From John Lyons Trainer Keith Hosman

Round Pen First Steps [Downloadable PDF version]
A Downloadable Book

A sample from Day 4:

"From here, you'll capitalize on small improvements, continually approaching, petting for ever-extending periods of time, turning and retreating. Ask the horse to place two eyes on you, approach, pet for a moment longer than the time before, turn on your heels and walk away, totally relieving any pressure. Read the horse here: If you feel he'll yank his head away at three seconds, stop petting at two, turn, walk away. If he begins to move away (his feet), ask for a turn back towards you, get both eyes, and try again. Continue in this manner, slowly moving from the horse's nose to the top of his head, to his neck and so on. Make sure, especially with a green horse, that you keep well clear of those back, kicking legs, (stand just in front, and slightly to the side, of the horse's shoulder)."

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

Sample Our Newsletter
"How to Teach a Horse to Pivot on Its Hindquarters," from my FREE monthly newsletter

From the How to Teach a Horse to Pivot Series:

"Teaching a horse to turn or pivot on its back legs is easy with this step-by-step guide.

Questions answered in this article: How do I teach my horse to pivot or turn on its rear legs? How do I teach my horse to do a reverse-arc circle? How do I (begin teaching) neck reining? How do I (begin teaching) a reining spin? How do I improve my horse's steering and balance? How do I (begin teaching) a horse to move its shoulders?

Other related exercises you should work on: Three-Step-Stop, Steer the Tail, The Clockwork Exercise (Visit horsemanship101.com; surf to the Article Archive, search the page for those titles. Each can be printed out for free.)

You teach your horse to pivot (turn) on it's hindquarters one (or both) of two ways: by concentrating on moving a foot or by concentrating on moving a shoulder. The mechanics are simple for both, really: focus on a body part, make it move. Both methods have the same challenge: The horse must stay soft (relaxed) and moving forward. You'll pay more attention to the shoulders when teaching movements like a reining spin; you'll focus more on the feet when teaching "steps," such as sidepassing. In a general sense, it really doesn't matter which route you take to teach your horse to pivot on its rear legs - and in the real world, you'll undoubtedly use "a little bit of everything" by the time you're horse is finished. We'll discuss primarily shoulders in this article. To learn how to place feet onto specific spots, study and practice the Clockwork Exercise. (The Clockwork Exercise is also excellent to teach the back up, backing at an angle, diagonals, sidepassing and the like.)

As you read this, be thinking of how you would use the steps to teach related movements: neck reining, spins, shoulder control in general or how to improve things like your steering. Becoming a better horse trainer is simply a matter of building (and carrying in your head) a more robust set of horse-training tools. Think of each simple concept as a "widget." Collect enough widgets and assemble them into whatever suits your fancy: a horse that spins, a horse that steers more easily, a horse that moves away from a fence before crushing your knee and so on.

This time I'm going to start with a caution because I really need to underscore the importance of certain concepts before you even start"

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