As soon as he does something I don't want him to do, I'm going to replace that action with what I want. I don't discipline for what he did as much as, in my mind, think about replacing it with something I do want. If I don't want him to stand here and paw, then I'm going to ask him to move. If he wants to fight with his head, then I'm going to wait for him to soften up. If he wants to paw, as soon as I feel him even think about laying down, I'm going to
Any time we work with a horse, it behooves us (pun intended) to break things down and make our lessons as simple as possible. Of course, take this sort of advice to an extreme, spend too much time on minutia, and you may never get the horse in the trailer. Every situation naturally begs for a judgment call on your part as to which steps are necessary. The information covered in Days 1 through 3 gives you the process that I follow for most horses. Should you find yourself with a horse that's proving to be a challenge and you know that you didn't skip any of the steps outlined, then this segment (Day 4) will provide a few additional steps you might take.
Due to the fact that trailer training can be so ... well, boring, I find that it helps when I'm "extra objective." I'll stay on my game by being careful to count how often something happens, then see if I can't get "one more" the next time. First, making a game out of the process keeps us from turning into a zombie. Second, "quantifying" keeps us honest: If I've instructed you to do something 200 times, you're less likely to cheat your training. Third, counting removes any guess work and tells us when we've reached an impasse. For instance, the horse puts four feet in but leaves four inches of hiney hanging out 204 times, tells us we've reached a plateau. It says we need to change things up to continue improving.
- Print out from home
- 5 Days, 5 chapters
- Learn at your own pace
& lead directly to your country's eBay site for current listings of related products selling near you
Find this article faster next time:
Issue One, Part 2 of 5
How To Get Your Horse's Attention:
Recognition, Response, Control
A "give" is three things: recognition, response and control. First, a horse has to recognize the signal from the trainer, which is pretty simple. It could be anything: it could be picking up the rein, it could be putting your leg on the horse. That's your signal, your "cue." He first has to recognize that. Second he has to respond to it and third, he has to give control of that part of his body over to you. Remember: Recognition, response, control.
Getting Your Horse's Attention CD
• Simple and positive ways of saying no
• motivate your horse
• get his attention
• get respect & trust
• see more
Horse trainer or not, I could walk by my horse all day and he doesn't have to even recognize that I'm here and it would be a waste of my time to ask him to do anything. But if I took a stick and started poking him, then all of a sudden it becomes a whole lot more important to the horse that "I'm here." When you ask a horse to do something, a lot of other things are going to draw his attention and it's important that you become more important, no matter what it takes. As the trainer, the horse has to fully recognize that you're there. That's important, otherwise, you can't get to the next step: You can't get him to respond in a certain way.
You've all heard that you want to get your horse's attention first. That's nonsense. We don't care about the horse's attention; we really don't. When I ride, I don't expect the horse to think about me before he does something. Have you ever been on the trail with your horse when he did everything you wanted him to do? What were you doing? You were looking around, talking to people, enjoying the ride. Did you care for even one moment what your horse was thinking? No, you didn't, because he was doing exactly what you were asking him to do. You didn't care what he was thinking because there he was, walking down the trail, turning right when you asked him to turn right, stopping when you asked him to stop. You didn't care at all what he was thinking. You care when the horse either does or does not stop when you ask him to stop or turn when you ask him to turn. Getting his attention is a bi-product of training, of improving his performance. The better your horse stops or turns when you ride out on the trail, for instance, the more of his attention you get and the more control you have.
When you first go out to ride, you're not going to have your horse's attention. Your horse is going to be looking at all the other horses and looking around the arena or objects on the trail. You're not going to have any "attention" whatsoever. We don't need his attention; all we ask is his performance. We need him to turn right when we ask him to turn right and to turn left when we ask him to turn left. As you ride, concentrate on making those turns better because, again, as the turns get better you'll get more "attention."
Disclaimer: Equine training can be a hazardous activity which may subject the participants to possible serious injury. Keith Hosman, his 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) 2009, horsemanship101.com
No part of this website, including newsletter material and photos, may be reproduced without our express written permission.
Get the performance and relationship with your horse you desire. We'll automatically let you know when a clinic's coming to your area when you sign up for our free training newsletter, (upper-left sidebar, this page).
There are certain products that every long-time Lyons fan carries in his equine tool kit. They're the "gotta haves." Here are a few essentials - as recommended by this John Lyons Certified Trainer, Keith Hosman.
