any suggestions on breaking a horse ????

Question

I have experience riding but i have a horse that is 19 mths. old and I would like to break him myself but have never done this before. What would be the best approach?

Answer 1

I train horses for a living and I would highly suggest that you find a local trainer to help you with your horse. Some trainers will help insruct you in the proper method.
If you really wish to do this by yourself then I suggest you start with tons of ground work. Start with teaching your horse to lunge; you may need to use a lunge whip or lunge stick. When working with your horse lunging start using verbal cues to walk, trot, canter, and stop; this will help you when you progress to riding. Always make sure that when you lunge your horse that you stay centered in the circle and behind their shoulder. When you wish to reverse your horse bring them to a halt, step slightly in front of your horses head, and ask them to resume forward motion. Always start your horse in small circles and move them outward as they progress. You can then start putting on a bridle; make him wear it while lunging (do not lunge off of the bit- put the bridle on over your halter). I would suggest using a smooth mouth loose ring snaffle. I would also teach your horse to tie at this time. Put a ring up in his stall or anywhere with good shade and tie him for ever increasing time periods (start with 10 minutes). Do not tie your horse all day without water. Then you can start sacking your horse out. Use a small enclosed area and a long lead (8-10 ft). Take an old feed bag and start by rubbing the sack all over their body until they are calm; then progress to lightly hitting (hitting is not a good word as you do not want to hurt him; but I am drawing a blank on another word I could use) them with the sack over their body. Sacking your horse will help desensitise them to noise and anything bumping or hitting them. You are now ready to saddle- start by putting on the blanket and walk your horse around a couple of circles, then put the saddle on (easier said then done sometimes) and cinch the girth (do not overtighten), and lunge him for 5-10 minutes. I would do this step for at least a week. I forgot to mention that you might want to lunge him until he is very relaxed for the first couple of times you put on the saddle. Then you can start tying his head- put the saddle and bridle on and take the left rein and tie it to the stirrup so that his head is slightly bent to the left and take the right rein and tie it to the horn so that there is slack in rein from the horn to the bit. Step back and ask him to walk- he should walk in small circles to the left; after 10 minutes redo this step but to the right. This step helps teach your horse to turn; so you do not have to fight with them while you are riding.

The next step I would very very highly reccomend that you have someone (trainer or someone with horse knowledge) help you. While someone holds your horse (start with halter and lead only) put your foot in the stirrup and put weight on it, then take your foot out (repeat this step at least 10 times), then pull your self up halfway and then get down (repeat 10 times), then go up but not over (repeat 10 times), then go up and put yourself over the saddle on your side or belly take your foot out of the stirrup, and then have the person leading ask for 1 step then stop (wait and repeat until horse is relaxed), progress to more steps until horse is walking calmly , then mount your horse and have the person leading take 1 step and stop (repeat until horse is relaxed), progress to more steps until horse is walking calmly (you may also wish to have the person lead him at a trot). Most horses will only get through some of these steps in one session; please take your time this may take days, weeks, or months depending on your horse. You are now ready to add the bridle and to teach your horse how to ride. Always start your horse in a small area (round pen or small paddock).
Also remember that you are training a 19 month old colt; his bones are not fully developed yet anything over a trot can seriously damage him physically. Spend most of your time teaching him to turn, bend, stop, and back. Do not trot him more than 10 minutes in a session and only 1-2 times a week until he is at least if not over 2yrs. Even then you need to be careful of not overriding till he is over 3yrs old.

Answer 2

I know someone who is successfully breaking in his mare and he has never done anything like it before.

It all about trust and a connection with your horse, seems you know the horse well, you will have a connection with it and it will have trust in you.

But its not an overnight job, it does take heaps of time and patience.

You may benifit from some research on natural horsemanship to get some ideas,but dont let anyone tell you you need to be cruel to be kind, most horse breakers are very cruel.

Just slowly introduce it to the bit (you mat even be able to teach it to ride just with a halter) and the saddle but everything you do you need to make it an enjoyable experience for the horse, or it may scar it mentaly.

Good luck with it, if your horse trusts you, thats all you need.

Answer 3

Good for you! The bond you and your horse will have will be unmatched!!
You want to first start with some groundwork. Begin by teaching your horse how to lunge, and teach the verbal cues of wal, trot, canter, and whoa. You can even teach him to back on command.
After this, work on teaching him to stand still while being saddled. And teach him to carry an o-ring snaffle. If you have another broke riding horse, pony the young horse while saddled. Take him on trail rides, to rodeos, etc. At rodeos, barrels races, whatever the event is, just tie him to the trailer and make him stand quietly. Manners are the biggest key to a good horse.
After he's calm and quiet under saddle, then start ground driving him from behind, using the reins to enforce your turns and whoa and back.
Once all of the ground work is done, you'll gradually start adding weight to the saddle. Good luck!!

Answer 4

I agree strongly with ncamedtech. Work closely with your trainer or get on with somebody that breaks colts, but it should be a professional that starts your horse. Not only for your own safety, but to make sure your horse is started right. This is the age that he will be deciding whether he enjoys working or not. Also, 19 months is too young to be riding. All breeds vary, but i train Arabian horses and I don't ride ever until their 3 year old year. Even at this point, I simply get them used to the idea of saddle & rider, and don't get down to business until they are 4 and have had a chance to develop structurally.

Answer 5

The best way to do it is have someone who has done it before. If you have to do it yourself read books, ask professionals, and take it slow. Only do 25 min to 35 min sessions a day, otherwise your horse will get bored. Do new things every day but never get mad at a horse. Horses remember all the bad things that happen to them and sometimes remember good things. Treat the horse right.

More questions?
email me at [e-mail]

good luck:)

Answer 6

I help my dad break horses. We built a round pen (wide enough to use a training rope and have them go in circles, I don't remember the exact measurements). We would start out with just a halter or halter and rope depending on the demeanor of the horses. Standing in the middle of the pen, walk towards the rear end, whip out towards their butt to get them moving. Make noises to keep their attention. Once you successfully get them around and they get the hang of it, 10 laps one way and 10 laps the other. Do this everyday, they should switch directions easily by holding a hand or whip out towards their face...once you feel they have the hang of it (say after a week) try a bridle with a training bit, we've found choke snaffel bits work the best. Work this until it seems like they are comfortable with the bit (sometimes you will need to try several bits). Then get them comfortable with tack...start with a saddle pad and just walk them around....then the saddle...trot some laps with just the saddle. Then to get them used to you mounting, just start off by lifting your leg to the stirrup...and gradually work by doing a little more...mount/dismount....until this is easy. PATIENCE is key here. Also, always remember to reward good behavior right away. A nice pat on the neck or whatever they enjoy. Then once you are able to mount/dismount with no problem you can try riding in the ring. Start by just getting them going and directing with your hands/whip while gently holding your inside heel in and tapping with your outside heel. Then you can try to start reining. If you are an experienced rider, read their body language. When they start getting stubborn, break their attention by whipping their butt (not hard but enough to regain their attention). We've had really good luck with these methods...most of our horses were ready for trail riding within a few months. We continue to work reining by taking them around barrels/poles/trees at a trot, circle spinning (really tight circles) Because your horse is still pretty young, just take it slow and keep your patience. :) Good luck to you!

Answer 7

i would train your horse with a exsperiensed horse person. don't train the horse all by yourself!!!! many horses are messed up for life if you're not sure what your doing. your horse will be alot happier if you have someone experienced help. (not that your dumb it's just good to have a old timer help you).

also 1 and a half years seems a little too soon to start a horse under saddle. but a good age to start working with them so they trust you completely when you start working them under saddle.

Answer 8

Lisa, though you may be an experienced rider breaking a horse should be left up to the professionals. Because if you do this yourself, you could end up hurting not only yourself, but your horse. Just ask the professional if you can watch them. If they tell you no then don't go to them. You want to know your horse is in good hands and not abused when being broke. Unfortunatley there are still some old timers out there that still believe that they have to inflict pain in order to break a horse. Some things you can do to work with him are: Get him use to a bridle, then get him use to the weight of a saddle, but don't ride him yet. If you are able to lunge him then lunge him with a saddle on so he gets use to everything. Just be very patient because it takes some of them awhile. And he is still young. Once you have worked with him for awhile, lunge him with the saddle on till he works up a good sweat and then you could try to get on him in an arena. Always work with him in an enclosed area because if he is still green, he will buck you off and take off like a shot. If your able to sit on him don't ride him for awhile, just sit on him. Just come out saddle him up and sit on him so he gets use to your weight and your movement. But my suggestion is don't be alone and if you haven't done this before you really need to find someone to help you. Being young, he needs to learn patience so saddle him up, put bridle on and tie him up to a post and let him stand there for awhile. So he can learn how to be patient. Like everytime you clean out his stall, tie him up. Get him use to a regime of having a bridle and saddle on. After awhile he will expect it from you. Just remember, be careful and have someone with you, don't do this alone.

Answer 9

For one thing - your horse is much too young to be ridden. Wait until he's 3. You can do plenty of ground work before placing any weight on his back. See if your local library has the John Lyons set of video tapes on training. Some tack and/or feed stores loan them out. Or find them on half.com. Good luck!

Answer 10

If you must break him yourself, consider that you are going to affect how he turns out. you need to do your research. Find a sandy safe riding arena, and make sure you can do all the groundwork. You need to learn how to lounge and join-up with your horse, give to pressure, and just move slowly. take your time and understand the risk you are taking. Maybe get a trainer to come to you for a few days, and teach you how to do it. Good luck

Answer 11

Well you have got to start to try and saddle the horse first. It will usally jump away from the saddle you are trying to throw over his back so allowing the horse to smell the saddle and rubbing it up against the horse before trying to saddle the horse will help the horse not be affraid of the saddle. Allow the saddle to lay in the pasture for a day or 2 with the horse where he can sniff it and see it isnt going to hurt him. After a day or 2 pick the saddle up and carry it around as the horse gets to see you do this and sees it is nothing to fear. Do the same thing with the saddle blanket at the same time. Rub it all over the horse's body with alot of caution because horses tent to fear the blanket and the saddle. Work with the horse everyday until he slowly allows you to saddle him. Take your time you have all your life to teach this horse. Once you have won the horse's trust handling the blanket and saddle around him and get it on him with it girthed up. Simply walk him for a few weeks with the saddle on and let him wear it for a while. Then you can begin to ask him to allow you to mount him with alot of patients you will win the horse over and be able to ride him without very much bucking urges at all. It is always good to mount the first few times until trust is regained at this point ON YOUR STOMACH. Because if thrown off at this point it is easier to step off and away from the horse, or if you do get thrown it's ussally on your back. Until you can master him allowing you to lay on your stomach while on his back, it is going to be very hard to mount him with a leg up and over. Take all this advise and apply it very slowly and patiently to get the horse you hope for. Once he allows you to sit up and gets use to the ruetine of the weight on his back, he will be able to be rien trained. And you are on your way! All of this can take years, months or weeks depending on how affraid of HIM you are. GOOD LUCK!