Zen Horse

Training Tip of the Week
Why Start in the Round Pen?
By Clinton Anderson


Round penning is a great tool when it comes to training horses because you can get the horse to use the thinking side of his brain without over stressing him, making the learning process as easy as possible for both you and the horse. Below, I’ve highlighted several advantages of the round pen and why no matter what stage of training your horse is in, he can always benefit from round pen training.

Teaches your horse to catch you.Before you can train a horse, you have to be able to catch him. If you can’t catch him, you can’t teach him anything. I like my horses to be able to basically catch me. Meaning that they give me two eyes, yield their hindquarters and face me. Then I can put the halter on them and get on with the lesson. If you can’t catch your horse very well, how is the rest of the lesson going to go? Not good because the horse is always going to be trying to avoid you or running away from you showing you two heels.

You are not connected to the horse.Anytime you are connected to a horse through a halter and lead rope, you’re a lot closer to him. The closer you are to a horse, the more vulnerable of a position you are in. If a horse goes to kick at you, run over you, or do something disrespectful, the chances of you getting hurt are a lot higher since he’s close to you. I always recommend that people with dominant and disrespectful horses start out in the round pen for that reason. The round pen puts a little bit of distance between you and the horse. By working the horse off line, I can stay a little further back and still be able to establish the basic fundamentals.

Gets the horse’s feet moving.In order to get a horse’s respect, you have to move his feet forwards, backwards, left and right and always reward the slightest try. The more you can move your horse’s feet forwards, backwards, left and right, the more respect you’ll get. The more the horse moves your feet forwards, backwards, left and right, the pushier and more disrespectful he will become. A lot of horses that are pushy and heavy can’t actually canter with a halter and lead rope around you without dragging you off your feet. But in the round pen since the horse isn’t connected to a line, he can canter. The round pen fence will keep him on the circle, not you. When you free up a horse’s feet and get him to move forward, his mind frees up as well and his resistance disappears.

Happy Trails,

Danna

P.S.
I know I am. This week riding a week long pack trip into the Sierra's. Good friends, good horses, outstanding vistas and trails, doesn't get much better than this.