train my horse

Well, I bought some wood posts to make a tethering post with. I really want to get started and not wait till spring so this will enable me to start some real basic training even though it’s still winter. Putting posts in the ground in the middle of February in northern Minnesota is not going to be much fun. I’m sure I’ll have to boil quite a bit of water so I can work through the ice and the frozen ground. It’ll be worth it though and it’ll be good exercise. He’s pretty good at haltering and being led but hasn’t had much experience at all being tied, so that alone will be good. I’ll get him used to being tethered, start grooming him at the post and picking up his feet. He’ll need to see a farrier this spring so this will be good prep for that. After awhile I should even be able to start throwing on the blanket and saddle. When it’s warmer out I’ll start spraying him down with water and working up to bug spray, and maybe even an all out bath. He’s always had trouble with fly spray but water is less scary apparently so we’ll just work our way up. As stated we’ll be able to get through and relearn the basic stuff and grow our relationship so when spring does get here, we’ll be ready for groundwork already. :)

As I live in MN this will mostly have to wait till spring. In the meantime I’ll be researching training ideas and I’m going to clean up an old saddle I inherited. My horse will be turning 4 this spring and it kills me that he’s not trained yet. I purchased him when he was a yearling. The first summer I just did some really basic stuff, leading, grooming, picking up feet, etc. The following summer I was expecting my husband and I’s first child and was not going to risk getting kicked so he wasn’t worked with much. Last summer I fully intended to train him, but I found out one of my professors was moving and I had a number of course incompletes with him. So I spent a great deal of time glued to textbooks as I really had to get those things done and they were extremely time consuming. This coming summer however, I will train him. The last couple of summers have had some unexpected circumstances rise up, but if I don’t have him under saddle by next fall I’ll have to make myself sell him. It’s not fair to him; I will not have a horse that is just a lawn ornament

I’ve been doing a lot of ground work with Jack and I think it’s really paid off. On Wednesday a friend rode him on the trails for me. We were out almost 8 hours. Jack bucked a little bit at first and after that, he was great. He needs lateral work but I think he’s going to be great. We went out again today for a much shorter ride but we did more cantering and trotting than we did on Wednesday. My friend is into the natural horsemanship stuff, which I was just introduced to last summer so I am still learning that method. My confidence is up after seeing that it’s not going to be a rodeo ride on the trail. My friend would like to work him 1 or 2 more times then I’ll take over the training. I am very excited! I will be doing lots of trail rides this summer!!!

Last summer I bought a green broke appy from a horse trader. I rode him a few times over the summer months and he is a bucker. I need to get over my fear of being bucked off. I’ve only come off a horse once and it was because she turned right in a gallop…and I didn’t! These fears that begin with “what if” really mess with your mind! He’s great with ground work and isn’t mean. But he is dominant and a bit aggressive. And his blue eye is a bit freaky!!! Now that the nice weather is just around the corner, I am anxious to start working him again.

Cricket will be 4 years old next month. I have trained her to longe (and she does that wonderfully) but I have stalled. She needs to learn to carry a saddle, rider and wear a bit. I have every excuse in the world…I need to just get out and do it.

i have a 2 yr old pure polish arabian , i want to train him to be a eventer

Yesterday a horse trainer/behavorist came over and spent a most facinating two hours with us. It was incredible. She helped me to see when Merry was playing, not aggressive at all. The dogs and Merry broke out into spontaneous play. Really fun!

Today I gave Merry some toys to play with: bucket, tire, tobagon, and a blanket. She spent a long time licking and pulling at the blanket.

I tried out the tail stretching for relaxation, too. Watching her shadow, I could see that she yawned three times. That’s relaxed!

to work with my horse. She’s been very mean lately, I bet it’s because I haven’t spent enough time with her. Winter makes it hard to want to do outside things, if you aren’t an outside in the winter sort of person, which I am not.