Horse Training Questions

Today’s horse training question comes from Shiloh:  “I just bought a 3 year old gelding.  He will not move forward in any direction away from the other horse. When I kick harder or tap his hind end he starts to buck and frightens me.  How do I correct this behavior?”

Shiloh, 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.  When your horse won’t leave the other horses, bending him will keep him from bracing and this will also make it very hard for him to buck.

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

Today’s horse training question comes from Scot.  He writes: “I have two QH geldings.  The 10 year old likes to bite the 16 year old on the hindquarters.  How do I stop that?”

Hi Scot, if your horses are just doing this in the pasture when they are turned out together, there is really nothing you can do to stop it.  It is normal herd behavior, and the 10 year old is just asserting his dominance over the other horse.  If he is hurting the other horse, you may need to separate them.  But if he’s not hurting him, just allow this natural behavior to occur.  If he is doing this when you are trying to work with the other horse, or when they are both being ridden, then drive him away forcefully.  When you are working around the horses, this behavior is potentially dangerous to you, so make sure he knows that he can not mess with the other horse when you are nearby.  If needed, carry a longe whip or an extra lead rope to wave at him to get him to move away.

Today’s horse training question comes from Kelly.  She writes: “My daughter is 9 yrs. old with very little confidence when dealing with horse problems. Her horse has lately been “going after” other horses while riding. He swings around and puts his ears back. This terrifies my daughter to the point of hyperventilation. She cries and begs to get off. He’s a big bully but she loves him dearly. How can I help increase her confidence so that she understands SHE has to be the one to correct him?”

Hi Kelly, First I would warn you that having such a young rider on a horse acting agressive is potentially dangerous for both her and the riders around her.  I would consider getting on the horse yourself or having an older, confident rider get on him to tune him up a little and really get after him for this unacceptable behavior.   Then, to build your daughter’s confidence, teach her exactly what she needs to do when he acts this way.  Then have her practice doing it in situations where she is comfortable until she knows the exercise well.  I would teach her to disengage his hindquarters, which will get him stopped and back under her control.  Begin teaching this exercise from the ground with either a halter and lead rope or
your bridle.  Stand to one side of her, and ask her to move her hips over by walking towards her, swinging your rope, etc.  You are looking for her inside hind foot to step across in front of her outside hind foot.  It is very important that the inside hind foot actually crosses in front of the outside hind.  Her front feet should
stop all forward motion when she crosses over with her hind end.  Byasking your horse to step under herself in this way, you are taking away her 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 her back, take your rein on one side, walk her forward, and pick up on the rein, bending her head to the
side and asking her to step under with the inside hind foot.  If she bends her neck but keeps walking a straight line, bump her with your inside leg until she steps over with her hindquarters. I would teach the horse this yourself, then when the horse knows it teach it to your daughter.  Walk her calmly through what she will do if her horse goes after another horse.  She will pick up on one rein (with both hands if needed), kick with her inside leg, and get her horse’s hindquarters to step over.  She’ll pull his head away from the horse he is trying bite.  If he’s trying to kick, then she’ll pull his head towards the other horse, getting his hind end away.  If she has practiced and knows what she needs to do in a scary situation, it will build her confidence.  Thank you for your question, and let me know how your daughter is doing.

Today’s horse training question comes from Joe.  He writes: what diagonal should you be in going to the left or right?  (is a left diagonal ridden when you post up with the left front shoulder?) I’m wanting to know what diagonal I need to be in to pick up a lope from a trot

Thank you for your question, Joe.  I teach people to remember their diagonal with this rhyme: “rise and fall with the leg on the wall”.  The “up” of your post should follow the forward stride of the outside front leg.  When you are out in a field trotting a straight line, there is no correct or incorrect diagonal.  It is only when you are riding a circle that diagonals come in to play.  The reason you post on one diagonal or the other depending on the direction of your circle is that your horse actually pushes you up a little harder on one stride when he is working in a circle.  So your statement above is correct “the left diagonal is ridden when you post up when the left front shoulder comes forward.”  You should be posting on the left diagonal when you are going in a circle with the horse’s left side to the outside of the circle.

Technically, you should sit the trot, not post, as you ask for a transition to the canter or lope.  At the canter, the horse should be on the correct lead, which means the inside front leg will appear to be ahead of the outside front leg every stride.

Thank you for bringing up a good topic.  Have fun with your riding, and please let me know if you have any more questions!

Today’s horse training question comes from Manda.  She writes: “I have a 13 yr old qh mare that has not been worked with much in 2 yrs, (so im told) is she to old and set in her ways to start over with her as if she is a three or four year old?? Please help me before I give up on her!”

Hi Manda, thank you for your question. I believe that a horse is never to old to be re-started.  And I think you are taking exactly the right approach to re-start her as if she is a 3 or 4 year old.  If the mare has some deep seated training problems, the best thing you can do is go back to the beginning and start over building her foundation properly.  If there are specific behaviors that you are having trouble with, please let me know and I’ll be glad to suggest training solutions.

Today’s horse training question was submitted without a name.  “Hi,I have a behavior questionI have a well-trained horse that has been trained to do a whole lot more than I am ever capable of, thanks to a trainer who saw something in the two of us. This gelding just barely ranks under my children:) just barely. I can take him through a round of jumps and then put my seven year old daughter on him and let her trot him around. He is not spooky or defiant and could be described as more lazy than high strung. But a heart of gold. A friend of mine brought her new horse over the other day to take a trail ride. Her horse has some serious issues that they seem to be working through as the mare tries to kick at her while riding, she is using Parelli\’s method and it seems to be working, but throughout the trail ride her horse kept invading my horses space and I moved mine away as I did not want us kicked, though she never tried. My friend was trotting her horse in small circles back at the barn and me and my horse were just standing to the side watching and when they came by my horse laid back his ears and turned his hind end toward her. At first I didn\’t realize what was going on as he has never done this. He is always the gentleman around other horses. I reined him in and the next two or three times she came within 10 feet of him he would lay back his ears. So I got off his back to stand next to him to see this for myself. He is trained to ground tie(when you drop the reins on the ground the horse is supposed to stay put). This time the mare circled within 5 feet and my horse bared his teeth and moved toward her more aggressively. I yelled whoa and grabbed the reins and he was his normal docile self. It seemed as though he was trying to correct this problem mare as she was kicking up and biting at her rider. I can\’t imagine that that would be the case, but was wondering if I should have corrected him somehow for acting so out of character. The woman I was riding with thought he was trying to adjust the mares attitude too.”

This is a great story, and illustrates the depth of personality our horses have!  I think it is entirely possible that your horse was trying to correct the mare’s bad behavior.  However, you are right that his behavior is potentially dangerous and needs to be stopped immediately.  Every time your horse pins his ears at another horse, turn him in a tight circle with one rein and kick him hard in this tight circle two or three times.  Then keep riding as if nothing had happened.  After a few times of this he should stop.  If he doesn’t, start kicking him in a circle and then putting him to work trotting figure 8’s for a few minutes.  You are just letting him know that it’s not what you want for him to do.  He sounds like a sweet, well trained and very intelligent horse, so I think it will not take long for him to get the message that he is not supposed to be aggressive to other horses, even if they “deserve it”!

Thank you for your question, and keep us posted on your horse’s behavior.  He sounds like a special character.

Today’s horse training question comes from Susan (not the same Susan as yesterday’s question!).  She writes: “Well my three year old has a new trick. He has decided that he does not want to go forward, I will turn his head one way then the other in hopes of unlocking him, I am kicking him tapping him with a whip He has decided to start to go straight up I got off, tied the reins to the horn made him work, got back on he did it again, this went on till he was getting so high that I jumped off I then went
got a friend had them lead him with me on his back We stopped, walked turned trotted without any raring I then got off Any suggestions???”

Thank you for your question, Susan.  You are on the right track with your reactions to this behavior, but there is one piece you need to add.  You need to teach your horse to disengage his hindquarters.  This will give you a tool to get him moving again when he locks up, as well as a way to stop him if he starts to go up on you.  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.  If you can’t get him to move, bend his head to the side and bump him with your inside leg (just one leg) until he steps over with the hind end.  When he does, immediately release his head and reward him.  You are teaching him that moving his feet is what you want.  For a while you may just get one step to one side, switch to the other side and get one step, etc.  But this will teach him that you want forward motion while keeping you safe because he won’t be able to to go up since his head is bent.  Also using only one leg to urge him forward will help him feel less trapped and like he has no option but to go up.  The biggest thing here is to reward him for ever ONE little step in the beginning, then gradually ask for more and more steps in a row.  You did absolutely the right thing to get off and work on the ground when you felt you weren’t safe in the saddle.  Be sure to continue doing that if you feel things are not going well.
Let me know how you are doing!

Today’s horse training question comes from Susan.  She writes: “why own a mare instead of a gelding?”

Susan, this is a great question!  And, you will probably get a different answer from each person you ask.  Here’s my opinion: I have been a gelding person my entire life, and just bought my first mare in October.  Geldings tend to be more even tempered, laid back, and relaxed.  However, many people believe that a gelding will never give you as much as a mare or stallion will.  Mares tend to have a more passionate personality, which is both rewarding and frustrating!  Geldings are more likely to get along with other horses, where mares tend to be a little picky about who they will be friends with.  Mares are usually more valuable if they have good bloodlines, because you have the potential to breed them.  If a mare gets hurt so she can no longer be ridden but can still live comfortably in the pasture, you can breed her.  If a gelding gets hurt so he can not be ridden, all you can do is feed him for the rest of his life!  My gelding is even tempered, and you will have pretty much the same ride on him every time you get on.  He doesn’t have “bad days”.  He doesn’t get crabby.  When I was running him on barrels, he would go out and do his job because I asked, but he was just as happy to go on a trail ride or stay in the pasture.  My mare has days she’s mad at the world.  She has days she will do anything for you.  When I started her barrel racing, within a week I had to hold her back through the pattern.  She knew what we were doing, and she wantd to OWN those barrels.  She is passionate and competitive.  But you have to do things a certian way with her.  When I started riding her, if I let my weight shift even slightly off center, she would start zig zagging side to side, as if to say, get it together and ride me correctly or get off, lady!  I love both my horses, and they are polar opposites of each other.  And based on all the other horses I have ridden, I would say Foster and Spice are both pretty far on the extreme ends of the typical gelding and mare personality types.
I am sure others have an opinion on this topic… please reply to this post and share your thoughts on owning a mare vs. owning a gelding!

Today’s horse training question comes from Sydney: “I am finishing my mare who is my first horse I have “trained” My other trainer was helping me but isn’t around anymore to help me. This year for shows I have to use a curb bit and im not sure what type of curb to start out with. I saw my friend useing a tom Thumb for the second time on her colt at a show and I heard that was harsh on a horss mouth but heard I should start out with that. Help!

Hi Sydney!  Congratulations on training your horse to a level where you are showing.  I think a tom thumb would be a fine bit to use, especially if you can find one with a thicker mouthpiece (the thinner the mouthpiece the harsher the bit is).  I believe that the harshness of any bit is determined more by the rider’s hands than the bit itself.  So, just be very aware that you have more bit in your horse’s mouth and use your hands very lightly.

Thank you for your question, and good luck at the shows!

Today’s horse training question comes from Cris:  “my yearling colt started constantly biting and chewing on things even when i am working with him he is always trying to bite me. i have tried the nice way of pushing him away and the mean way of popping his nose, but nothing works. what would you suggest to change this behavior?”

You are already doing the first two things I would have tried.  I have two other suggestions.  One, when he gets all mouthy put your hands on each side of his mouth and start rubbing him vigorously. Do this till he pulls his head away.  Basically you are saying, “ok, you want to be all mouthy with me, give me your mouth and let’s play” until he thinks goodness I’ve had enough of this!  The other thing I would try is start working him in a round pen if you have one, and every time he gets mouthy send him out to work around the outside of the round pen at a trot for a few minutes.  I would use this way first with an older horse, and work them HARD when they got mouthy, but with a yearling you have to be careful how hard you ask them to work.  Thank you for your question and let me know if either of these suggestions help.