Horse Training
Horse Training
It is common knowledge in professional human training that without clearly defined training objectives training cannot be successful. And this is true for the training of Horses, too. This is actually true for any kind of training.
A friend of mine who is the world’s most successful author in the training field puts it that way: “If you do not know where you are going, you never will know when you get there.” This is very true and has an interesting parallel in American history. “Go West” was a good example for a poor objective. Some settled because they liked a certain spot, some settled because they could not keep going any more – and some settled in California, because that was the end of “Go West”.
If you look at horse training there are very seldom clear and defined objectives – even most professional trainers do not have any. This actually can cause a serious problem – even worse it can cause some serious confusion.
A good training objective has three components. First, there is the defined action or performance. Then the objective needs criteria – when is the performance acceptable. And last not least the training objective needs to define the conditions under which the performance has to appear.
Let me take a closer look.
The performance – or the result of training – needs to be specified. “The horse loads into a trailer” is a good example. The objective obviously is reached, if the horse loads. But just the definition of performance leaves a lot of room for speculation. Is the objective accomplished when two guys tug and push the horse and a third guy slams the gate?
Here are some examples for possible criteria: “The horse loads into the trailer without hesitation, without trying to back out again and without jumping into the trailer.” Depending on what you want, it also could be: “The horse walks up to the trailer, stands quiet while the lead rope is tied to the neck and enters the trailer on its own on command.” There is no given set of criteria – it depends on your use of the horse.
How about conditions? They can dramatically change the quality of the defined performance. Is it ok, if the horse loads at home where everything is quiet? Or do you want the same performance at the end of a horse show while other horses come back out of trailers like bullets? And you also might consider the type of trailer. Horses normally do not have too much of a problem with a 16 foot open stock trailer – but a small two horse trailer is a different game.
The type of performance and the definition of the criteria and the conditions can vary a lot – but if you have no definition for your training, you just do not know what you will get at the end.
After about 30 years as a professional trainer and consultant I have decided to make this know how available for horse training. I am committed to the fine art of riding. For more thoughts about horse training and more about training objectives please go to my website http://realhorsetraining.wordpress.com Thank you for your time.
Should i try and train my own horse though i’ve never had any experiance with training horses before?
Ok well i might be buying a 5yo mare that is not yet broke. I have never had any experiance training a horse but i was wondering if i should try buying a Pat Parelli DVD and try breaking her myself. Or if i should find a trainer and let them do it since i have no experiance. I really don’t know. What do you think i should do?
I think if you have enough experience with horses in general you should try it. It would help to have someone with you for the extra hands, but I wouldn’t think you would necessarily need to hire a trainer. There is a lot of information about techniques online, and you can talk to people in training forums too. I actually think you may enjoy it, and it could be a great way to bond with your horse. I agree with the other posts about reading the books from Cherry Hill, her site is great – http://www.horsekeeping.com
The best DVD’s in my opinion, are from http://www.fasthorsetrainingsecrets.com – It’s a whole software system actually. It’s also a lot cheaper than buying a course from Parelli, and you get a lot more videos. The most important thing to remember if you are going to do it yourself, is that you make sure you have a solid foundation on your ground training before you even attempt any mounted training. Take it nice and steady, and I think you’ll do great.
Horse Training – How To Do Horse Problem Solving