Young Horse Training Tip #2: Keep Lessons Short
Try it. Give it a few weeks, or even better, a couple of months. You’ll be shocked at how quickly your young horse surpasses the neighbor’s project being drilled for hours a day. It may not make sense to you, nor be the norm at the training facility down the road, but it works. Young […]
Are you listening to what your alpha horse is trying to tell you?
Even with alpha fillies and mares, there’s usually a good reason for an animated objection to a request. It’s rarely because they’re being belligerent. Before you jump to correct a horse for bad behavior, consider what your alpha horse is trying to tell you. If it’s a fair response, let it go and move on. […]
What’s new at Horse Sense and Cents®?
Who hasn’t scratched their heads over the challenges an Alpha can present? This resource will help you customize approaches to get that special, opinionated equine excited about building a partnership.
Having fun with horse blogs and video
Popular horse blogs and successful equine industry businesses are incorporating video into their marketing mix. Early this year I set a goal to learn more on this front and make it a regular component of the Horse Sense and Cents blog.
Alpha horses make you laugh when you reach them
Alpha mares, fillies and the occasional gelding can present some interesting challenges where training and handling are concerned. They also become some of the most loyal high achievers you’ll ever encounter if you learn how to reach them. All seem to have heart beyond the norm, smarts and a willfulness about them that will test your fortitude.
How’s fighting with your horse working for you?
“Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry.” -William Butler Yeats, writer, Nobel laureate (1865-1939) Few seem to have mastered the activity of standing your ground without being combative when it comes to horses. Of course, being insistent isn’t even always appropriate, depending on the […]
Is your horse talk saying what you mean?
The next time you have “a failure to communicate” with your horse, consider what you may be doing to elicit the response you’re getting. Chances are, you’re creating the problem. And if you haven’t seen Cool Hand Luke, it’s worth the watch – and probably one of Paul Newman’s better performances. Might even teach you a thing or two about the power of effective (or ineffective) communications – which certainly pertains to how unreasonable demands can lead to a pugnacious – and sometimes tragic – reaction from your horse.
Zenyatta gets her due
“I came from an industry that sued its fans when they started stealing music through Napster,” he said. “There is sentiment in this business and you have to play to it. It is true in show business and it is true in racing. If you have a horse who gets people in the heart, then they want to come see them and get to know more about them, and you have the Beatles again.”
Starting under saddle with alpha fillies is always interesting: Part 3 and the last of a series
The day I entered the paddock without a cookie and was greeted with charging, teeth bared, kicking and striking is the day I decided to put her into training much earlier than planned. I like to give young horses a week or so to acclimate to the new surroundings and routine before engaging in a serious training regimen, but she earned an early start.
Starting under saddle: horse tales from a trio of uber alpha fillies, Part 2
She was aloof and distracted prior to my hopping aboard on our last ride. In retrospect, the lesson should have ended without riding time. It didn’t, and after some walk and halt work, she started to rear.