Here’s today’s horse training question, which was submitted without a name:  I have a 4 1/2 yr old paint that has had 30 days of riding and about a year of ground work. he has been at the trainer for 45 days and did great the first 3 weeks and then every time the trainer would get on he would pin his ears back and buck or try to buck. the trainer would turn him in circles really quick then he would stop, then they get off of him and lunge him for a while then get on him and he would do great. the next day she would do the same thing but he wouldn’t buck. but, the next day he would do the same bucking scenario again and she would do the same lunging thing again. Now after 2 weeks of that routine she works him really good before getting on him and he blows up every time she gets on his back but she straightens him out and he’s good for a while. sometimes they run, gallop down the road and he will just start bucking and she whips him around in a circle and he does good after that. she says he’s trying to get one over on her but that she would not be able to rely on this horse for me if i didn’t want to have to be on guard all the time. what do you think his problem might be?

It’s hard to tell without seeing the horse when the problem is intermittent as you have described.  However, here are my thoughts:  It’s strange that he was fine for three weeks and then started this behavior.  What did the trainer ask him to do that was new right before the behavior started?  Was he asked to lope under saddle for the first time?  Did she start riding him with spurs?  Try to think of anything that might have changed in what she was doing right before the problem started.

The other thing I would look in to is if something is hurting him and causing him to buck.  I wonder, since it started after he had been under saddle for a little while, if his back is sore, he’s got a chiropractic issue, or if the saddle is pinching him.  Does he buck on the line when she’s longeing him, or just when she gets on his back?  If he only bucks when there is weight in the saddle that would make me think it’s pain in his back that is causing the issue.

Watch the trainer work with him and see if you can see anything different she is doing right before he blows up.

I hope these suggestions are helpful, let me know what you find out and from there we can try to do some more troubleshooting!

Today’s horse training question comes from Ann.  She writes:

I have a beautiful Reg Clydesdale that I show at halter. He stands at home here nice and still for fifteen minutes or so but when we bring him to the fair in the ring he wont stand still. He disrespects me by standing on my feet etc. and prances around. Last time the Judge just walked by my horse because he was so misbehaving. The Judge later told me to hobble him at home for an hour a day. Somehow that doesn’t seem right to me. Any suggestions?

Ann, I agree with you that hobbling is unlikely to solve your problem.  While it may teach your horse that he HAS to stand still, my goal would be to teach him to WANT to stand still out of respect for you and a desire to please.  It sounds like your horse stands when he’s comfortable in his surroundings, but when he gets to a show there is too much going on and he gets excited and nervous.  I would recommend adding as many distractions as you can at home to simulate a show environment.  Hang some flags, invite some kids over and ask them to play loudly next to the pen, turn up the radio, etc.  I don’t know specifically what kinds of distractions crop up at the shows you attend, but you get the idea.  Then, work with your horse.  Put him on a longe line or in a round pen.  If he gets nervous and won’t stand, that’s okay.  Just send him out, and ask him to trot fast circles for a few minutes.  Then, give him the opportunity to come back to you and stand quietly.  If he takes it, that’s great.  If not, that’s his choice.  Send him out and have him trot fast circles again.  What you are doing here is giving your horse choices, but making it very clear what the easier choice for him is.  Soon, he’ll decide that he would rather stand next to you and rest than he would trot circles.  You could also try getting to the shows early and practicing this exercise until he is calm and focused on you.  Let us know how this works and if you have any other questions!

Thank you for your horse training question!

I have a coming 4yr old Tennesee Walking Mare she is so spooky and she was supposed to be a dead broke mare when i bought her what can i do to start her to behaving a nice horse she got so scared she pulled away and stepped on me.

Amina, I would go back to foundation exercises for your mare, specifically a horse training exercise called sacking out. 

Sacking out is getting your horse used to having all kinds of things around him and touching him. I use it when I am starting a colt for the first time, and it’s a very valuable exercise to refresh if you have an older horse that you don’t know the background on, or a horse that seems to be getting nervous and jumpy like your mare.

To me, sacking out is not about de-sensitizing the horse. I want my horse to be sensitive; that is what makes him very responsive. Sacking out is about teaching my horse to control his emotions and make the right choices when he gets nervous or scared.

Put your mare in a pen, preferably a round pen but anything that is not too big and is safe will work.  You want your horse to stand still and calm while you rub her all over, starting at her head and covering her neck, back, legs, hips,  and belly.  Start with just your hands and work up to scarier objects, like a saddle blanket (start with it folded small and gradually unfold it) and I like to work all the up till my horse will let me drape them in a tarp.

Remember to release the pressure regularly by taking the scary object away and stepping back from your horse. This is the real key to this exercise.  Try to time it so you step back BEFORE your horse moves away of his own accord.  Reward him when he does well, and if he moves away at any point just send him around the pen to work for a little while, and then offer him the choice to come back to you.

Thank you for your horse training question, and please let us know how you are doing and if you have any questions about this exercise.

Remember, top priority is always your and your horse’s safety, so if you are feeling unsafe try to think of another way to do things!

I have an 11 year old gelding that is very smart and gentle. He is great for just walking and trotting. Once you ask for him to canter, he starts bucking. He will also buck when lunging. What can I do to stop the bucking?

I recommend that you teach your horse to disengage the hindquarters. This will give you a tool toimmediately stop him when he bucks or spooks. Begin teaching this exercise from the ground with either a halter and lead rope or your bridle. Stand to one side of him, and ask him to move his hips over by walking towards him, swinging your rope, etc. You are looking for his inside hind foot to step across in front of his outside hind foot. It is very important that the inside hind foot actually crosses in front of the outside hind. His front feet should stop all forward motion when he crosses over with his hind end. By asking your horse to step under himself in this way, you are taking away his ability to brace against you. Once your horse will disengage the hindquarters on both sides on the ground, teach it from the saddle. Once you are on his back, take your rein on one side, walk him forward, and pick up on the rein, bending his head to the side and asking him to step under with the inside hind foot. If he bends his neck but keeps walking a straight line, bump him with your inside leg until he steps over with his hindquarters. If you are in a situation where you think your horse is going to buck, you can bend his nose right around to your knee in the saddle and kick with the inside leg to get him to disengage the hindquarters. Once he will do this exercise easily and consistently at the walk, teach it at a slow trot. As you are comfortable, increase the speed of your trot till the horse is almost going in to a lope. Just when he is about to lope, disengage the hindquarters. When you can get him to disengage his hindquarters at a fast trot and you are ready, ask him to lope. If he bucks, immediately disengage the hindquarters, kick him in a tight circle 2 or 3 times around, and ask for the lope again. Repeat this until he will lope off without bucking.

Thank you for your horse training question, and please let us know how you are doing.

Today’s horse training question comes from Tia.  She writes: “I have a 3 year old gelding I am working with and he is just getting over his head shyness. It used to be near impossible to get a bridle on because he didn’t want you touching his ears and face. However, he is finally getting over that problem, but now when I go to take the bridle off he wants to rub his head on me in the process. This makes it hard to get the bridle off easily and smoothly. I usually hit him with the heel of my hand on his neck when he does and then try and proceed to get the bridle off, but I am afraid he might start to become head shy again. Do you have any suggestions on how to stop his annoying behavior and get the bridle off smoothly? Thanks.”

Tia, first off, nice job getting as far as you have in helping your gelding get over his head shyness.  When he tries to rub his head on you when you are taking the bridle off, I think he is trying to hurry the process.  What I’d like you to try is every time he starts throwing his head around, hold the bridle exactly where it was when he started moving his head.  Don’t continue taking it off until his head is quiet.  You don’t have to punish him, just stick with him and try not to let him get away from the bridle until he holds his head still.  You can even slip it back on over his ears if you are having trouble holding it in place part way.  What you are trying to communicate to him is that the bridle only comes off when his head is quiet.  He will eventually learn that he actually gets rid of the bridle faster when he holds his head still.

Thank you for your horse training question, and please let us know how you are doing!

Today’s horse training question asks:  “I have a Percheron mare that I just got about a month ago after losing my mare in foaling. This new mare is about 7 years old and has a 3 month old foal at her side. She is saddle broke and has a very pleasant personality. The problem I am having with her is that she is used to using her weight and size to push people around. Her prior owner was afraid of his large hoses, though he had several; his attitude was “don’t make them do what they don’t want to”. I want and need respect from this large horse. I have contemplated using a stud lead to sharpen her up but I don’t know if this is the best way or not. She has responded somewhat to a rope halter but is still willing to ignore requests especially if food is near by. Any ideas what is the best training solution as I suspect this will prove to be a tendency in all areas of her work.

You are absolutely right to want control over this horse, and I agree that her pushy tendency will probably carry over to other areas of her work.  Draft horses are interesting to work with… they have been bred, in many cases, to push (into a harness and collar) so I think that pushyness is more common than with saddle horses.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t teach them to lead lightly and respectfully, though.  You can’t pull on her hard enough to stop her when she wants to go somewhere.  However, what you can do is direct her energy.  Instead of adding more pressure to her head with a stud chain, I would get a lead rope that is 10-12′ long, preferably with a popper on the end.  When she starts to pull you somewhere, ask her to respond to the lead rope and if she does not, drive her hind end rather than pulling on her front end.  So drive her hind end towards whatever she was going for, which will automatically point her head away from it.  Also, remember to give her a chance to do things on a little pressure before moving to a lot of pressure.  This will make her lighter over time.

Keep us posted on how she is doing and thank you for your horse training question.

Today’s horse training question comes from CD: “I have a horse that only lets kids ride him, about 50 lbs. He won’t let me ride him, but I can do anything else with him: groom, bathe, lead, halter, clean feet, saddle, back with little presure, etc. The only thing he doesn’t like is the bit, but he will take it with some fuss. He lowers his head for his halter, and comes when called in the pastue. A trainer told me to gradually put bigger kids on him, but I can’t do this. I wan’t to know how I can ride him without being thrown. I can’t ride out his bucking. He use to let an adult ride him, but he threw her a lot and then he switched hands and wasn’t messed with for a few years. I was told she had a real attitude with him. He was real skittish when we got him, and he didn’t like men. He has calmed down a hole lot. I have tried round pen work, and as I said, I can do anything with him but ride. How can I ride him without getting thrown, and without being rough with him. I mess with him every day, and as soon as he sees me he nickers/neighs and comes to me. I do not want to break his trust. I want to fix this problem, but I do not want to hurt him or me. Hiring a trainer is out for now. Anyway the trainer I talked to said I could do it. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks”

My guess is that your horse has some physical problem, maybe a chiropractic problem with his back or something else that is causing him pain when someone heavier than a child tries to ride him.  Reading your question, it sounds like your horse loves you and trusts you.  And since he doesn’t ever buck with kids on him, that makes me think he is dealing with some physical discomfort when a heavier rider gets on.  I would start with an exam by a veterinarian you trust to determine if the problem is physical.  Then, if the vet finds no problems, I would check the fit of your saddle (I assume you’re using a different saddle than the kids are) to see if it is pinching him and causing the bucking.  Let us know the results of these exams, and if there are no physical problems causing this we’ll address it from a training perspective.

Today’s horse training question comes from Chris.  He writes: “my two year old horse I just purchased has been started with basics I tried riding him but he won’t move.  He just stands trys to cow kick my boot.  Do you have any tips for me?”

Hi Chris, this is actually a very similar problem to the one Shiloh wrote in about a few days ago.

To correct this problem teach your horse to disengage the hindquarters.  This is what I teach each time I have a horse who won’t move forward off my leg, and I teach it on the ground before I get on a colt for the first time so they will have a way to understand what my leg pressure means the first time I get on them.

Begin teaching this exercise from the ground with either a halter and lead rope or your bridle. Stand to one side of him, and ask him to move his hips over by walking towards him, swinging your rope, etc. You are looking for his inside hind foot to step across in front of his outside hind foot. It is very important that the inside hind foot actually crosses in front of the outside hind. His front feet should stop all forward motion when he crosses over with his hind end. By asking your horse to step under himself in this way, you are taking away his ability to brace against you. Once your horse will disingage the hindquarters on both sides on the ground, teach it from the saddle. Once you are on his back, take your rein on one side, walk him forward, and pick up on the rein, bending his head to the side and asking him to step under with the inside hind foot. If he bends his neck but keeps walking a straight line, bump him with your inside leg until he steps over with his hindquarters.

Thank you for your horse training question!

Today’s horse training question comes from Billie: “It’s been awhile but, I was recently given a very sweet 4 year old gelding. The previous owner recomended using a martingale or tie down because he has been known to rear up some. I have been riding him and have not had this problem but since we are still getting to know each other I have not pushed him. I do know you are supposed to circle them in case they do. What do you think would be best?”

Hi Billie, You are right, it is effective to turn your horse in a tight circle if he tries to rear up.  In addition, I would teach your horse a cue to put his head down when you touch the rein, so that if you feel he is going to rear up you can ask him to lower his head, which should avoid the problem altogether.  To teach a head down cue from the rein, you can start either on the ground or in the saddle.  If your horse does tend to rear up you might be safer to start on the ground.  Put pressure on one rein (not both) and just hold it gently.  You are waiting for your horse to lower his head, even a fraction of an inch.  As soon as he does, release the rein and pet him.  Repeat this process (it will take many, many repetitions!), asking your horse to put his head down a little further each time.  I like to teach my horses this until I can get them to drop their nose all the way to the ground.  If you start teaching it on the ground, just use a hand position that will be similar to where you’ll be holding the reins when you are in the saddle, so you can transfer the exercise easily when you start to use it riding.  Thank you for your horse training question!

Today’s horse training question comes from Barbara.  She writes: “My horse doesn’t like to stand still for rainmaker application. Any suggestions?”

Hi Barbara, I’m assuming you are referring to the Rainmaker hoof dressing.  Start by just brushing your horse’s feet with a dry brush.  Ask him to stand still, brush his foot once, and then pet him and walk him off.  Gradually increase the amount of brushing time between rewards (petting and walking off) until he will stand for you to brush all four feet.  Now, use the actual brush with the hoof conditioner on it.  Repeat the process if he seems to get fidgity again now that there is something being applied to his feet.  Or, he may not notice the difference.  Basically you are teaching him that all you want is for him to stand still.  You are reinforcing this by rewarding him very frequently at first.  I like to use a dry brush because it means you are not wasting any of your product while you train, and if your horse is fidgeting because the dressing feels funny or smells funny a dry brush gives you an easier start as you get him used to the feeling of having something moving across his feet.  Thank you for your horse training question!