Zen Horse

We have all had a horse that wouldn't pay attention to us because he was distracted by his herd mates. When all your horse can think about is being with his buddies, it’s not a good situation for training. Rather than trying to work him when his mind is on the others horses, get him as close to his herd mates as possible and work him there. When you work a horse in an area that they want to be in, eventually they don’t want to be there anymore. Try to create a situation where he doesn't feel comfortable with his herd mates but feels comfortable with you. Work your horse in the pasture with his mates around just like you would work him in the arena. After about 20 minutes of exercises, when he starts to get tired, take him away from his herd mates by about 300 feet. Let him rest there, and when he has gotten his air back, walk him back to his mates in the pasture and work him again.

Do lots of circles, bending, canter in and around all of the other horses. I mean really make him work. When he gets tired again, canter him away about 600 feet or so and let him rest again. Pat him and show him it is nice and easy to be with you. After about 10 minutes of resting or until he is not breathing heavily, repeat the procedure. Each time you ride away from the horses to rest, go further and further out of site until you can’t see the other horses. By this stage you should be getting strong feelings from your horse that he really doesn't want to go over to the other horses, because this means he will have to work. The more he thinks being around the other horses isn't much fun, the more he won't mind being with you and away from his buddies.

You make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult. It is just like us, we don't get excited to be near people that make us work really hard, do we? All you did was give him a choice: if you want to be with the other horses, life is difficult. If you want to be with me, life is easy. Get the point? Repeat this for 3-4 days or until you get it really solid in the horse’s mind that being near his friends isn't any fun and being with you is the better deal.



Clinton Anderson's tip of the week.

Happy Trails,

Danna