Tuesday, January 31, 2012

What are some good games for a nervous horse?

I recently started training a 6-8 year old mare, who is very sweet but has some issues. She is very easily spooked by the wind or new objects, and I've been working to desensitize her. We are just doing groundwork for the next few weeks, and I'd like to get some opinions on what games can help her loosen up and bond with me. Like I said, she is very sweet and already broke but spooks over many normal things as if she's never seen them before.What are some good games for a nervous horse?
Some horses are spooky by nature and will be spooky until the day they die. That said, the best thing you can do with spooky horses is to teach them to obey your commands instantly, (by commands, I mean that you can control every part of her body from the ground and in the saddle, to move in the direction and at the speed you want - all of the lateral moves, etc.)so that they're in the habit of obeying. That way, when she does spook you can instantly control her. The most important thing other than that is for you to be a confident and calm person. Don't tippy-toe or baby her in any way - just act normally and expect her to deal with it. As for "games" - just normal handling, hooking up if you have a roundpen or small arena, any work over ground poles, cavaletti, and the Linda Tellington Jones stuff is fun and good to do, with mazes and poles and stuff. Make sure you can flap blankets and ropes all over her body and over her head. All the normal breaking procedures will help.What are some good games for a nervous horse?
I like to join up with all horses before I so much as do groundwork with them. I go into the indoor ring and unclip the lead rope leaving the halter on. Then I take a long leather lariat and I coil it and toss it at the horses rump to get them moving at a trot on the outside, then I toss again to keep them moving into a canter. Eventually they show signs of submission, head lowering and licking lips, they want to stop and am acknowledging I am the alpha. After they show these signs I stop driving them on and drop the lariat, turning my back. They usually come up to me and follow me around afterwards, and if they don't I send them out on the rail to repeat. It's a good way to bond with a horse and get energy out, while learning valuable natural horsemanship techniques

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