From John Lyons Trainer Keith Hosman

Round Pen First Steps
A Downloadable Book

A sample from Day 1:

"Stand there in the center, looking ahead. Do not follow the horse by turning your body. The horse is a prey animal. He's terrific at reading body language and assimilating the messages you send. He's programmed to believe that "he who causes the other to move his feet" is the boss. Keep that in mind and stay as still as practical. Listen to the fall of the hooves as he travels behind you. It's funny how they'll try and break their stride behind you at this point, when you're not looking. You actually want the horse to break stride (to slow to a trot or walk) at this point because it hands you a chance to correct the horse and thus tell him "this is what I'm looking for." What you're looking for is for the horse to continue to move – and in the same direction – until you tell him to stop. The horse will most likely try to change direction and that's just fine. Because, once again, it gives us a chance to tell the horse what we expect. Horses that just "happen upon" the right answer haven't learned it as well as the horse who's made a hundred mistakes first. That horse has learned 99 things that don't work and will be better trained in the long run."

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

Just $5.99

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

Sample Our Newsletter
"Reins: 5 Tips to Improve Your Use," from my FREE monthly newsletter

From the Natural Horse Training Series:

"We clinicians teach "handling of the reins" in a particular order and emphasize certain aspects because we repeatedly see a pattern of "universal truths" from one rider to the next. We see this and we see opportunities to make marked improvements fast. Students don't realize how much pressure they're applying, that they never release, that they're actually rewarding poor behavior, etc. They're mad, the horse is mad – and they pay me to put on a black and white striped shirt and blow a whistle. "Stop fighting; go to your respective corners." This stuff is simple – but there's a pattern to it, a flow and rhythm. If you're having issues with your horse – or just want to improve as a rider, give this material a whirl.

You'll find five tips – each with "your handling of the reins" as their focal point – each guaranteed to make your friends at the barn wonder if you haven't inked a deal with the devil. This is the material I cover most often, the stuff I hit the hardest, the concepts I believe to be the most important, the undercurrent running through the rest of our training. While I won't specifically deal with the mechanics of handling your reins, ("Hold them like so") the material covered will change the way you think and so will ultimately effect the way you do hold, release, etc. Bottom line: You'll improve much faster if you first understand the "why" behind the "what, when and how.""

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Pat Parelli
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Richard Shrake
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