Using Basic Training Concepts To Control Your Horse
It happens all the time. I get dozens of questions about how to fix a whole lot of problems from very basic to more advanced, complicated issues. I’d say clearly 90% or more of them are solved by going back to the basics.
The two main factors you have to work with when training horses is Memory and Habit.
Most horses act through instinct and habit, which is associated with their memory of what they learned earlier. This is, in fact, one of the great characteristics of the horse – his uniformity of conduct in everyday life. Once trained he will almost always do the same thing over and over under the same conditions.
First, just like kids, mine at least! :>) , no training of the horse will take place until you get his attention. Second, you must make him understand what you want him to do.
To be successful in training a horse, you must base the results on reward and punishment – reward him for doing the right things by stroking him on the neck, rubbing him between his eyes, a gentle word, etc. Any punishment for doing the wrong thing must happen immediately after he does it – never later. Never, never abuse a horse. There are no situations where abuse of any kind is either justified or profitable.
You must also be sure you never punish a horse for something that is out of his control. For example – if you have a horse that kicks because something is hurting him or if he shys at something because he is afraid, then you shouldn’t punish him. But if you have trained a horse to do something by command and he fails to do it, then make any punishment swift, but appropriate.
Again, just like kids, different horses respond to different handling and correction. Some are very high-strung while others are more docile. Each one requires different handling. You can refer to the extensive work Jesse Beery has done to classify the dispositions of horses and how to handle each type.
Never loose your temper while training a horse – when you do so you’ll not be gaining anything and most likely will be confusing the horse. Put the horse in the stable or out to pasture until you cool down.
Once you understand how a horse thinks and perceives threats you’ll understand how to overcome his fears. Understand his senses and the division of his brain. Understand that you must train him from both sides, front and back since there is no communication from right to left in his brain. The horse cannot reason. You can.
Training the horse is developing good habits. In the process of training and rewarding the horse for doing the desired thing, you are developing good habits. However, when you have a horse that continues to react negatively for certain things then you must bring the horse into subjection. Jesse Beery goes into this at length and describes how to use various halters, ropes and fittings to do so. By showing the horse that you have complete control over his movements and can harness his strength and control him at will, he will finally come into subjection and not forget it.
Many people have looked at the 100 year old writings of Jesse Beery and his training methods and don’t ‘feel like it is for today’s horses’. I have had a couple books returned by some that just don’t get it. The facts are clear: horses simply have not changed in the 4,000 or so years man has been using them. To even suggest that the effective, proven training methods that were so successfully used over 100 years ago and taught to literally thousands of horse owners were not useful today is utterly ridiculous.
If your horse has ANY bad habit – such as kicking, bucking, shying, you can’t pick up his feet, etc… then Prof. Jesse Beery’s methods can cure it – and he shows you how in detail how to do it.
One thing that gets frequent comments from the Beery methods is throwing a horse to bring it under subjection. Prof. Beery shows you exactly how do it safely and under what situations it should be done. HOWEVER, I’d dare say that less than 5% of the horse owners in the world would ever need to do so. And in those situations, the horse would most likely be of no benefit to anyone until they did.
This is getting too long… I apologize. My points from above are this: learn the basic training methods using the simple techniques presented by Jesse Beery. Please do not discount the value of his methods just because they are 100 years old. Look at how successfully the Arabians trained their horses using very similar methods thousands of years ago…. And folks – it still works and is still very effective.
I urge you to take a serious look at the Jesse Beery Illustrated Course on Horse Training and see for yourself how his methods can help you take control of your horses in all situations.
Thanks again.. have a Great New Year in all your pursuits!
Sincerely,
Charlie
