Why Difficulties In Horse Training A Good Thing
I'll never forget one of the first horses I trained by myself.
I could not have picked a better horse to give me problems.This horse was slow to motivate.
He was very much his own "person" so to speak and was going to do what he pleased...at least...that's how it seemed.There are plenty of horses in this world that will move when you want them to move.
In fact, some horses can be so nervous it takes little effort to get them moving in the round pen.
In a way, they almost train themselves.When I was first training this horse he moved slowly and not very deliberately.
Teaching him to drive was very difficult because he just wasn't going to move for me.The first time I put a surcingle on him and attached the lines he had no more intention on moving forward than an elephant with no legs.The lesson I was teaching was to move forward.
When you want your horse to move then, obviously, you want him to move...not stand there.
A typical way to teach moving forward and associating the action with a command is to get behind your horse and to the left a little.
Then give a slight pull on the left rein, then say "step" or "get up" and tap him on his rear end with the whip.Most every horse I worked with, this technique worked well.
But the technique failed with this horse.
Whenever I tapped him on the butt he would either stand there and blink his eyes or he would turn around and just look at me.
To the trained trainer it may seem he was balking.
In fact, that's what I feared was happening.
The next thing I tried to get him moving was a hog slapper.
A hog slapper is a small pole like aid with a handle on one end and two pieces of leather on the other end.
When you slap the leather end against your boots it makes a loud slapping sound.It was the loud slapping sound I was hoping would motivate the horse to move.
Here's what happened.Nothing.The horse didn't take any steps forward to get away from it.
It scared him a little the first two or three times I slapped it on my boot, but that's all it did.Frustrated and bewildered I wasn't sure what to do next.I began to analyze the situation.
I knew the tap with the whip wasn't working so I didn't need to repeat trying it.
I knew the hog slapper didn't work so I didn't need to repeat that either.So I asked myself, "What can I use to motivate this horse to move?"
I got the answer from Jesse Beery.
Jesse Beery, a famous horse trainer from the 1800's, taught training a horse to drive in much the same way I do it.
Even the tap on the rear end with the whip is the same.
In teaching a horse to overcome fears and desensitizing him to sounds, Beery prescribes using metal bowls strung together like a wind chime on rope.
These bowls make quite a racket when you shake them.
Used as Beery describes, they are extremely effective in horse training.So I thought these noise makers would motivate my horse to move.
After all, they are loud and obnoxious when they clank together and make noise.So I tacked up the horse, grabbed my noise maker, and tried again.
As I was fumbling with the lines and the noise maker trying to get situated, I nearly dropped the noise maker and it made a pretty good racket.
Almost the second it rattled, the horse moved away from it.Immediately I had a glimmer of hope that this was my answer.So I tried it all again.
I gave a slight pull on the left line, I then said "get up", and then I rattled the bowls.The result?Nothing except the horse raising his head and looking behind him a little.
But I knew that meant I was getting his attention.So I tried it again.
This time, he took about 3 steps forward and stopped.
I was thrilled.
I walked up to him and rewarded him with a caress.
Then I stepped back and did it again.
It wasn't long before I didn't have to use my noise maker anymore.
All I had to do was say "get up" and he'd move.
Not only did he move, he moved with energy.
Although this horse was very frustrating I must admit I am grateful to him.
Why?
Because he taught me valuable lessons.The first lesson I relearned was patience.
The second lesson was that not everything will work on the same way on every horse.
This was a lesson I already knew but it was reinforced.The third lesson learned was to reexamine what I knew about horses and use that knowledge to get him doing what I needed him to do.
That's why I tried the noise maker.
I knew certain noises frighten horses so I decided to manipulate his fear with the noise maker.
I also knew to be careful not to terrorize him.
After all, you want to use as little of that kind of motivation as possible.
Only use what is just enough.Fourth, he taught me to keep looking for an answer because one exists even though I didn't know it at the time.Fifth, if I ever run across another horse that's hard to motivate to move,
then I will pull out my noise makers because it worked before.
As I patted myself on the back for coming up with the noise maker idea I was actually feeling grateful for having such a difficult horse.
I realized having a difficult horse was a great teacher to me - and I have absolutely loved having difficult horses since..
How To Use Horse Training Thinking To Solve Dang Near Any Problem With A Horse
Horse training can be a relatively mysterious subject to people who have not studied it.
Even more mysterious is a behavioral problem a horse has that causes his owner stress and frustration.What many horse owners don't understand is often the handler, not the horse, is causing the problem.That being said, that is the first consideration in unscrambling the horse's ill behavior.
For instance, a common problem riders have is a horse being spooky.
In layman's terms, that means a horse is nervous and afraid something is going to "get him".
Thus, whenever the horse and owner go for a ride it's not usually a relaxing moment.
As a matter of fact, both horse and rider are on edge.So if we take the premise that the rider is causing the horse to spook, then we must ask, "How is the rider causing this."An uninformed rider may not be aware that perhaps he is sitting tensely in the saddle.
Also, maybe he's stiff as a board and has a white-knuckle...
Horse > How To Use Horse Training Thinking To Solve Dang Near Any Problem With A Horse
horse-racing-tips
There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to betting on the horses. Some people believe that it's impossible to profit in horse racing. Some believe that all you need to do is bet the favorites. Still, others believe that the only way to make money is to bet the huge long shots and pray for a miracle. All of these thoughts are false.
You can make money betting on horses, and you don't need to pick favorites all the time or bet on miracle finishes often.
Here is a juicy piece of information for you. The favorite wins the race (thoroughbred racing) about 33% of the time. Therefore, if you simply bet the favorite, you will be losing 67% of the time. Since favorites don't always pay too well, you would end up losing over the long run.
Still, money can be made betting on favorites. Each race is different. In some races, the favorite might be an even money favorite. In others, the favorite might be a 3-1 favorite.
How you bet is just as important...
Horse > horse-racing-tips
Horse Training Voice Commands
To the uninitiated, voice commands for the horse are nothing more than words.
But to the horse they are only sounds.
Obviously, horses cannot speak our language.
Since they cannot speak our language we should think through what we say to them when we want certain responses from them.Take the word "whoa" for instance.
I have no doubt this is the most abused word in the human/horse language.
When the rider says "whoa" then the horse should know to stop.But the problem is this.
Often the word "whoa" is said when the rider wants the horse to slow down...not stop.
Before you know it, the rider has conditioned the horse to slow down at the word "whoa" instead of stopping.
Then the rider can't understand why the "stupid" horse won't stop when he says "whoa!".Telling your horse a command when you mean for it to do something else is lying to your horse.
You never lie to your horse because the results you get will...
Horse > Horse Training Voice Commands
Horse Racing Betting, The Risk Free Way
You may or may not of heard of all this talk about been a change to horse racing betting where you can bet on horse races risk free.Yes that's right, Risk Free!Now this isn't some bogus system that gives you one horse that is guaranteed to win, it isn't even like normal gambling. It's more like trading as you are betting on more than one horse in a race even all of them.I hear you saying how can I make money betting on every horse in the race?Because of the competition between bookmakers and now the rise of Betfair there prices are all over the place. One horse can be 4/1 with one bookmaker and 7/1 with another.Every bookmaker is trying to get customers by giving away free bets, the best prices etc. They do this by making a couple of horses in a race better priced and then advertising it. If every bookie does this you can make a profit very easy.The idea is that you place the right amount of money at the right prices so that no matter what horse wins the race, you make a profit.Sounds...
Horse Racing Betting, The Risk Free Way
Horse > Horse Racing Betting, The Risk Free Way