I Keep Pulling, But My Horse Won’t Stop!

My wife has no trouble getting this little stud colt to stop using word commands.

I often have people tell me; “My horse spooked, and when he took off it seemed like the harder I pulled on the reins the faster he ran.” Another common statement is; “When I want my horse to stop I pull and pull on the reins, but she just keeps going!”

Let’s put things into a little perspective.

First, think about how much you weigh. Now consider that the average horse weighs somewhere around 1000 pounds, give or take a couple of hundred pounds. Considering this, is it really feasible that you can stop him by pulling on him? In reality there is nobody who has the strength to pull hard enough to cause sufficient pain to make the horse stop.

Second, one of the main driving forces of a horse is his survival instinct. This instinct is so strong; when a horse is spooked his brain becomes obsessed and focused on saving himself from what he perceives as danger. Because of this driving force, when a horse is spooked the pain from pulling on his mouth can actually be converted into adrenaline. Pain becomes nonexistent; fear for his life overrides the pain. Subsequently, the harder you pull the faster the horse may run.

With the preceding thoughts in mind, we need to understand that the reins do not make the horse stop, they are used as a ‘cue’ that signals the horse to stop. Therefore, if you have not trained your horse to stop with that cue, pulling on the reins means nothing more to him than if you had asked his favorite color.

We will not cover all of the ways to teach a horse to stop, just some of the basics.

Personally I like to teach the verbal command ‘Whoa’, and I teach this at various energy levels so that my horse knows that any time he hears ‘whoa’ he is to stop. I do this so that if we are just casually walking I can merely give a quiet “whoa” and he will stop, or if we are running or at any other level of speed, and I want him to stop I can give a louder cue, and he will respond the same.

When I first start training a horse to stop at the word ‘Whoa’, I do it from the ground. While I do introduce ‘Whoa’ to the horse during the initial round pen work, the real work comes during the leading. While I am leading the horse around, I will say “Whoa” and then stop. Initially the horse will want to take one or two steps after you stop. While a little run through is to be expected, if you are consistent, your horse should learn pretty quickly that ‘Whoa’ means stop. Once he figures that out he will stop at the word cue before you actually stop.

Once you have your horse trained to stop at a walk, then you progress on to a jog and then a run. Remember to do all of this training from the ground before you ever get on his back. However, once you have your horse trained to the cues from the ground then you mount up, and train the cues using the word, then as a cue enforcer use the bit. Remember to always train your horse at a walk, and then increase the momentum a notch. Your horse should know and practice each cue fluently at each level of speed before you move up to the next level.

One last thing to remember is that you need to train both sides of your horse’s brain. That means when you are doing the ground work, you MUST train from both sides of the horse.

And one more last thing, and this is one of the most important things, ‘Whoa’ means stop. It doesn’t mean slow down. It doesn’t mean halt for a second. It means stop, don’t move, stand perfectly still. Don’t ever use ‘Whoa’ to mean anything else, pick another cue for slow. Personally I like to use the word ‘Easy’. With that cue I can get my horses to slow down in degrees, almost like down shifting in a car.

Next time we will discuss the much talked about “One Rein Stop”.

Goodbye until next time. Enjoy your horse, and Safe and Happy training.

Getting Your Horse to Come to You (PART 3)

In parts one and two we discussed round pen training as part of a system of methods for getting your horse to come to you. I refer to this part of the training program as the “respect and confidence exercise”. While this is an important step in training, there are additional steps that you can take that do not require the dedicated time that you must put in once you start a training session.

Not everyone has the ability to go out and spend an hour or more each day with their horses. In today’s world most people are very busy, and that creates a problem when you own horses. Horses are much like children, they need daily attention. Especially if you want them to be something more than pasture ornaments.

When teaching a horse to come to you, there is one method that I have found that is both quick and effective. When I feed my horses, I will stand by the feed and pet the horses and talk to them, so that they become familiar with my presence. This is also very useful with a problem horse that won’t come to you. As long as they refuse to come up to you and let you put your hands on them, they don’t get to eat.

It has been my experience that even the most stubborn horse will break down with in fifteen minutes or so. After all, their driving forces are food and safety.

If the horse is very stubborn and refuses to let me touch him, I will drive him away from the feed, until he lets me approach him and pet him at will. Usually this does not take very much time.

After the initial work is done, and my horses will let me approach, I make a habit of hanging out for at least two or three weeks strait for fifteen or twenty minutes during each feeding time just petting and taking to the horse. It doesn’t take long for them to accept you as a natural part of the herd, and talking to them creates a link of trust and comfort with the sound of your voice, and this will help you out in other situations when you are out riding, but we will discuss that in later posts.

One other thing that I always do when I go feed the horses is call them to me before I put the feed down, so that they learn to respond to my call not just the food. It doesn’t take them long to associate your call with being fed. So if you call them before you feed them, they will learn to respond to your call, and you will usually have them waiting for you before you even get to the gate.

When you are short on time, there is one more thing that is very helpful in getting your horse to enjoy being with you, and wanting to come to you. Sometimes when you halter him, just let him have some oats and curry him for ten minutes or so, then put him back. One of the quickest ways to teach a horse that you are no fun is to make him work every time you get him. You need to teach him that he will have fun with you, and soon he will race down the pasture to greet you as soon as he sees you coming.

Until next time,

Safe and Happy Trails

Response to Reader Comment

This is a starved and sick little colt that my six year old saved at the livestock auction.

I am sorry that I have been absent for a couple of weeks. We had a small family crisis, but now everything is back to normal.

With my last post we got a comment from Callie. It goes as follows:

“Curious, what you think....I had a little filly once that I received with the purchase of her Momma. She was 10 months old and un-weaned and never touched when I got her. I worked with her up until she was about 2 1/2 years old, with the help of my farrier, a cowboy in his own right. He taught me a little something for leading. It worked like a charm and at a certain point, she followed me everywhere. I would put pressure to lead her towards me, when she came on her own, I would put my hands up gently and low and say "whoa". When she extended her head towards me with ears forward, I would gently touch her nose once and praise her. He taught me this. She was leading well in no time. What do you think? Just curious.....”

Callie, I use a slight variation of this technique myself, and it does work.

Thank you for sharing this with us, I believe that a person can never have too many “Tools” in their horse training “Tool Box”, and this is a good one to keep and use when you are training your horse.

I welcome your comments, and please, if you think I am neglecting something I would love to hear from you.

NOTE: I was using this basic technique on the colt in the picture above. In the picture he looks very gaunt and sick, because he was. We got him from the livestock auction the week before. Nobody would buy him because he had an injured leg and was almost dead from starvation. Our precious little six year old raised her hand and said that she had a dollar in her pocket, and asked if she could buy him. The auctioneer told her that if she promised to take him home, and take care of him she could have him for free. She has lived up to her word; she is out there every day working with him. His leg has completely healed, and he is starting to put on weight. We thought that he was going to make a good pasture buddy (That is the name that she gave him), but he is looking like he just might make a good riding horse.

Getting Your Horse to Come to You (PART 2)

A WORD OF CAUTION regarding round pen work:

Start off by rewarding any turns towards you by backing off. However, once the horse appears to have the idea, only back off if he turns and faces you with ears forward. If the horse puts his ears back at you, send him out and drive him around a few more times until he shows the signs of submissiveness. If a horse is putting its ears back and threatening you as it turns toward you, it is important that you don't back away as this shows the horse that he is in charge. Only release pressure if he faces you with ears forward.

We will review the round pen process, and go through it step by step.

In step one we start by making the horse move around the pen, or pasture. Keep the pressure just behind the front shoulder and apply just enough pressure to keep the horse moving. You may need to swing a rope or training whip to keep him moving. Keep the horse going in the same direction for a few turns or laps of the pen. Don't worry if he wants to canter or trot, but you will want to keep him as calm as possible.

In step two you will have the horse change directions after a few laps by stepping ahead of him and into his line of travel. If you block the horse, he will change directions usually by turning into the fence. Remember not to get too close to the horse’s hindquarters as he makes his change of direction, because he may kick out if you are too close. Once the horse has made his change in direction, move back to the middle of the pen and let him move a few laps in that direction.

Step three is essentially a repeat of steps one and two. You will drive him around the corral in the new direction, applying only enough pressure to keep your horse from stopping or changing directions. Let him do a few laps in the new direction, then change the direction again by stepping ahead of the horse and into his line of travel. Repeat this process of changing direction a few times.

In step four you will need to pay attention to which way he turns to make the direction change. If your horse turns toward the fence, apply pressure to encourage him to move, and keep him going. Conversely, if he turns toward you, release pressure by backing away to show him that is what you are looking for. After a few changes of direction the horse will start to notice that you release the pressure when he turns toward you.

Step five is the point when your horse will stop instead of changing directions. He will probably still be out near the fence, but he will look at you. Timing is very crucial in training, and especially so here. Make sure you back off immediately and allow him to stand for as long as he wants. Further remove pressure by lowering your eyes from him. If your horse walks or turns away, go back to driving him a few laps and then making a change of direction. If he just stands there, then let him rest. After a few minutes or so of rest, walk to the middle of the corral and gently drive him forward again. When you make another change of direction, the horse should now stop and look at you. Immediately back off the pressure when the horse stops and looks at you.

Step six is just repeating steps one through five, making sure you let the horse rest whenever he stops and looks at you. Soon you will see him licking his lips and chewing while he is standing there. He will even lower his head and sniff the ground. This will be your sign that your horse has learned that if he stops and looks at you, then you will release the pressure and leave him alone.

When your horse has got turning and facing you down pat, you can move to a seventh step and drive him at a trot, and make a few direction changes. Be sure to back away and release pressure when your horse turns toward you and slows or stops during the change in direction. Soon he will begin to turn his entire body to face you when he stops. Always release pressure and leave him be whenever he stops and faces you. The response we are looking for is for the horse to turn and face us instead of running away.

Some key points to remember in all your training methods:

Make sure your horse is relaxed and successful at each stage before you progress. The horse should practice at least 3-5 times correctly at each stage before you increase the criteria. The pressure you apply to the horse should only be enough to make him think about solving the problem. This could be just your presence and focus, or it could mean swinging a rope or training whip. In part 3 we will discuss some other possible methods of letting your horse get comfortable with your presence.

TO BE CONTINUED …..

Getting Your Horse to Come to You (PART 1)

As a follow up on my last post, I am writing an example of how to cure the problem that I proposed there. It is important to remember that not every strategy will work on every horse. Pay close attention to your horse and make adjustments to its particular needs and personality.

The first priority you must have is to get respect from your horse. You need to create a situation where your horse wants to be with you as much or more than it wants to be with the herd. In all training, it is important to understand that you have to have patience. You must work on the horse’s schedule, because if you try to rush the training you will inevitably have to repeat it.

What you need to do before you start anything is break your problem down into individual steps that you can then use to create an appropriate training strategy.

The first step will be to get your horse to come to you. I like to start in the round pen. If you do not have a round pen or access to one, you can do this in a corral or the pasture you keep your horse in. Remember to remain open in your thinking, and understand that you may have to adjust your techniques to suite each individual horse and situation.

Without a halter or any other restraint, start your horse moving around the pen. Stand just behind the shoulder, and apply pressure. Always start with the least amount of pressure, and work up to just the amount of pressure it takes to get your horse moving. Some horses will start moving with just the pressure of your presence, if that doesn’t work raise your hand toward the horse. You can hold a whip, a coiled rope, or just the halter in your hand for a little added pressure. If that doesn’t get your horse moving add a little more pressure by shaking the whip, rope, or whatever you may have in your hand. If it is needed you can throw one end of the rope toward the horse.

It is important not to hit your horse in this exercise. You are just trying to get him moving, you don’t want to create any fear.

As he is moving around the pen, have him stop and change directions every couple of turns, always observing his expression. Observing his expression does not just mean watching his face. You need to pay attention to the whole body. Is his tail relaxed? Is his body curved to match the round pen, or does he exhibit a defensive posture with his jaw or rib cage pushed out to you?

You will be able to tell when he is looking to hook up when his ear is pricked toward you and he will start licking his lips. When that happens, you want to back off the pressure. Take a step back and open your leading shoulder by turning slightly away from him.

Your goal here is to get him to stop and turn to you, but initially you will want to reward even the slightest look. Eventually he will turn to you and walk right up to you. We will finish the round pen training in the next post, so come back as we learn to have our horse” LOVE TO BE CAUGHT”.

TO BE CONTINUED......

Focus on Training.

If you talk to any ‘Life Coach’ or ‘self help guru’, they all tell you the same thing. You will achieve what you focus on. It doesn’t necessarily matter what you WANT to achieve, what matters the most is what you focus on. For example, you may want to be a successful business person and make lots of money, but if you are always focusing on how poor you are and how much you hate your life, that is where you will be.

This same principle applies with horse training as well. Instead of focusing on all the things your horse does that you don’t like, it is vital that you concentrate your focus on what you want the horse to do.

You start by envisioning the behavior that you want your horse to exhibit. You need to break this down into the specific movements and correct sequence that your horse will have to make in order to accomplish your goal.

An example could be; my goal is to be able to call my horse from the gate of the pasture, have it run to me, stick its head out for the halter, lower its head so that I can fasten the halter.

This goal describes plainly the precise actions that I want the horse to perform. Having a clear definition of what you want your horse to accomplish will help you to lay out a proper training program, or sequence, so that you can realize your goal. It will also make it easy for you to identify all the steps that you will need to train for.

Conversely, “My stupid horse always runs away from me, and never lets me put the halter on!” A statement of this sort automatically places a negative process on your thoughts, and is counter-productive to your end goals. This style of focus and attitude is not conducive to finding training solutions, or creating strategies.

Analyze the previous statements, how might they each influence your ability to train your horse effectively?

Always strive to ask better questions, establish clear goals, and don’t forget to appreciate every effort your horse makes.

Safety First!

Safety should always be your ultimate goal in horse training, and the only way to ensure the greatest safety is to properly train your horse.

Now nobody can guarantee perfect safety with a horse, after all they are still animals. And being animals, horses are still ruled by their instincts. So your goal is to train or reprogram your horse to the point that they look to you for guidance instead of relying on their instincts.

One of the most important things to remember when working with your horse is: NO TWO HORSES ARE THE SAME! That is why it is so important to continually build your “Toolbox” of horse training techniques. Remember, what works with one horse does not necessarily work with another.

While horses are very similar in their nature they are NOT identical. Therefore, if you've been trying something on a horse that's not working, but it did on a different horse, this may be the very reason.

You see, some horses learn to trust you quickly and never buck. Conversely, others will test you to the very end. The trick is to know your horse and what he'll do. You need to outsmart him and prevent the bad behavior before he starts it. This doesn’t mean you need to have ESP or anything of that nature, it just means that you need to use foresight. You will not be able to train your horse for every situation you may encounter, but you can train him to as many situations as you can think of.

All the horse training principles I will post here will not apply to every horse in the exact same way. Just as people are different, so are horses. Therefore, rather than attempting to use the same technique or method on every horse, you can almost always discover the best way to deal with each particular horse.

The biggest key to safety is beginning by understanding how horses think and react. Learn all you can, and remember - Knowledge is Power!

I am writing this blog with the intention of sharing my knowledge about horses, and hopefully have others share their insight and knowledge as well. I feel that you can never know enough about your horse, and I know that we can help each other by sharing our knowledge and experience. I look forward to reading your comments, and I hope that I can add to your treasury of information.