“Does Your Horse Know Your Bubble?”
A trainer friend of mine once told
me about a horse owner who had a 4 month old
colt.
The horse owner taught the colt to
rear up and put it’s front feet on the owner’s
shoulders.
Scary, huh?
Obviously, the owner didn’t understand
the horse will get bigger and will do that
again and again.
Only this time…the horse will weigh
half a ton and injure someone horribly.
Horses are NOT dogs.
The first lesson is, be careful what
you teach your horse.
Frankly, if it can violate your safety
in any way (unless you’re experienced)
don’t do it.
Second, never allow your horse to come
into your bubble.
Imagine yourself with a 5 foot bubble
around you.
Never, ever allow your horse to come
into that bubble.
Now you can go into his…but he is NOT
allowed to come into yours.
Why is that?
For one thing, horses have reflexes that
are lightning quick. Even a world champion boxer
would have trouble beating the horse’s reflexes.
Second, combine those reflexes with the
strength of 20 men and a built-in panic button…
and you have a very serious threat facing you.
After all, you can be run over and stomped
on before you even knew you were.
One of the ways to keep yourself safe
from this “not so delightful” scenario, is to
teach your horse to keep in his area at all
times.
Do it enough and be consistent about it,
and your horse will learn where your bubble is.
Insist that he knows.
For instance, leading a new horse you don’t
know….it’d be a good idea to have him
leading behind you.
If he spooks and jumps, he should be far
enough behind you for you to be out of the way and/or
for you to have time to react.
The idea is to create a safe environment
for you and your horse.
With that in mind, here is a “first lesson”
you can do with the horse that comes directly from
Paul Esh on one of our featured videos.
As you lead him, take steps.
Stop.
See if the horse stops.
If he doesn’t, raise your hand up – the
hand that’s holding the lead rope.
That will get his attention and more often
than not he’ll stop. When he stops, lower your hand.
Let him think about it for moment.
Then take some more steps and repeat.
Stop often to make sure your horse is paying
attention to you.
Why do you want him paying attention to you?
Because you want him mimicking your moves.
When you back up….he does.
When you step forward…he does.
When you stop….he does.
If his mind is floatin’ out there in La-La Land,
it’s pretty hard to get him doing what you want. A
student that doesn’t pay attention is one who doesn’t
learn.
And then if you find your horse isn’t payin’
attention to you, then get his attention.
How?
Give him a little work to do.
Like what?
Have him step back a step.
Disengage his hindquarters.
Mostly, just get him to move so his attention
comes back to you.
There’s more…but you get the point.
Paul Esh shows more in his video and if you’d
like to read about it, click the following:
One other thing.
If you find your horse isn’t paying attention,
can you guess why that is?
He’s bored.
Unbore him with a little work.
That’ll wake him up.
That’s it for today… stay SAFE around your horses!
Charlie
P.S. Use the coupon code FREESHIP on all DVD orders
(or any orders including DVDs) and we’ll pay the
shipping!
