How to Train a New Horse

Yesterday was a day to have friends and family out to greet the New Year. One family member hadn't been to our place before. She had a horse when she was a kid, but is just now thinking about getting back to her horsey roots.

As she and her family were leaving she commented on how friendly our horses are and how much they seem to like people. From her comment you may wonder if this is uncommon. Simple answer; yes it is.

Many horses are trained to work for humans, but that doesn't mean they like humans or want to be around them. One of the best trained trail horses in my little herd is just now after nearly five years beginning to think he might like to be around humans; a little bit.

To have a horse that likes you and wants to be with you it is necessary to convince the horse that humans are trustworthy and good leaders. If a horse doesn't know much about people or is fairly green this can be a fairly easy task to accomplish. If, however, the horse has learned that humans are not to be trusted and lousy leaders it may take years to overcome its earlier conditioning.

The best thing to do with any new horse is put it in a safe place, preferably with other horses and for the first week spend any time you are with the horse grooming it. If the horse is thin skinned and touchy use only your hands.

Grooming accomplishes several things with a horse, the least of which is getting clean. The most critical is that by approaching a horse and beginning to groom it you are establishing yourself as a leader. Among horses only a higher ranked horse can begin the grooming process.

As you groom your horse pay attention to the areas that cause uneasiness or even defensive behaviors. The best way to deal with a problem is to rub the horse with your hands until you know exactly where the trouble starts.

For example if you are rubbing and the horse begins stepping away as you try to rub the girth or flank area take notice of just where it starts its objections. Go back to a place you know it is okay with being groomed and then work your way to the problem area. Try to stop just before the horse begins to object. Back off and approach the area again; this time do one quick rub into the trouble zone and quickly retreat to the "good" spot. Repeat this until the horse quits reaction to the approach to that area. Continue grooming, using approach and retreat, until you can handle your horse all over from ears to hooves to tail.

If the horse is ear shy and throws its head too high for you to reach use a fiber glass stick such as Parelli's Carrot Stick or Linda Tellington-Jones's Wand to reach the ears. Put a glove on the end and use the approach and retreat until the horse stands with its head down and relaxed.

The same method can be used if the horse is fussy about having its back legs handled. In this case be sure to have the lead rope in your other hand so the horse will move away from you if it has to move its feet.

This is the first step to creating a good bond between you and your horse. Grooming is critical for the bonding process. Being the one to approach and groom first is going to make you a leader. Requiring your horse to move its feet as you do so reinforces the lessons; especially when you then step into the spot the horse just left.