Horse Hesitates? Here’s What He Wants From You

Posted on March 28, 2009 by admin

“Horse Hesitates?    Here’s What He Wants From You”

In the past I’ve sent out info on helping your
horse conquer his fear of those
horse-eating monsters.

We all know how scary it is to be
riding a horse while he turns into the Tazmanian
Devil and you’re hangin’ on for dear life.

To solve that frightening problem,
I want to share some info from  Vickie Weigel
to show you how to handle this.

So here goes…

As you’re working your horse through
your obstacle course, you’ll notice your horse
being leery of different things.

As you serpentine in and out of the
poles, walk by the balls, and more…your
horse may do the classic…

“Hesitation”

Why?

Think of it this way.

You have a 5 year old boy or girl.

You tell ’em to go to bed.

But they’re scared.

why?

Cuz they saw “sumthin'”.

As the parents, we know there’s
nothing there.

But, because the child thinks there
is…then there is.

That is the child’s perception and
is therefore his or her reality.

It is the same with your horse.

You know it’s nothing – but that’s
not your horse’s reality.

Back to the child.

Being a savvy parent, you rise up
out of the couch and take your child’s hand
and go with them back to the scary room.

Why?

Because you’re child is needing someone
to take charge.

They’re looking to you to tell them that
it’s A-OK.

If you weren’t there to show them…to lead
them…would they go forward?

I doubt it.

But because you’re there and showing them
that “Hey…it’s cool.  Look, there’s nothing that’ll
get you.” – then they are assured and the move
forward.

That’s basically what’s going on with
your horse.

When he hesitates, it’s like the child
going, “Ooooo…there’s something scary.”

So, you gotta take charge just like you
would for your child.

When or if the horse hesitates or stops,
you have to urge him forward.

Notice I said “urge”.

You can get “assertive”…but getting
aggressive may cause the horse to get
overwhelmed with fear.

And the idea is “NOT” to scare him – although
we want to expand his boundaries.

So if the horse won’t go over or by something,
do this.

Call 911. (Not really…just kiddin’)

Just put your horse into a small circle and
urge him forward again.

As you do, check “YOUR” jaw.  Is it clinched
up?  Are your teeth gritted?

If so, your horse will mirror you.

And that’ll instill more fear in him.

So the answer is to take a breath and
chill.

When you unclinch your jaw, ungrit your
teeth, and relax…so will your horse.

Remember, he’s following the leader.

Show him there’s nothing to be scared
about and he’ll work with that.

If you show him there “IS” something to
get nervous about (clinch your jaw, grit
your teeth), and he WILL get nervous.

And think about this.

Those reins are like a conductor of
electricity only they conduct your emotions
to the horse.

So do you want to conduct fear or
leadership?

Well, those are some of the basics of
what Vickie reveals.

Click on this link to read more about
Vickie’s methods she has on her DVD:

http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-weigel-monsters.html

Vickie shows you lots of ways to overcome
those “horse-eating monsters” and ways to
de-spook your horse.

The whole idea is to build confidence in
your horse to not be afraid while trusting
you as you lead him through them.

Over time, you and your horse will enjoy
riding more and you be doing it much
more safely.

http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-weigel-monsters.html

Now…go ride and ride safe.

Charlie

www.HorseTrainingResources.com

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Posted in General, Horse Training Tips, Horse Training Videos, Horseback Riding | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Vibrating The Bit To Get The Give

Posted on March 27, 2009 by admin

“Vibrating The Bit To Get The Give”

Horse training, as you know, is not
an event.

Horse training is a process.

It has fairly logical steps that go
from one to another.

One of the big keys in horse training
is getting a horse to “give”.

In other words, when you lift a rein
and slightly pull, his head comes the direction
of the pull.

A good give is when you pull the rein,
his head follows and you almost can’t feel the
rein pulling.

In a sense, it’s almost like his head
follows your arm like your shadow follows your
body on a sunny day.

Now THAT’S a give!

In talking to Horse trainer Kenny Scott
during his filming Kenny said this:

“The horse has to
give his chin before
he gives anything else.”

Amen.

Kenny went on to say, “We work from the
chin, through the jaw, up the neck, to his withers.”

This gets the body to arc and gets the
horse broke at the withers.

If you want to know more of Kenny’s
techniques, you can read about them by clicking
the following:

http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-kennyscott.html

Eventually, Kenny uses that to get the
horse where he no longer uses his head for
balanace – instead, his head becomes more like a
hood ornament…meaning he’s collected and balanced
and no longer needs his head for balance.

Anyway, since the chin is the place to
start, you may often have trouble getting that
chin.

If you do, here’s little secret.

Vibrate the bit.

Yep…vibrate it.

In other words, as you pull on the
rein a little and he’s not giving his chin,
vibrate the bit by shaking the rein.

You don’t shake it hard.

Just enough to make it uncomfortable.

As you do it, watch for the give.

Sometimes, the give may be so subtle
you’ll miss it.

Try not to miss it because the second
you get a try from your horse…quit.

Then let him think about it for a
moment.

As he gets it, you can ask for more.

One of the reasons the vibrating bit
works is because it’s uncomfortable. Horses
don’t like to be uncomfortable. (How human-like)

They will seek comfort.  When they move
the direction you want and you cease vibrating
the bit, there’s the comfort.

Eventually they’ll understand, “Okay…when
I move my chin over here like he wants, then it’s
comfy.  That’s what I’ll do.”

The good thing is it’s not painful unless
his teeth are needing help or if the vibrating
bit is too intense.

http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-kennyscott.html

One thing to be aware of is you must have
patience with this.

DO NOT expect the horse to immediately
understand….

“Oh!…you want me to
move my chin over here?
Okay.  I get it.”

You see, just because “YOU” know what
you want doesn’t mean your horse does.

He has to guess.

Give him time.

With some horses, it will seem like it
takes forever.  You may think to yourself, “Dumb
horse.”

And sure as death and taxes, the second
you give up thinking it won’t work is the very
second the horse did what you asked…or was just
about to.

http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-kennyscott.html

OK…That’s it for today.  Stay safe out there!

Charlie
www.HorseTrainingResources.com

======================================================

One of Jesse Beery’s more famous training aids he
developed was his Pulley Bridle.  He refers to
it multiple times throughout his course.

We have taken his original design and improved upon
it in many ways and now offer what we call the
“Beery Pulley Bridle”.

You can see it here:

http://horsetrainingresources.com/bridle.html

We also offer the bridle and the Beery course
as a discounted bundle if you want both.

======================================================

Posted in General, Horse Training Tips, Horse Training Videos, Horseback Riding | Leave a comment

Why Keep Your Horse’s Head Down?

Posted on March 26, 2009 by admin

   “Why Keep Your Horse’s Head Down?”

If you’re into Western Riding, there’s
a head position that’s desirable for horses.

That head position is down.

Why is that?

When the head is down, it automatically
causes the horse’s back to rise.

What’s so good about that?

It gets them to use their back legs
more.

So what?

It keeps their front legs light and
ready to move.

Thus, when the horse’s front end is
light, they can turn faster and easier.

They’re simply in a more athletic
position to do maneuvers.

If you ever watched a Draft Horse pulling
contest, you would likely see their heads down while
pulling because it helps them get that strength
needed to pull.

Another key point about the head being
down, back up, and light on the front end, is
this is much of what collection is about.

Collection is an important factor in
the horse world.  When they’re using the rear
legs, light on the front, and moving with
balance,…you’re getting collection.

Thus, when your horse puts his head
down we don’t want to take that away from him.

Instead, we want to encourage it.

But what about when the horse puts
his head down to lean on the bit?

Then what?

The first thing to “not” do is pull
his head back up.

If you do, you’re encouraging him not
to lower his head.

If you’d like to know what else to do,
you might want to take a look at the
Kenny Scott horse training video.

Kenny reveals many solutions for various
problems including the one I just described.

Kenny’s a lot of fun to learn from be-
cause he’s got more experience and championships
under his belt than most trainers you’ll meet.

He won the 1997 World in Western Riding.
He’s also placed at the World so many times I’m
not sure I could accurately count them.

He’s also made the finals at the Congress
in Western Pleasure.

Combine his wins with his background in
horse training and you begin to see why he’s
someone to learn from.

Anyway, if you want to know more about
him, click on the following:

http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-kennyscott.html

Remember, the head down is a good thing.

But you might ask, “But what if it looks
like he’s going to buck?  Don’t horses buck with
their head down?”

Great question.

Kenny answers that in his video as well.

http://horsetrainingresources.com/dvd-kennyscott.html

Ok…that’s it for today.  Stay safe out there!

Charlie

P.s. Order anything now and we’ll pay the shipping.
Use coupon code FREESHIP on the checkout page.

======================================================

One of Jesse Beery’s more famous training aids he
developed was his Pulley Bridle.  He refers to
it multiple times throughout his course.

We have taken his original design and improved upon
it in many ways and now offer what we call the
“Beery Pulley Bridle”.

You can see it here:

http://horsetrainingresources.com/bridle.html

We also offer the bridle and the Beery course
as a discounted bundle if you want both.

======================================================

Posted in General, Horse Training Tips, Horse Training Videos, Horseback Riding | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment