Schooling

Will Clinging, solving horse behavioural issues, overcoming equine behaviour issues, equine psychology

If I didn’t trust my own judgment about behaviour I would often take a horse down the wrong path. The corrections I make and the responses I encourage are all based on the assumption that I understand the intention behind a horse’s action. If I misinterpret an action, I could easily reprimand a horse for an unintentional action or inadvertently reward a response that was unwanted.

riding green horse, riding inexperienced horse, will clinging

With the green horse there is also a safety factor that is not always present with a schooled horse. If we do too much the potential for the green horse to react violently is very real, yet to continue learning there must be a challenge to improve every day. The amount of improvement will be different each day, but there must be some.

horser discipline tactics, understanding horse behaviour, understanding different horse temperaments, disciplining your horse

I wrote about how many horses are developing different behaviour patterns because of the affection and lack of effective discipline they receive. I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of people I’ve heard from who recognize that their horse fits into this scenario. Recognizing the problem is the first step in resolving it.

Retraining Thoroughbreds, new careers Thoroughbreds, Barbara Sheridan Equine Guelph, Garry Westergaard, Priscilla Clark Tranquility Farm, thoroughbred career change, Jocelyn Inglehart, Wendy Muir, Jane Avril

Three-year-old Daisy had done relatively well at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, BC. She had won her first race that season, and had placed in many others. When she came home that fall, we decided to breed her. She would have some downtime before going off to the stud farm in early spring. But over the winter, I realized our smart, high-strung filly would need some retraining to reinforce basic manners not only for safe handling, but for her future as a pleasure riding horse.

The speed of horse training differs from horse to horse and from trainer to trainer. As a trainer I am convinced that the slower you train, the faster horses learn. Not only do they learn faster, they learn with confidence.

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Although food rewards can definitely reinforce a riding lesson, in my experience the drawbacks of using food rewards far exceed the benefits. While it is important to reward horses to affirm every correct response, I feel there are other more valuable ways of doing so.

Good Horse Rider Position

By Lindsay Grice - Giving some relevance to the “hows” makes concepts easier to learn. So let’s take a look at some principles of correct rider position and I’ll explain why they work.

riding horses with eyes up, best riding position horses, lindsay grice

A rider can communicate confidence with her eyes and, of course, can pilot her horse much more effectively when she uses her eyes correctly. The eyes plan the destination and often the next stride of the horse.

novice horse riders, find someone ride your horse, improve riding skills, lindsay grice

An inexperienced rider is in the process of learning to keep her hands and legs steady and working independently of each other. This makes her language “chattery” as she attempts to communicate with the horse and he will respond either by becoming oblivious to the rider or by overreacting.

By Will Clinging - Much of what I teach is far more mentally and emotionally challenging than it is physically difficult. There comes a point when we are just plain tired of working and learning, and it can be detrimental to continue training until this mental and physical fatigue has subsided.

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