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Horse Training: Articles - Page 1

Training a Great Barrel Horse -- In December I was watching the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) when something occurred to me. It is possible to train a really great barrel horse without ending up with a ringy, crazy horse underneath you who barely listens to a thing you try to tell him.
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Cueing Your Horse -- Learning the proper cues for training your horse for a variety of situations is of the utmost importance--and one of the most important things to remember is that every single thing you do with your horse is a cue.
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Working With Nervous Horses -- I've received some letters recently asking how to handle a jumpy or nervous horse. Firstly I'd have to say that probably the most important thing to remember is to stay calm, with any horse, but especially this type of horse.
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Round Pen: The Great Equalizer -- Although many horsemen and trainers extol the virtues of the round pen, many horse owners still overlook just how powerful such a pen can be in developing or maintaining a relationship with a horse. This is a shame because it is truly what I call the Great Equalizer in a horse-human relationship. Perhaps that bears some clarification…
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Patience and Diligence -- The subject I'm writing about is something I have mentioned before, but I believe the importance of it warrants another (deeper) mention. I'm talking about the importance of patience and diligence when training your horse.
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Reaching Horses -- To understand what the best tools are for teaching something to your horse, all it takes is a little knowledge of the things that matter most to him. Again I must go back to my old adage from previous articles-spend time with your horse!
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Sliding -- Teaching your horse to slide is usually a fairly simple process that enhances his abilities and knowledge, as well as your own. One of the great things about the sliding stop is that it gives you, the rider, a much smoother ride when you ask your horse for that stop.
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Turning & Spinning -- Turning a horse properly is such a basic thing, but such an important one. A horse who can turn correctly ("spinning on a dime and giving back change," as the old cowboy saying goes) has a great athletic, not to mention speed, advantage over horses who haven't been taught to do so.
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Sidepassing -- I initially thought that sidepassing was useless for the most part, and used mostly to show off the rider's ability to teach, and the horse's athletic ability (which is one of the pluses!). But after teaching it to my own horses, I realized it can be useful for jobs such as opening a gate without having to dismount from your horse's back.
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Flying Lead Changes -- A lead is simply whatever foot with which a horse is leading his lope or run. For example, a horse is in his right lead when both his right front and right rear legs are "leading" his left, basically coming first, before both of his left legs.
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