Training Thoughts for today...

We are going to begin with Welcome!

As I teach this week, my thoughts have been wondering to why so many horses have been coming through pushy, rude, disrespectful and borderline unsafe to handle when asked to perform any duties. So my blog today will be focused on reminders. Daily reminders to encourage good habits. Every time you are with your horse, you are training them. Good, bad or indifferent. So try your hardest to encourage the good.

1. When feeding treats, don't "offer" them the treat. Just give it to them. When you offer, you invite them to push for it, to seek it out, to "raid" you. Over time, your horse becomes rude and disrespectful around you.

2. Always ALWAYS push your horse away from you in tight quarters. Do not pull your horse into you, encouraging them to drop their shoulder into your space and encroach in your bubble. Absentmindedness around basic ground skills, over time create very pushy habits.

3. Back your horse. A lot! The more you can back them, the better their hips and stifles feel, but also the more respectful they become.

4. When you feed them, don't let them snatch their hay or grain. Make them step back and wait patiently.

Always ask for the best behaviors out of your horses. If you wouldn't let a human get away with snatching food, knocking into your space, crowding you, etc... then why would you allow your horse to?