Why Difficulties In Horse Training A Good Thing

Written by Andy Curry


Continued from page 1

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 uprepparttar horse, grabbed my noise maker, and tried again.

As I was fumbling withrepparttar 125764 lines andrepparttar 125765 noise maker trying to get situated, I nearly droppedrepparttar 125766 noise maker and it made a pretty good racket. Almostrepparttar 125767 second it rattled,repparttar 125768 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 onrepparttar 125769 left line, I then said "get up", and then I rattledrepparttar 125770 bowls.

The result?

Nothing exceptrepparttar 125771 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 onrepparttar 125772 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 triedrepparttar 125773 noise maker.

I knew certain noises frighten horses so I decided to manipulate his fear withrepparttar 125774 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 atrepparttar 125775 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 onrepparttar 125776 back for coming up withrepparttar 125777 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.



Andy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author of several best selling horse training and horse care books. For information visit his website at www.horsetrainingandtips.com. He is also the leading expert on Jesse Beery's horse training methods which can be seen at www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beerya.htm


The Importance Of Habit And Repetition During Horse Training

Written by Andy Curry


Continued from page 1

One ofrepparttar most important things one should do while training a horse is repetition. Whatever lesson you're teaching your horse it should be taught so thoroughly that it is a fixed habit on his brain. It becomes a fixed habit by repetition.

In this horse's case, she hadn't been taught that "whoa" means to stop. In fact, I'd bet she thinks "whoa" means to slow down. Lots of people tell their horse "whoa" when their horse is moving too fast and they want it to slow down. Before you know it,repparttar 125763 horse thinks "whoa" means to slow down a little.

Pretty soon,repparttar 125764 horse has been thoroughly taught that "whoa" means to slow down...not stop. Thus, repetition worked in this case but backfired. "Whoa" was repeated so many times to mean to slow downrepparttar 125765 horse now believes "whoa" means slow down.

Thus,repparttar 125766 horse will have to be retrained to understand what whoa really means. It will take a lot of patience and thoroughness in training but it'll be well worthrepparttar 125767 time.

The value of this significant piece of knowledge cannot be overstated. When you're out training your horse a lesson be sure to give it enough repetition thatrepparttar 125768 lesson becomes a habit forrepparttar 125769 horse.

Jesse Beery, a famous horse trainer fromrepparttar 125770 late 1800's, overemphasized this crucial training tip. He preached teaching only one thing at a time and having that thing so thoroughly taught thatrepparttar 125771 habit is fixed uponrepparttar 125772 horse's brain.

That's some ofrepparttar 125773 best training advice you will ever get.



Andy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author of several best selling horse training and horse care books. For information visit his website at www.horsetrainingandtips.com. He is also the leading expert on Jesse Beery's horse training methods which can be seen at www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beerya.htm


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