Having confidence with your horse can come down to many things, but being in control on the ground with them is one of the first places you can start. It sets you up to have control everywhere else with them. If you’re in control, they relax.
Today’s video gives you three exercises to start you off with your groundwork control and give you confidence.
- How to lead your horse properly.
- How to get your horse to bend properly.
- How to get your horse to lower their head.
These exercises seem simple but they go a long way in helping you to…
- Getting control of your horse
- Getting respect from your horse and,
- Getting your horse to relax
These exercises will teach you to ask for, and receive, gentle submission from your horse that will allow them to be confident with you, and in turn give you more confidence with them. Here’s some points to remember when executing these exercises with your horse, but be sure to watch the video as there’s a lot more detail in there!
To lead properly you need them to be:
- Walking between their head and shoulder
- Not dragging
- Stopping when you stop
To get them bending and yielding the hindquarters you want to:
- Walk them in a circle around you
- Keep inside bend
- Shorten the inside rein and bring your hand up to the saddle
- Ask for them to yield while in that flexed position before releasing the rein.
To get your horse to lower their head on command you need to
- Place your hand on their poll
- Apply gentle pressure downward
- Release the pressure when they lower their head
Watch the video, where I go into much more detail on each exercise, while working with Claire, a horse who’d been with several trainers before coming to me and used to just run over the top of me! These exercises have helped me turn her into the calm horse you see in the video!
