horse owner's guide

Sample Our Newsletter
"How To Make Horse Training Affordable," from my FREE monthly newsletter

From the Basic Horse Training Series:

"What you should do: Diagnose the problem and form a plan. Is your horse simply being a pest as you feed him? Or is he literally trying to kill you when you enter the pen? Do you know the difference? Are you looking to improve his transition into the proper lead - or does he have a bucking fit every time you mount up? To put it succinctly, if the horse is annoying, you've got time to figure things out. If the horse is dangerous, you don't. If the horse is dangerous, you don't get on him, you don't get near him. What about the gray area in between? To decide which end of the spectrum your horse falls into ("dangerous, not dangerous") I would advise listening to that little voice in your head and you may need to do so daily. If you're about to get on your horse and that little voice says something's amiss, get back off. I realize that's no "fix," but that's not what this article's about. This is about diagnosing situations, creating plans to remedy the situations, and moving forward.

So, let's break this down. Let's say that there are five different levels you can find yourself facing: 1) My horse is going to kill me today. 2) I believe my horse is going to hurt me the next time I ask for (a lope, a halt, fill in the blank). 3) My horse makes me nervous (when I'm on the trail and he sees something spooky, for instance). 4) When I try to (bathe the horse, bridle the horse, etc.) he gets really cranky. 5) I would like to improve my horse's (lead departure, spin, etc.)."

(sign up | read more)

From John Lyons Trainer Keith Hosman

Round Pen First Steps
A Downloadable Book

A sample from Day 1:

"A final note before we being today's exercise: Remember to pet your horse often. This small gesture pays huge dividends. If you've got a young horse and you can't get near him, then an underlying goal should be to pet the horse as soon as you believe it to be safe for both of you. It's very easy for us to get wrapped up in our work, asking the horse to move immediately from the completion of one step directly to the next - but what happens is that the horse, quite often, begins to become more scared of the maniac in charge, rather than less. If our goal is a calmer horse, one that trusts us, then look for excuses to pet the horse and let him know that, not only is he on the right track, but that he can trust us. Life is peachy when he plays along. Note: Depending on your horse, you may not have a chance to do any petting until Day Two or even Day Three. It's only important that you keep this in your head as an underlying goal: "Petting is important and I want to do it sooner rather than later.""

- Print out from home
- 5 Days, 5 chapters
- Learn at your own pace

Just $5.99

For more info:
this course | all courses

Available Downloads:
"Stop Bucking"
"Rein/Speed" (for Nervous Horse Owners)
"Round Pen First Steps"
"Trailer Training"

Jump to Article Category or Author Ed Dabney Arenas and Footing Barrel Racing Basic Care and Knowledge Basic Training Bedding and Manure Beginner / Novice Riders Bits Boarding, Barns and Stables Body Language Breeds Breeds and Characteristics Business Buying or Selling Horses Camps (Kids/Riding) Careers Clicker Training Dressage Fear (Rider's) Feeding Fencing Footing Gaited Horses Green Horses Grooming Ground Training Hay and Pasture Management Health Hoof Care Horse Lovers Illness Injury Insurance Jumping Lessons Mounting Nervous Horses Nervous Riders Ownership Polo Properties Rearing Relationship Rescue Riding Roping Saddles and Saddling Safety Senior Horses Showing Spurs Stopping Supplies Tack Teeth / Dentistry Trail Riding Trailering and Travel Trainers Training (General) Training Methods Trust Tying / Cross Ties Weight and Condition Young Equestrians
Hundreds of How-To Articles GUEST AUTHOR ARTICLE ARCHIVE (cont'd)

Navigation:  Article Index (pg 1)  |  Previous Page  Next Page

Tell A Friend (click to send them an email)

Link to this Page (click for code and easy instructions)

Find this article faster next time:  

Showing

• 10 Lessons to Survive the Horse Show Circuit
by Kathy Keeley
Traveling the horse show circuit can be quite an adventure, especially when you're traveling with your daughter. Below are 10 "school of hard knock" lessons we've learned...

• 5 Tips for Successful Parenting for Show Moms
by Kathy Keeley
Serving as both parent and partner to the horse showing child can be tough. However, by engaging your child in conversations about lessons learned, new skills acquired, and...

• 7 Strategies to Help Horse Show Parents and Teens Beat the Losing Slump
by Kathy Keeley
Horse showing provides an incredible opportunity for learning important life lessons for both teens and their parents. Sportsmanship, competition, and learning to deal with...

• Choosing The Most Suitable Event For You And Your Horse
by Tania Smith
Competing in events with your horse can be a very rewarding and satisfying experience as it could not only improve your riding skills, but also strengthen the bond between...

• Horse Show Packing Woes: Advice from Savvy ShowMoms
by Kathy Keeley
Packing for shows with our children turns out to be one of the most stressful parts of horse showing. In a recent survey, moms reported that the stress of packing and getting...

• How Show Moms Can Survive the Horse Show Experience
by Kathy Keeley
Teachable moments are all around us every single day in every activity that we do. As a parent, it's important to remember our responsibility as role models to our children,...

• How Showing Horses Has Made Me a Better Parent
by Kathy Keeley
Horse showing creates many opportunities to parent and raise a healthy teenager. Teachable moments are prevalent throughout a horse show, as well as opportunities to practice...

• How to Get Organized for a New Year of Horse Shows
by Kathy Keeley
In late January, we start organizing lists and beginning to plan what has to be done for the upcoming season. We start sorting, cleaning, and reorganizing our show items and...

• How to Help Your Child Set Goals at Horse Shows
by Kathy Keeley
Horse showing provides a great opportunity for young children to watch you set and achieve goals, for older children to participate with you in goal setting, and for teens to...

• How to Prepare For a Horse Show
by Edna X Wilson
When you're getting ready for a horse show, it's always best to have a list of things you need to take with you. Invariably everyone forgets something, so it's best if you...

• How We Moved from Local Shows to Circuit Shows
by Kathy Keeley
Our family became involved in horse showing when we started out in local farm shows and then moved to local association shows and onto regional and national AAA circuit...

• Life Transition from Junior Class Rider to Adult Rider
by Kathy Keeley
One of the major life transitions for horse showing moms and daughters occurs as your daughter ages out of the Junior classes and becomes an adult. My angst began in that...

Navigation:  Article Index (pg 1)  |  Previous Page  Next Page

***
 

Disclaimer: Equine training can be a hazardous activity which may subject the participants to possible serious injury. Keith Hosman, Josh Lyons, Patrick Benson, their associates and other trainers listed on this site will not assume any liability for your activities. Our newsletter, books and videos provide general information, instruction and techniques that may not be suitable for everyone. No warranty is given regarding the suitability of this information, the instructions, and techniques to you or other individuals acting under your instructions.

All Rights Reserved (TM) 2010, horsemanship101.com
No part of this website, including newsletter material and photos, may be reproduced without our express written permission.