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.