quite simply, refers to skill in riding and handling horses.  It is how well you sit in the saddle and how well your horse responds to your cues. Horsemanship involves both dismounted and mounted abilities of the rider to effectively communicate with the horse. Kelly Bell Wed, 07 Dec 2005 00:00:00 MST