how can I tech my horse to behave(please read)?

Question

my horse (Lee) turned 2 years old last month. I have put an english saddle on him and a tightened girth. He was gelded last June(2006). I am going to begin training him this weekend..Lee is a spoiled bratty horse but he is now learning that he cannot get his way but he is being very very pushy and won't listen most of the time. What I am concerned about is when I first get on him~will he buck?rear? bolt? or what? How can I keep him calm and teach him to not rear, buck or bolt? I have 3+years experience with green horses(mostly mares) but I have never been the one to sit on a horses back for the first time...what should I expect from Lee?

Answer 1

You've gotten some good advice here. Your horse is only two and although I am all for starting early as it will make finishing him easier, DO NOT RUSH! You will regret it later, people usually wait until their horses are 4+ years of age to ride because the growth plates and bones in his legs and back have to ossify (calcfy and harden/fuse) for strength. If you saddle break him do not work him heavily yet. But wearing his saddle and bridle (bridle him in a bitting rig in his stall for 1 hour a day then lunge him in it) like a big boy is good practice. If you must try mounting, wear a helmet. You cannot safely do it yourself, have an experienced handler also wearing a helmet (I have seed riders get thrown on top of handlers) hold him while you first slap your palm on the seat, making noise, then lift all of the flaps, swing the stirrups, adjust your girth to desensitize him, this may be as far as you get for a while but its fine. When you are ready to ride, first just stand in the stirrup iron on the left side of your horse to put weight on his back, if he reacts badly you can dismount quickly, do this a few times on each side (even though you only mount on the left traditonally your horse must learn to bear weight on both sides). Once he's accustomed to it, stand up in the stirrup facing the other side of your hors eand lay over the seat, do this on the other side as well so you can dismount quickly if you need to. Once you horse is used to it you may try mounting properly, it is best to have a handler lead him until he's used to a rider before he learns to walk with a rider by himself. At the same time he is learning ot have a rider it is okay to ground drive him so he learns bitting and steering too. Good Luck.

Answer 2

If your horse isn't polite on the ground or doesn't have his ground work down, i wouldn't even think about riding him yet! Does he stand when you ask him to and not move, does he lead nice and not tug or stop when you ask him to go? MANNERS are #1, if your horse has no respect for you on the ground what makes you think he'll respect you in the saddle?
i'm breaking my 4 year old right now, i bought him very very green and it's been about 2 1/2 months and he's just now got his ground work down, I have a trainer out once a week for a couple of hours to help teach me some things I can do w/ him while she's not there.
There's lots of things you need to do with him before you even put a saddle on his back , does he load, tie, bath, clip, w/out any problems? if he's 2 years old he's probably not ready to be broke yet (IMO) his bones/muscles have not completely developed and that can ruin his length of "riding years," i'd at least wait until he's 3.
Does he still have wolf teeth? you want to get those pulled so he doesn't become bit shy.

the main thing is respect, like i said before, the underlined statement is that if he doesn't respect you on the ground he will never respect you in the saddle.

do a google search for training green horses, or breaking horses, i like the natural horseman ship people like clinton anderson and parelli, try different t hings and see what works best.

if you're not confident about getting on his back when you think he's ready then DON'T. a horse can sense if you are scared and that can make the situation worse! practice putting weight on the stirrup and see if he moves, put one foot in with some weight see how he reacts, maybe even tie sand bags to it to add some weight, but don't put yourself in a situation where you can get hurt, I suggest the round pen, if you perform ground work in there and he has your respect and attention he's less likely to throw you off in there!


EDIT: I forgot some important facts now that I thought about it and read some other responses:

horses are FIGHT OR FLEE animals, they are prey animals, if they fear something they will either fight it (buck, rear,) or flee (run away,) remember that!
also, if you're not that expierenced or don't know the horse that well OR plan on trying to even just sit on him, make sure you have a buddy with you at all times! never do this alone, espeically if it's your first time. the first time I tried to mount my boy i only put my foot in the stirrup and i fell back b/c he went crazy!...yeah, imagine if i was on him!

that's about it, i could babble for a while if i dont stop now.

Answer 3

well dont just plop down onhis back :) First make sure you have his respect n the ground. If hes pushy on the ground he will be even pushier nce your inthe saddle.
so that said, the first time you get on, pull his head around so his nose is touching your leg almost and then put your foot in the stirrup. Slowly get up and just stand there with your one foot inthe stirrup. Don't swing your leg over yet. Just hang out. rest your other knee back behind the saddle and kick him in the flank and belly a little bit to make sure he is desesitised. ( if he was desensitised before you got on then a little kick in the flank shouldn't upset him). Then simply dismount. and do it again, but mount him on his off side. Do this first for a bit then if he hasn't exploded then next time you can sit in the saddle. start him by making small circles. Don't let him straighten out right aways until you can trust him more because this when they cantake controle if they want. If you keep his head turned then you can keep the controle.

as for the what you canexpect fromhim part... How is he with his ground work. does he buck lots when you lunge or work in a round pen? does he get excited when you get after him? How he is on the ground is how he will be when your on his back.
Also always think SLOW and COREECT. And keep the lessons short and positive. He is only two so working him straight for an hour will sour him. 15 min to half and hour of consitency throughout the weekwill do him better then two hour and ahalf rides per week.

Good luck with your baby :) breaking colts is fun :)

but remeber he is ababy so patience. any accomplishment is a good one :)

Just wanted to add: Make sure he is well sacked out before you get on him eg: tyign a paper bag to the end of a stick and rubbing him with it, waving hands in the air, swinging the rope around his feet and head, making weird sounds, jumping around :)

Answer 4

Usually when breaking a horse, I take it slow. I don't even get on the horse the first time, I just get them used to feeling my weight on their backs by leaning onto them a little. Once this no longer bothers them at all, I ease into the saddle and then get back off. Keep the sessions short, simple and frequent. NEVER try to do training like this when you are alone. It is good to have someone at the horses head. It is also good to have someone there who can get help if it is need. IF you go slow enough, everything should be fine. When you get to a point where the horse gets a little finicky, ease up a bit and wait until he calms down. If you just hop on he may buck, rear, bolt, or even roll. This is all very dangerous. Please don't push him too far too fast. Take your time with him, the less tramatic his training is, the better horse he'll be fore it. Good luck

Answer 5

People have already given a lot of advice. Probably 80% of the babies I've dealt with and from what my trainer said the most common first reaction is they do Nothing. They won't go, back or turn much less buck or bolt. They'll generally lead carrying a rider but they don't grasp the concept of 'directions from above'. It's actually rather frustrating. If they do go you can always slow, them turn them, speak calmly and they get the picture. It's harder to convince them why you're bumping their sides.

He's likely to just turn around and go 'huh, what are you doin' there?' Since it's generally not a rodeo with any well handled baby it may help you be calmer about getting on which will transfer to him that it's no big deal. Good luck

Answer 6

You know your horse the best- will he buck/bolt/rear? It all depends on the individual horse. I have trained quite a few green ones. Some you can walk and trot the first day, no problem. Another would just jump straight up and then fall on her side.

The easiest way to get them used to having a rider is first ground drive (Lounge lines through the surcingle or stirrups from the bridle and practice steering and stopping). Next, work on getting him to stand quietly by a stool that you can mount from. Once he sits quietly by the stool, stand on the stool and just sit there, praising and touching him all over by the saddle. Once he is bored with that, you can lean your weight on him. Have a treat so he can reach around to your far side and grab it (then he can get used to seeing you on both sides of him at once). Once they are completely bored with that part (we start it when they are yearlings), we work on flapping reins and stirrups around, shifting the saddle back and forth, leaning on and off, etc.

Once they are bored with all of that basic stuff, most of them are ok by that point for you to jump on them. It would be the best (for your safety and a good experience for the horse) to have someone lead you around until you feel comfortable enough on his back to start doing the actual riding work.

It is a lot of fun! Good luck- if the horse trusts you, and you introduce things slowly, it will not (usually) react in fear!

Answer 7

You really need to make sure that you have done all of his ground work before getting in the saddle...He is only 2 and there is no need to rush things.... You should confirm his knees have closed prior to working him under saddle or irrevirsable damage can be done.... If you have done all of the ground work, he should verbally know what whoa, walk, trott and canter mean...he shoudl move right off into his gates when asked on a lunge line... his whoa should be immediate, you will need this if you get in trouble... He also needs to know his bitting work...he should know how to give both right and left to the bit...he should also know how to move off side pressure....You need to teach him what you expect when you put pressure on his side... You can easily teach him to move his hind quarters and forehand on the ground..... Now come the good stuff... My number one pet peve is to see someone trying to break out a horse and skipping the stand still lesson... You should parctice putting weight in the stirrup and laying over his back over and over agin...he must stand completely still as you work on the mounting lessons... it is so danegrous to try to mount a moving horse...(the whoa command should come in handy now).... You shoudl practice this on both side of the horse.... You should also make sure he is used to the falpping sounds of the saddle...make lots of noise while you are working around the saddle, smacking the leather...Do not be sneaky or quiet because if you are he will be quite surprised and spooked the first time he hears the leather slapping sounds.... FOr the first time actually all the way in the saddle you need an EXPERIENCED horse person to lead him... This person is so important, they need to know how to handle things if he get scared.... Take it one step at a time.... DO not rush things and read your hroses body language he will let you know when the time is right. And also wear a helmet...

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 8

Right when I sat on a green broke POA he bucked me off. Then the second time I got on him he just wouldn't walk. What my cousins did for their 3 year old draft/quarter mix was put pressure on his back like a heavy bag of something or something just so the horse would be used to having something on his back. She did it every day and it seemed to work. Now she justs sits on him, but she doen't ride him yet. If yours is only two then he might act up. Normally people wait until the horses are three to train them because their knees are closed up all the way. Another one of my cousins has a totally broke two year old morgan so I guess it really just depends on the attitude of your horse. If you do get on him just stay on him for a little while then stay longer and longer everyday and make sure you reward him when you get off him so he knows he did something good. Good Luck!

Answer 9

Prepare by doing a lot of groundwork. If he respects you and understands what you want, there will be no fight. Find one of these natural horse trainers that you like and study (you might study all and combine, cuz different horses repsond differnlyt to different methods) Know what you will do if he does freak out. You should have a secure seat, and be able to stick to him if he bucks. (WEAR A HELMET!!!!!) If he does decide he's going to give you trouble, you give him some trouble. If he tries to buck, make him work. Ideally, the first time you sit on his back, it will be desensitizing. He should be used to having a rider before you try to go. Second thing you should do is make sure he knows how to respond to the reins (which he should already know from the ground, but now he has to respond from them on his back too) then you can teach him to respond to your legs. I cannot emphasize to you enough to wear safety gear and be very studied up before you try. If you know someone who you can watch work, that is very helpful! goodluck!

Answer 10

There's lots of good advice here, but one tip I will give you is that any animal, horses in particular, must be corrected within 3 seconds of them bucking or rearing, otherwise they will have gotten away with it. Have good reflexes and be prepared to give him a smack if he needs it. Since he's new to training, he won't know exactly what is expected of him, so you have to be very clear with what he has to do.