Mistake #3 – Not Understanding How Horses Think Horses do not think like dogs or cats. Horses are a prey animal which means they run from scary things. They have thousands of years of “flight instinct” built in their brains. To successfully train them takes patience and understanding that they are naturally fearful and cynical.

Mistake #2 – Not Knowing That Every Interaction With A Horse Is A Training Exercise Every time you interact with your horse you are training him. Even if your horse is well trained with lead rope, you are training him every time you use lead rope. Even when you pet your horse, you are training him. Novice horse owners must think through what they do when working with their horse because they can easily and unknowingly affect a horse’s behavior.

Mistake #1 – Riding A Horse With Little Or No Understanding Of Horsemanship A typical novice horse owner will ride their new horse not knowing horse-riding skills. It is important to have an understanding of riding techniques because horses react to leg pressure, how you sit in saddle, whether or not rider is tense, and a whole host of other things.

Let’s face it. Horses need to be understood for a horse owner to be successful with his horse. The best thing novice horse owners can do is learn how to ride, learn how horses think, learn what works good to shape horses’ behavior, and understand that constantly riding a horse is just about best thing you can do to have a good horse.

At first your horse won’t be able to touch his nose to his body. So you start with small successes. At first you pull his head back towards you until you get resistance. When you do, hold lead rope tension. Don’t make tension more or less, simply hold it there. The second he looks back toward you more and creates slack in lead rope, you give him immediate relief and take tension off lead rope completely. Then you tell him what a good boy he is. Pet him too. Let him know that’s just what you wanted.

As you do this, you will want him to bring his head farther and farther back until he begins to touch his nose to his body. Don’t try to get him to touch his nose to his body within first one or two ground sessions. That’s rushing it and you likely won’t make it happen. This takes time to get your horse to understand what you want him to do.

Remember to do this on other side of your horse too. What your horse can do on his left side, he should be able to do on his right side.

When you have your horse touching his nose to his side, then you’re ready to get on him and test his emergency brake. Get on your horse and go for a test ride. If he starts to run and you don’t want him to, grab a rein and pull his head around. Don’t jerk reins…pull. Then boot him into a circle. When he slows down or stops like you want him to then release pressure. Remember to do it on left and right reins.

If your horse doesn’t easily touch his nose to his body while riding him, then you need to have him practice it more. Also, before you go riding have him touch his nose a few times on each side with bit in his mouth. Doing these things will cinch your riding into a pleasant experience.