Natural Horsemanship: Things To Do?
March 30th, 2010
I’m hopefully free leasing a Rocky Mountain Horse. He is a gelding, and 2 and a half years old. I want to earn his trust so that we can bond and he will work with me not against me. Im going to meet him for the first time in a couple days and I would like to use as much natural horsemanship on him as possible where he is young. If anyone has any ways I could earn his trust or natural horsemansip things I can do please post it.
Thanks.
It is much better if you can find a certified NH trainer to work with you on this. If you can’t afford a trainer, then there are many good instructional videos made by a variety of NH trainers who can take you through the many good ground exercises that accomplish the trust and bonding you are looking for. Each trainer has his or her own NH methods, so you can search for one that appeals to you the most. The methods are founded in the same philosophies, and just vary in how they are carried out by individual trainers.
March 30th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
It is much better if you can find a certified NH trainer to work with you on this. If you can’t afford a trainer, then there are many good instructional videos made by a variety of NH trainers who can take you through the many good ground exercises that accomplish the trust and bonding you are looking for. Each trainer has his or her own NH methods, so you can search for one that appeals to you the most. The methods are founded in the same philosophies, and just vary in how they are carried out by individual trainers.
References :
57 years with horses
March 30th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Join up, join up, join up! It is a natural horsemanship method created by Montey Roberts. It works on every horse, no exceptions. It forms a bond based on trust and respect. I do this with all of my horses- and they both come running when I call them, they trust me under saddle, and on the ground. I bought a two and a half year old colt last summer(even though I was 12, lol), and I did this about twice a week with him. When I was doing groundwork with him, backing him, and starting him under saddle he ALWAYS respected me as his "leader". He was very trusting in new situations such as plastic bags, puddles, ect. I would do join up, then I would introduce a few things each day. Again, join up is a great way to earn a horses trust. My instructor teaches it to all of her students in their first lesson, and it’s fun to watch their faces when the horse follows them by their side without a rope, and some of them will even trot or canter beside you. Also, if you are looking for groundwork ideas, i’ve got some. I went to a clinic on horse starting last october (natural horsemanship), and it uses the pressure/relase system. One of them is you place your hand on your horse’s poll, and you push their head from side to side, and when they lower their head- immediatly relase and praise. If they raise their head- do it again. When they hold it for 5 seconds or more, you can move on. It teaches them to move away from pressure. Another good one is backing up. I like to use a rope halter with the leather end at the lead rope- they work the best. Stand in front of your horse on the right side, and set the rope in between your rope and your pointer finger. Hold the slack in your right hand, and raise it. Start with a light tap on the horse’s shoulder (like feather light), and start backing up. If your horse doesn’t back up, give a harder tap. I will tell you exactly what this man told me. If you start at a 10 (hardest tap), and your horse doesn’t back up, then it just won’t work. You need to start with a "pre warning" (raising your right hand so it is horizontal from your hip bone. Then give a light tap, and get increasingly harder until your horse backs up. Usually the horse will back up on the first or second tap. Do not continue to tap the horse when it is backing up. When the horse has backed up about 5 steps, stop YOUR feet, and release the rope from your left hand but keep it with you in your right hand- allowing the horse to drop its head and "submit". I think the best thing for you to do is take a clinic about starting horses with natural horsemanship. It is better to be shown to you with an actual horse than to describe it on the internet, lol. Even if you don’t have a horse trainer or anyone to help you train your horse – like me- you really just have to know the basics and go from there. If you have some horsey friends that have young horses then ask for advice from them. Good luck! Remember that there will be days when everything just totally sucks and doesn’t work- it happens all the time with young horses! Don’t get discouraged, and set your horse up for success, not failure, so make it very clear of what your expectations are. Here are links on join up. Hope I helped!
Montey robert’s site: http://www.montyroberts.com/
How to do join up: http://www.wikihow.com/Join-Up-With-a-Horse
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Im training a 3 year old colt
experience!!
March 30th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Naturalhorsemanship means acting like a horse. Since it is your first time meeting him, you won’t have a lot of time to use a lot of natural techniques. The most important thing to do is spend non-demanding time with him and lots of good rubs and scratches. Don’t be concerned with dominance or teaching. Just nice leading walks to grass and nice scratches all over. Find his ’spot’. Scratch his withers like other horses do. See if you can rub the tips of his ears. If you can, rub his gums! The ‘friendly game’ is the basis for all horsemanship. It is what makes a horse run to the fence when they hear your voice. All I have to do with my stallion is call "Where’s my baby?" and he comes running! Spend time being with him, not asking him to do things. The ‘doing things’ comes later. Have fun!
References :
horse owner and trainer
March 30th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
So many great things to do and I agree with both writers.
I have looked at a lot of different natural horsemanship methods, Parelli is my favorite. Here are some blog articles I wrote about simple things to do with your horse:
http://learninghorses.blogspot.com/2007/12/sniffing-curiosity.html
http://learninghorses.blogspot.com/2007/01/daily-things-to-do-with-your-horse.html
If you can get your hands on a Parelli 7 games video (a recent one), start there. It has all the foundations of natural horsemanship. Physical pressure, driving pressure, desensitization, etc.
Learn the 7 games and learn them with every obsticle you can think of, be creative and safe and never stress out your horse. Take him everywhere and help him feel safe.
I sold a 5 year old horse last year to an 11 year old girl. I had him since birth, did everything natural horsemanship with him. He developed that bond of trust with his new owner and they do everything together, bareback, in halter and he is always a gentleman.
And just an aside: Don’t worry about his gait too much right now. You’ll have choices to make when he goes under saddle. Everyone has different opinions, that is just mine.
You are on the right track!
References :
Apprentice IJA judge, 8 years paso fino experience, 7 years NH study, Official Level 1 Parelli
March 30th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
NH is just based on using horse psychology instead of fear or force or pain.
That means, you need to know what makes a horse tick. You need to hone your skills in timing and feel to know what to do and when and how….
It’s not just "go do this and that" and your horse will be your buddy forever.
Horses live in a pecking order world. You need to study on how to become the leader and earn that position and keep it. It’s a minute by minute deal.
2 Days isn’t enough time to do this. 2 years is more like it.
1) get lots of NH info….Clinton Anderson, John Lyons, Chris Cox, Craig Cameron, Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Bill Dorrance, ….
2) study it and go test your skills on a BROKE horse first. You’re going to make a lot of mistakes and a 2 year old unbroke horse isn’t what you need to practice on….unless you are willing and determined to do things right and not rush.
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