Horse Training Success

So here's the first round of top tips from readers. You guys have some great ones! Keep them coming in. And remember to vote in the comments. And get all your friends voting too...

Here goes:



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1.
I have a horse who became scared from an incident in the round pen (involving a plastic bag). He was scared to death. An apple or two got him in the pen again along with a lot of rubbing and talking sweet. In a few days I was able to put plastic bagging around the round pen and have him go in.  But when it came to rubbing a bag on him, he really was not sure! What to do?  Ah, but he loves his apples. So I put apples in the plastic bags where he had seen them and been frightened.  He had to touch the bags to get the apples!  This really worked to get him over his fear!

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2.
My 7 year old Arabian mare was green broke, and I had just bought her a new Australian saddle and pad. The saddle was made to her measurements, and we were ready to ride! After tacking her up and doing some ground work, I mounted and started to work her just at a walk. She was doing well, with a few half hearted bucks, when she started flinging her head around and snapping at flies. I had generously coated her in a reliable fly repellant, so I couldn't understand why they were bugging her so badly. She got so vehement about it, that I dismounted to kill the offending insect, but there wasn't a fly in sight. I mounted again and continued to ride. The fly chasing behavior worsened as she got warmer. I finally ended the session and inspected my gear. The saddle pad I was using had tiny impurities in it that looked almost like grain. Assuming it might be bothering her, I decided to use a different pad for our next ride.

The next ride brought with it the same fly chasing behavior. I was getting frustrated and was wondering if my little Diva might be just throwing a temper tantrum. After a while we ended that session as well. I inspected the saddle pad and saw nothing that looked like a problem. I was at a loss.

As I crawled into bed that night I peeled back several layers of blankets. They were not needed due to the warm evening. I only wanted to feel the sheets against my skin. Suddenly I had a thought. Both of the saddle blankets were made out of wool. I know my mare's skin is sensitive, as is mine. I hate the feel of wool on my body. I itch like crazy and break out in a rash. Could she have the same problem?

I sew, so the next day I looked through my fabrics and selected a thick fleece piece of yardage. I folded it in half and put it on the mare instead of the "real" saddle pads I'd been using. We embarked on our ride, the oversized "pad" flapping in the breeze. Miracle of miracles, there was no snapping at "flies"! We had a pleasant ride and that night I sewed her a proper fleece saddle pad. Now she acts like a lady and we get down to business quickly.

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3.
My tip or story may not seem like much but it works. I whistle when I feed my horses. The horses know when I am on my way to the barn. I start whistling when I leave out the front door. This helps me with catching my horses. I have a few that are more worried about the grass than their supper.

Now when I want the horses at the barn I whistle and they come running. The new horses learn from the older horses to make their way to the barn when they hear me. The kicker is it helps me catch loose horses.

My yearling colt is a wizz at getting out of the fence. Every morning he is out in the hay field (5 lines of hot wire and he still gets out). I whistle and he comes running. It make catching a lot easier for me.  I told a friend of mine about this and she is now doing it too.

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4.
Several years ago, I had the chance to train a colt. I had very little riding experience, and yet I took on a spoiled 8 year old gelding. Call it bravery or stupidity, however I suppose the only difference between the two is how it ends up.

So I began to train this little brat (Leo), and he was always looking for ways to take advantage of me, from walking under trees to going into ditches and bucking. In the beginning, it was almost hard to see who was training who. However, as time progressed, he began to come around, and
eventually because quite dependable.

However one thing Leo had, was a brilliant mind. One day after a ride, I dismounted, and walked into the barn for grain, and Leo walked into his stall, ready to eat and be done.

Now, I am sure every horseman at some time or another has tried to get their horse to come on call. I was at this point, and so I called, but nothing happened. I walked in front of the open stall door, which was a split door, with a hinged panel on the bottom and another hinged panel on top.

I continued to call, and Leo looked up at me, as if waiting for me to come give him grain. I continued to call, and he walked over to his doorway, still very reluctant to leave his wonderful stall.

Finally, with a burst of inspiration and desperation, Leo reached out, bridle and all, put his nose over the lower door, and swung is slowly closed and latched it.

Checkmate.

I naturally had to come and open the door. However, I did have the final laugh a couple of weeks later, when I had Leo trained to go home and close the door behind himself.

So you see, sometimes the things a horse does are annoying, and sometimes they must be trained out of them, but other times, you can use their quirks to your advantage.

It is something small but the small things help too.

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5.
We once had a little 125cm pony. She jumped round 1 metre tracks and was fantastic against the clock. One winter she went out on a break and when she came in she was bucking and refused to jump. We got her back, teeth, blood tests etc etc done and no one could find anything wrong.

It turned out that underneath her headband on her bridle there was a loose stitch which was causing the headband to rub. We got a new headband and, hey presto, she was back to her old self!!

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OK, get voting!  Just go to the comments and say which one(s) you like the most!